PGSIST is hosted by the iSchool at Drexel University and aims to provide participants with a strong technological foundation in conjunction with an understanding of how technology impacts society.
Participants are required to be Pennsylvania high school students between their junior and senior year and must live in the dormitories for the full five weeks of the program.
Prior to 2006, PGSIST was known as the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Information Technology (PGSIT) and jointly sponsored by both Drexel University and Pennsylvania State University[1].
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has proposed cutting fund for all the PGSEs, including PGSIST, from the 2009-2010 budget.
The second half of the program consists of what are known as "tracks"; students are assigned to a track based on their preferences and space availability, and they spend the entire academic day studying that particular area.