While the population of college students may dwindle after finals, Penn State welcomes thousands of children and teenagers from around the world into its summer camp programs.

"From Memorial Day to mid-August, we have about 19,000 kids here for the [Penn State] Sports Camp," Sports Camp coordinator Dick Bartolomea said.

"Penn State is a popular place; parents like to send their kids here," he added.

The Penn State Sports Camp is run through Outreach and Cooperative Extension.

During Memorial Day weekend alone, 6,000 female volleyball players visit Penn State for the East Coast Volleyball Championship, Bartolomea said.

Katie Frieden, conference planner, said science camps would be smaller due to the need for closer instruction and supervision.

The Penn State Weather Camp, which allows participants to launch a weather balloon, make daily forecasts and tour AccuWeather is a perfect example of close instruction, Frieden said.

"You can't put a hundred kids in a weather station," she said of the instruction.

"Sports camps can take lots and lots of kids ... academic camps need smaller size," Frieden added.

The summer programs vary between residential, or overnight and day camps.

"The day camps are more for the younger kids, and they attract a lot of kids from the Centre County area," Bartolomea said.

"Our overnight camps have an influx of kids from everywhere ... A couple years ago we had 11 countries represented.," Bartolomea added about the camp.

Each Penn State college can develop a camp for children.

The College of Communications offers camps that specialize in writing and Web casting, among other topics, Frieden said.

The College of Arts and Architecture runs the Penn State High School Summer Music Camp, which hosts more than 300 students, Frieden added about the camp.

Working under the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity, the Women in the Sciences & Engineering (WISE) Camp was developed through six colleges at Penn State, Katie Rung, assistant director of the camp said.

It is designed for 16- and 17-year-old girls interested in the sciences, math or engineering, she said.

"Most of the camps are college-based. Ours is more comprehensive to give them a taste of many areas across the field," Rung said.

WISE is currently sending out acceptance letters for several scholarships, she added.

While scholarships are not common, most camps will give out one or two, Frieden said.

"The Weather Camp gave out seven full scholarships and three partial. Most students just receive a partial scholarship," Frieden said.

Acceptance to the camps can either be fee-based or through applications, but most are fee-based, she said.