Academy of Natural Sciences, Penn cancel science summer camps for the year, both citing budget constraints

Two university-run science summer camps that have each served Philly kids for more than two decades will not run this summer due to budget limitations.

Academy Science Camp, run through the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, is canceling its camp for just this summer. The University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is ending its Anthropology Camp for this summer as well as “the foreseeable future,” the museum wrote on its website.

Both camps, which offered science lessons and projects tailored to the museums’ exhibits, cited financial pressures as the catalyst behind the decision.

Scott Cooper, president and CEO of the Academy of Natural Sciences, announced in the fall that the museum would scale back its operating days, previously Wednesday through Sunday, to only Friday through Sunday. The shortened operating schedule was an effort to stem losses from low visitation rates that have yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, federal funding cuts, and uncertainty in the future of donations, he wrote.

The new truncated public schedule made continuing the summer camp, which typically runs Monday through Friday, no longer feasible, the academy wrote on its website.

The academy plans to assess later in the year whether to run the camp in 2027, academy spokesperson Kaitlyn Kalosy said.

Last year, the camp served 360 kids ages 5 to 12, Kalosy said. It offered museum tours, experiments, and field trips.

“We know this may be disappointing for campers who look forward to spending their summers exploring and learning with us, and we are truly grateful for the enthusiasm they bring to the Academy each year,” the academy wrote online.

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, meanwhile, is unable to afford the cost of staff to run its camp because of a university-wide hiring freeze, it wrote on its website. The camp served about 500 kids ages 6 to 13 each summer, according to a museum spokesperson. It offered workshops, expert talks, and gallery explorations.

“This decision was reached only after extensive discussion and careful consideration of multiple scenarios,” the museum wrote on its website. “It was not made lightly.”

The school first ordered a hiring freeze in the spring to prepare for anticipated federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration. Last year, Penn and its centers were asked to cut 5% of certain expenses. This year, they have been asked to cut 4% on top of that. The cuts are aimed at helping the school keep up with mounting endowment taxes, legal, insurance and employee-benefit expenses, potential losses in research funding, and changes in student loan and visa programs, Penn leaders said.