Global Entrepreneurship
A Summer for Fun, Friends, and Your Future
Explore
Have fun discovering the energy of São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city.
Network
Meet new friends and business entrepreneurs. Build your own community.
Get Inspired
Launch your future today! Develop practical business skills and collaborate on a concept for a new business.
The Destination
Welcome to São Paulo, a multicultural metropolis of samba beats and 2,700 startups turning big ideas into the country’s next breakthroughs.
Founded as a tiny Jesuit mission in 1554, São Paulo boomed on coffee in the 1800s, built factories in the 1900s, and now powers a multibillion-dollar digital economy. The city counts eleven “unicorns”—privately held startups worth at least $1 billion USD—led by fintech giant Nubank. Innovation here is as cultural as it is commercial. Samba schools spend months designing new rhythms, floats, and costumes for Carnival; alleyways like Beco do Batman become open-air galleries of ever-changing graffiti; and late-night markets pulse with live bands that fuse hip-hop, funk, and Brazilian percussion.
Bike past Avenida Paulista’s glass towers to the lakes and modern art pavilions of Ibirapuera Park, then dip into Liberdade’s neon-lit streets for manga shops and steaming gyoza. Refuel at Mercado Municipal with pão de queijo (chewy cheese bread) and coxinha (crispy chicken croquettes). Every neighborhood offers a new backdrop to spark your next big idea.
Cultural Awareness
CIEE wants all our students to feel welcomed, supported, and empowered to succeed while studying abroad. No matter where you choose to study abroad with CIEE, our staff will be on hand throughout your program to provide advice, resources, and support.
Social feed above may feature posts from all CIEE Study Abroad programs, including college programs.
Sample Itinerary
Top Rated Activities
Indigenous Community Experience
Visit Tenondé Porã Indigenous Territory, home to seven villages, each with distinct customs and origins. Here, villages balance centuries-old traditions with the pressures of farmland expansion and a fast-growing megacity at their doorstep.
Engage with community members through guided activities to learn about their cultural preservation efforts and sustainable income sources, from workshops to preserve the Guarani language to handmade crafts sold in city markets. You might watch cassava dough pressed into thin beiju flatbreads or learn how forest plants inspire handmade dyes and baskets. After the visit, gather with your group to reflect on what you observed and discuss how land use, sustainability, and social entrepreneurship shape both community life and the wider economy.
Cacau Show Chocolate Factory
Cacau Show began in 1988 when a 17-year-old started selling Brazil’s favorite Easter treat, large, hollow chocolate eggs wrapped in shiny foil. Today, Cacau Show is the world’s largest chocolate shop chain, with more than 4,000 franchise stores nationwide and a fully owned production line that turns cocoa beans into boxed gifts you’ll see in every Brazilian supermarket.
At the mega-factory outside São Paulo, you’ll watch beans roasted, chocolate molded, truffles cooled, and bars wrapped before pallets head to stores across the country. Guides explain how vertical integration controls quality, how a tiered franchise model lets small operators open mall kiosks, and how in-store tastings keep customers loyal. Group discussions link what you see to supply-chain logistics, branding, and the balance between mass production and retail, showing how a kitchen start-up became a national powerhouse.
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Eligibility
- Participants must be 14 years old and above.
- Program open to all current high school students: Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors.
- For scholarship eligibility requirements, please check our scholarship page.
For more information, refer to the detailed Program Essential Eligibility Criteria.
Dates & Fees
Application Fee
$25
Program scholarships and tuition include iNext Travel Insurance, but do not cover the cost of flights. Find additional details about what’s included with your tuition.
More questions? Find answers, get application support, sign up for virtual presentations or contact us.
Program |
Application Due |
Start Date |
End Date |
Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program Summer Session I 2027 3 weeks | Start Date | End Date | Costs $6,150 | |
| Program Summer Session II 2027 3 weeks | Start Date | End Date |
Ready to change your life?
What's Included
Interactive Classes
Housing
3 Meals/Day
(Dietary Needs Accommodated)
All Ground Transportation
(Once In-country)
Optional Flight Chaperone
(Flight Cost Not Included)
Pre-departure Advice and Orientation
Access to WIFI
(No international data plan or SIM card included)
All Cultural Activities and Excursions
Comprehensive Medical and Travel Protection
24/7 Emergency On-site Support
Our Staff
Frederico Lopes Pires de Morais
Center Director
Program Leaders guide and support our High School Summer Abroad participants through every step of their program.
Get Started
1
2
Connect with your Teachers or Parents
Share your plans and confirm you're on track to meet all required steps to go abroad.
3
Contact Us
Send us an email if you still have questions or need information about enrolling.
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