Internships for High School Students with April deadlines
EC Finder currently lists 271 internships with application deadlines in April for high school students. Of these, 149 are free to participate in and 102 offer virtual participation. Examples include Access Sacramento Podcast Producer Training, ACS Project SEED, and ACS Project SEED - Northern California Sites.
- 271
- listed
- 149
- free
- 102
- virtual
- 261
- with a listed deadline
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are internships for high school students with april deadlines?
- Internships for High School Students with April deadlines are curated extracurricular listings for high school students. Each listing includes eligibility, cost, and deadline details where known, so you can compare options and find the right fit for your college application profile.
- When do applications for these internships need to be submitted?
- These opportunities have application deadlines in April. Exact dates vary by program, so check each listing for specifics.
- Are any of these internships free?
- Yes — 149 of the 271 internships listed here are free to participate in.
- Can I participate virtually?
- Yes — 102 of the 271 internships listed here offer virtual or online participation.
Related Categories
271 activities found·Browse by category
Access Sacramento Podcast Producer Training
An in-person, two-session podcast production workshop at Access Sacramento's community media center, covering technical and editorial podcast production from setup through final delivery. Open to community members, including teens, with cohorts running throughout the year.
ACS Project SEED
Paid summer research internship in chemistry and biochemistry labs for economically disadvantaged students with a $4,000 stipend.
ACS Project SEED - Northern California Sites
National, highly structured chemistry internship placing low-income HS students into real chemistry labs; many placements in Bay Area universities and companies.
AFRL Scholars Program
A paid eight-week summer research internship that places upper-level high schoolers directly with Air Force Research Laboratory scientists and engineers at sites across the U.S. to work on real research and technology projects.
AI Scholar
Advanced AI/ML research program where students work 1-on-1 with graduate student mentors to complete original research projects and publish papers.
Alameda County High School Student Election Worker Program
Alameda County's Registrar of Voters allows eligible high school students to serve as paid Election Workers on Election Day, helping run polling places while earning money and gaining hands-on experience in how elections are administered.
Algoverse AI Research Program
A 12-week online AI research program pairing high school and college students in small teams with mentors from institutions like Stanford, OpenAI, Meta FAIR, and Google DeepMind to develop LLM-reasoning research submitted to venues such as NeurIPS and ICLR; requires Python experience and a $3,325 fee with need-based and merit scholarships.
American Academy of Neurology Neuroscience Research Prize
National competition co-sponsored with the Child Neurology Society for original high school research on the brain and nervous system, judged on relevance, creativity, and data interpretation.
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
An international nonprofit organization that trains and supports amateur and student astronomers in observing and reporting variable star brightness data used in real astrophysics research. AAVSO offers free beginner tutorials (including a no-equipment-needed 10-Star Tutorial), webinars, mentorship, and community forums for students starting in observational astrophysics.
American Cancer Society High School Cancer Research Program
A two-week virtual summer program (part of ACS's CICRT initiative) in which rising sophomores through seniors interested in cancer research or health professions complete case studies with the eCLOSE Institute, receive career-development support, and earn a $500 stipend.
AMNH Science Research Mentoring Program (SRMP)
A year-long (August-June) paid research program for NYC 10th and 11th graders at the American Museum of Natural History, beginning with a 4-week summer institute followed by mentored research with museum scientists in fields including anthropology, astrophysics, and biology, totaling 260 hours.
Archaeological Research Institute (ARI) Internship
Semester-based internships at the Archaeological Research Institute open to high school, college, and vocational students in departments including archaeology, land stewardship, historic preservation, and education, offered as both paid and unpaid positions with academic advisor coordination available for school credit.
Archaeology Summer Scholars (Notre Dame)
Selective 1-week course doing fieldwork/lab analysis on Notre Dame's own archaeological sites.
Arete: An Introduction to the Classics (University of Dallas)
A two-week residential summer program on the University of Dallas campus for rising juniors, seniors, and recent grads to explore the Classics through readings, museum visits, and cultural excursions such as Shakespeare in the Park, earning 3 college credit hours.
ASDRP - Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program
Nonprofit research institute where HS students work on year-round or summer research projects (chemistry, materials, bio, etc.), often publishing or presenting at conferences.
ASDRP - Computational Neuroscience Track
Apply specifically to the Computational Neuroscience or Molecular Neurobiology labs. Located in Fremont.
ASDRP - Summer Research Fellowship
Formalized summer fellowship branch of ASDRP where students conduct intensive research in chemistry, materials, or related fields and often present or publish.
Audubon Youth Leaders (California)
Paid internship where CA high schoolers develop leadership skills, do hands-on native-habitat restoration, and complete a youth-led conservation action project at an Audubon center.
Bar Association of San Francisco Law Academy
Yearlong legal curriculum leading into a paid six-week summer internship at law firms/public interest orgs.
