About & methodology

How The Shortlist verifies deadlines.

The Shortlist tracks 75 selective programs for ambitious, business-minded people aged 20–35. Of those, 37 have a deadline confirmed on the program's official page as of October 21, 2026.

• Confirmed: the exact date is published on the program's own page (or the organizer's official channel). Each listing links to the source and shows the date we checked it.
• Est.: the program hasn't published the next date. We show the month based on its stated cycle or last year's deadline.
• TBA: the program exists and runs again, but there's no reliable date yet.
• Rolling: the program takes applications all year.

Paid placements are labeled “Featured” and never change the deadline data. The New York Business Fellowship is run by The Shortlist's owner and is labeled “Run by our team”.