Open enrollment is designed to give all interested parents an equal opportunity for their scholar(s) to attend U Prep Schools. During open enrollment, all applications receive equal consideration regardless of the date of submission as long as it is received by the deadline. An application received at the end of open enrollment receives equal treatment as one received on the first day of open enrollment.

Following the close of open enrollment, if the number of applications exceeds the number of open seats, a random selection lottery determines acceptance. All other students will be placed on a waiting list. If the number of applications does not exceed the number of open seats, all applicants are accepted for their respective grades. If you are interested in applying for more than one of our three districts, please note that if your student is accepted at one district, they will be automatically declined by the other two districts.

To apply to our schools, you must be a resident of the State of Michigan.

We also highly recommend all new families attend an open house for the school(s) your scholar is applying to.

• University Prep Academy District
  Ellen Thompson Elementary, Mark Murray Elementary, UPA Middle, UPA High
• University Prep Art & Design District
  UPAD Elementary, UPAD Middle, UPAD High
• University Prep Science & Math District
  UPSM Elementary, UPSM Middle, UPSM High

Please note that kindergarten scholars must be five years old by September 1, 2025. If your scholar is not five (5) years old by September 1st but will be five (5) years old on or before December 1, your scholar will receive a Kindergarten Readiness Assessment. The purpose of the assessment is to evaluate your scholar’s readiness to determine their success in the University Prep Kindergarten Program. If your scholar is deemed NOT READY and you decide to enroll him/her, you do so understanding that your scholar will be retained if he/she does not meet the requirements of the program by the end of the year.

U Prep Schools’ Lottery for the 2025-26 school year is May 2, 2025.

The Lottery is open to the public and parents are encouraged to attend. A lottery will be held for any grade in which the number of applications exceeds the number of openings. Scholars are electronically selected at random and applicants are given numbers based on the order in which they are selected. The lottery continues until all scholars have been assigned a number. Applicants who are not accepted will be placed on a waiting list in the order of their randomly selected lottery number.

All records requests for students attending or previously attending University Prep Schools should be sent directly to the school.

Navigate to the upper right hand corner of this website to select your school.

If your student is accepted to U Prep Schools you will be required to submit the following records at the applicable due dates.

THOSE RECORDS INCLUDE:

• Copy of Student’s Birth Certificate (If you have misplaced your student’s birth certificate, the following link will help you to possibly order a new one prior to the applicable due date. Vital Check.)
• Student’s Last Report Card (1st – 9th graders) | Complete Transcripts (for 10th-12th graders)
• Copy of Immunization Records or Notarized Immunization Waiver within the following school year
• Discipline Logs (if the scholar(s) does not have a discipline log, please request a letter from the previous school on school letterhead stating no discipline records found).

Waitlisted families will receive communication electronically. It is important to ensure you have entered a valid email address that is checked regularly. Please be aware that it is not unusual for a small percentage of accepted students to select other educational options prior to the start of the school year.

Openings created by “opt-outs” are filled by those on the waitlist. Do not be discouraged if your scholar is put on a waiting list. Openings can and do become available regularly! Students on the waitlist will continue to receive school information.