Why this exists

What a summer institute gives a student, and how to get it here.

Summer debate institutes are excellent, and most students at Title I schools will never attend one. The table lists what a camp provides and where the same thing lives on this site, free, for any student in the country. Where a camp is better, we say so.

What you need	At a summer institute	Here, free
Curriculum	A structured course over a few summer weeks	26 lesson plans across three courses, open all year
Cases	Sample cases written at camp, kept by attendees	Eight full cases, both sides, published for everyone
Evidence	Camp evidence files, later shared on Open Evidence	79 tagged, cited, linked sources plus block files, plus links to the Open Evidence Project and openCaselist
Drills	Lab drills run by instructors	Twelve browser tools and a practice log, any day
Practice rounds	Daily rounds at camp	Weekly rounds at partner schools with a coach judging; the practice round plan for everyone else
Coaching	Instructors for the session	A CUDL coach in the building every week of the season at partner schools
Judging feedback	Instructor ballots during camp	Trained volunteer judges at every tournament and an online judge training
Topic prep	Camp files on the summer topic	Primers within two weeks of every release, the next-topic plan, and the research feed
Cost	Tuition, travel, and housing	Free, including tournament entry and transportation at partner schools

Where camps win: intensity, immersion with peers from other states, and instructors with national-circuit experience. CUDL's answer is a coach every week for a whole season instead of a few weeks, and a public library that keeps improving. If you can attend a camp, go; bring what you learn back to your school.

Democratizing it

Everything here is free to any student, coach, or school, partner or not, and every guide, case, and source is dated so you can see it is maintained. Charlotte students get the coach in the room; everyone else gets the library. Both cost nothing. What we have built.

Help it grow

Sponsors fund the coaching. Volunteers judge. Coaches anywhere can send corrections and sources. Support the work, volunteer, or send a correction.

Start with the guides, the cases, or a coach.

Students and families sign up in two minutes. Schools get a coach within the season.