BAVC Media Next Gen
Next Gen is a free semester-long after-school media program at BAVC Media in San Francisco for youth ages 14-17, distinct from BAVC's other youth offerings like Climate Warriors. Students choose a track in DSLR video production/cinematography (Factory) or frame/stop-motion animation, meet twice weekly, and can earn a $300 completion incentive while building a college-application portfolio.
Bay Area BioGENEius Challenge
The most rigorous biotechnology project competition. You must have original research (e.g., from a science fair project) to enter.
Baylor College of Medicine SMS Summer Research Program
An eight-week Houston-based lab internship for students who completed Baylor's Saturday Morning Science program, giving them full-time mentored research experience in an active BCM laboratory plus weekly professional-development sessions.
Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab (BAIR) High School Summer Program
Free 1-week program at UC Berkeley covering machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, robotics, and AI ethics. Mentored by Berkeley graduate students.
Berkeley Community Media Youth Internship Program
A free, hands-on media internship for teens 13 and older at Berkeley Community Media's public-access studio, where interns learn producing, directing, camera operation, lighting, and sound while completing three studio productions over a 20-week commitment.
California Highway Patrol Explorer Program
A statewide CHP program (with posts including San Jose) for teens ages 15-20 with a 2.0+ GPA who train alongside officers in traffic safety, community outreach, and law-enforcement procedures, including ride-alongs and a regional Explorer Academy.
California State Assembly Student Internship Program
Students work in an Assemblymember's district office on constituent services, outreach, and civic events.
CalMatters Youth Journalism Initiative
CalMatters' Youth Journalism Initiative prepares California middle and high school students for journalism careers through in-person workshops, teacher training, and student opportunities like the JCal Student Reporter Summer Camp, which pairs a small cohort of California high schoolers with professional reporters for mentorship, legislator interviews, reporting projects, and newsroom field trips. The initiative, based at the nonprofit Sacramento newsroom CalMatters, also runs occasional video contests with cash prizes.
Caltech Earthquake Fellows
A selective Caltech Seismological Laboratory program pairing Pasadena/Alhambra-area 10th and 11th graders with earthquake scientists for roughly 130 hours across spring Saturdays and a summer weekday block. Fellows build their own Raspberry Shake seismometer, analyze real earthquake data, take field trips, and present findings at a culminating event.
Caltech Summer Research Connection (ZTF track)
6-week research placement for Pasadena USD students analyzing real Caltech telescope survey data.
Canopy Teen Urban Foresters (TUF)
Paid internship for East Palo Alto/Menlo Park high schoolers doing tree planting, pruning, and care, leading volunteer groups, and building urban-forestry career skills.
Careers in Science (CiS) Intern Program
Multi-year paid internship for SF high schoolers underrepresented in STEM; interns rotate through Academy science departments, engage in citizen science and public science communication, culminating in an independent research/outreach project.
CaseCatalyst
A fully virtual four-week case competition in which high school teams solve real challenges submitted by partner startups, mentored by university students and consulting professionals, with top teams earning startup internships.
Catholic University of America Ancient Languages Online Summer Program
Live, synchronous online summer courses in Greek or Latin (plus Hebrew and other ancient languages) offered by Catholic University's Department of Ancient and Medieval Languages and Cultures. High school students are explicitly welcomed alongside undergraduates and adult learners, with courses offering up to four semesters of college-level study.
Center for American Archaeology High School Field School
A hands-on residential archaeological field school in Kampsville, Illinois, where students ages 13-17 join real excavation, laboratory analysis, and artifact identification alongside professional archaeologists across one-to-four-week sessions; no prior experience is required.
CFI Education Young Curators Program (Mill Valley Film Festival)
A free, four-week online program for grades 9-12 held on Fridays in July, where students watch short films from around the world, engage in critical discussion, and collaborate as a jury to curate the youth-produced shorts program presented at the Mill Valley Film Festival.
Chapman University Henley Lab Social Science Summer Pre-College Research Experience
A pre-college research fellowship at Chapman University's Henley Social Science Research Lab where high schoolers with a 3.5+ GPA conduct real social science research projects, developing skills in data analysis (including SPSS), academic writing, research poster design, and public presentation.
Chapman University Pharmacy Summer Research Program
Hybrid summer research program where small cohorts of high schoolers work with pharmacy faculty advisors on health-science/chemistry research projects.
Chapman University Social Science Summer Pre-College Research Experience
3.5-week research program with sociology/poli-sci faculty on real survey projects.
Chemistry-Focused Summer Youth Internship Program (SYIP)
Intensive research program described as a 9-month remote mentorship plus 4-week on-site summer internship in chemistry/biochem/materials; very structured and rigorous.
CHOP Neurology High School Scholars Program
A paid five-week internship at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia pairing sophomores through seniors with a neurologist or neuroscientist mentor for a research project, clinical shadowing, and a final poster presentation. Program is paused for 2026, set to resume July 2027.
Cleaver Magazine Editorial Internship
A literary magazine internship in which student editors read and vote on fiction, poetry, and nonfiction submissions, help proofread issues before publication, and write a book review, working 5-10 hours per week.
Climate Corps Leadership Institute (Watsonville Wetlands Watch)
A year-long paid internship for Watsonville high school students that builds climate action leadership through hands-on watershed and wetland work. Interns gain experience in urban forestry, habitat restoration, community science monitoring, and climate justice advocacy in the Pajaro Valley, presented in partnership with local schools.
Code For Fun – Internship and Volunteer
Organization teaching kids to code; HS students can intern or volunteer as teaching assistants and outreach helpers.
Columbia Zuckerman Institute BRAINYAC
Places NYC high schoolers in Columbia neuroscience labs to work one-on-one with scientist mentors on ongoing research, entered via partner-organization nomination.
Conservation Colorado Internship
Internship at Conservation Colorado, the state's largest environmental advocacy organization, for high schoolers and college students with interests spanning political science, sociology, sustainability science, and environmental science. Interns develop persuasive writing and policy-research skills supporting Colorado conservation campaigns.
Coriell Institute Summer Experience for High School Students
A paid four-week internship in Camden, NJ where high schoolers rotate through Coriell Institute's biobanking, stem cell, and molecular biology labs, learning techniques like karyotyping and DNA extraction before presenting their work.
Cornell Precollege Studies: Introduction to Sociology (SOC 1101)
A credit-bearing online Cornell University course for high school juniors and seniors providing a broad introduction to sociological perspectives, theories, and research methods, offered in multiple summer sessions through Cornell's Precollege Studies Online program.
COSMOS UC Davis - Cluster: Future Mobility on Ground and Air
A residential four-week COSMOS (California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science) cluster at UC Davis where students work with aerospace and mechanical engineering faculty on how ground and air vehicles are designed, including analyzing aerodynamic performance and designing quadcopters for Earth, Moon, Mars, and Titan.
COSMOS UC Davis - Cluster: Introduction to Engineering Mechanics
A residential four-week COSMOS cluster at UC Davis (5:1 student-to-faculty ratio) that introduces students to engineering mechanics through hands-on labs, field activities, and lectures taught by UC faculty researchers.
COSMOS UC Davis - Cluster: Sustainable Transportation
A residential four-week COSMOS cluster at UC Davis focused on sustainable transportation engineering, giving students hands-on labs and field activities exploring civil and environmental engineering approaches to transportation systems, taught by UC Davis faculty researchers.
CS@Mines High School Summer Internship & Programming Project
Colorado School of Mines hosts high school students for summer computer science research internships (scholarship-funded at $20/hour for selected applicants, with topics including AI, robotics, cybersecurity) and a 5-week virtual computer programming project program ($200) where students build a CS project in teams. Priority application deadline April 10.
CURYJ Homies 4 Justice (H4J)
A 15-week paid internship in Oakland for youth ages 14-18 impacted by incarceration, immigration, or foster care systems, providing political education, healing-centered leadership development, and training in community organizing for alternatives to incarceration.
Dauphin Island Sea Lab Residential Marine Science Class
A four-week residential marine science immersion on Alabama's Gulf Coast for rising 9th-12th graders, combining over 160 hours of fieldwork, labs, and lectures in oceanography and marine ecology, with need- and merit-based scholarships available.
Davis Media Access Production Internship
A six-month internship for high school juniors and seniors at Davis Media Access, learning to capture and edit footage for cable programming and social media; typically completed for school credit through a partnership with Davis Joint Unified School District.
Delaware BioGENEius Challenge
A state-affiliate biotechnology research competition run by the Delaware Biotechnology Institute at the University of Delaware, feeding into the International BioGENEius Challenge with original biotech/genetics research.
Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Journalism Workshop at LMU
11-day residential broadcast workshop producing a live news broadcast, aimed at students facing career-access barriers.
EarthCache
A free, worldwide geology-focused offshoot of geocaching, developed with the Geological Society of America. Participants use GPS coordinates to visit geologically significant real-world sites, answer earth-science questions about what they observe, and can complete self-paced EarthCache Academy lessons on topics like geologic time, fossils, and earthquakes.
EarthEcho Water Challenge
Global citizen-science initiative empowering students to test local water quality (turbidity, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen) and submit findings to a public database that informs local water-protection projects.
Earthwatch Ignite
Earthwatch program offering 12-14 day field research expeditions across the U.S. that pair high school students from underserved schools and communities with practicing scientists on live conservation research projects.
Earthwatch Teen Expeditions (Ignite Fellowship)
Fully-funded field research expeditions run by the nonprofit Earthwatch Institute that place high schoolers alongside professional scientists studying conservation topics like wildlife, climate, and habitat protection.
Ecology Project International (EPI)
Nonprofit that runs 5-14 day field ecology expeditions in biodiverse ecosystems (Yellowstone, Costa Rica, Baja, the Galápagos) where high school students conduct hands-on conservation research alongside professional scientists and local land managers.
Economics for Leaders Virtual (Foundation for Teaching Economics)
The remote version of FTE's Economics for Leaders program for current high school sophomores and juniors, delivering the same economic-reasoning and leadership curriculum online for students unable to attend an in-person site, with optional college credit.
Emerging Filmmakers: Digital Filmmaking Summer Institute — UCLA
3-week intensive writing/shooting/editing a short narrative film on UCLA's campus.
Emerson College Pre-College Journalism Institute
1-5 week sessions for students building/improving a school publication.
Enterprise for Youth: Job Readiness Training
A San Francisco nonprofit workshop series that prepares high school students for the workforce through interview practice, resume building, and workplace-readiness training; it serves as the entry point into Enterprise for Youth's paid internship placements, and students earn a completion stipend.
Enterprise for Youth: Paid Internship Program
A San Francisco nonprofit's paid internship placement program for high school juniors and seniors, offering roles across industries such as tech, retail, healthcare, and small business. Interns complete 75 hours (about 12 hours/week) with weekly professional development workshops and job coach support.
Exoplanet Watch (NASA)
A NASA citizen-science project in which volunteers, including complete beginners, observe exoplanet transits with their own telescope or request free archival/robotic-telescope data, analyze the resulting light curves with NASA's free EXOTIC software, and submit results to a shared scientific database.
FACES for the Future at San Francisco
A school-year academic program at John O'Connell and Mission High Schools pairing SFUSD juniors and seniors with public-health and clinical internship placements (Health Scholars and Public Health Youth Corps pathways), workshops, and professional certifications to build a pipeline into healthcare careers.
FACES Summer Medical Academy (Samuel Merritt University)
A two-week, in-person summer program at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland exposing high schoolers (15+) to medicine, nursing, and allied health through clinical skills training, anatomy workshops, and patient simulations, with certifications in Stop the Bleed and opioid overdose intervention.
FIRST Global Challenge
An international robotics olympics-style event with typically one team per country tackling a global-challenge-themed game each year, emphasizing international collaboration on grand challenges.
Foodwise Teens
A free youth development program from the San Francisco nonprofit Foodwise (formerly CUESA) that trains SFUSD high school students in sustainable food systems through three tracks: Seed (foundational after-school learning), Grow (teen-led projects), and Cultivate (paid summer job placements with mentorship in gardens, kitchens, and farmers markets).
Foothill College Independent Study in Astronomy (ASTR 70R–73R)
A student-designed independent research option within Foothill College's astronomy department that lets dual-enrolled high schoolers contract with an instructor to carry out their own astronomy research project for transferable college credit.
Foundation for Teaching Economics: Environment & the Economy
A residential FTE summer program held at university campuses nationwide for high school sophomores and juniors, using lectures, hands-on classroom activities, case studies, and a field trip to teach a rational, economics-based approach to environmental issues alongside leadership skills.
Fox Chase Cancer Center Immersion Science Program
Free Philadelphia-based laboratory training program for high schoolers 16+, including a hands-on molecular biology training lab and an advanced Summer Fellows research track.
Fred Hutch Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP)
A paid eight-week Seattle-based cancer research internship for 11th-12th graders with little to no prior research experience, opening with two weeks of lab-technique training before mentored work in a Fred Hutch research group.
Galaxy Zoo (Zooniverse)
A Zooniverse citizen-science project, active since 2018, in which volunteers classify the shapes of distant galaxies from telescope images, including new imagery from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, to help astronomers study how galaxies form and evolve.
GeneLab for High Schools (NASA Ames)
Summer program at NASA Ames analyzing spaceflight genomics data with a capstone symposium competition.
Generation Human Rights (GenHR) Student Internship
A remote internship with the nonprofit Generation Human Rights in which high school and university students help develop human rights education curricula, conduct research, and support organizational projects.
Genesys Works Bay Area
A nonprofit connecting underserved Bay Area high school juniors and seniors with eight weeks of business-technology and professional-development training followed by a paid, year-long internship at a partner company plus 60+ hours of college and career coaching.
Genetics Immersion Program (University of Michigan)
A free six-week summer research program in which high schoolers are paired with a Ph.D. or postdoctoral mentor in the University of Michigan Department of Human Genetics to design and run an original genetics research project, with a stipend, free transportation, and daily meals provided.
Genome Science Camp (Cold Spring Harbor DNA Learning Center)
An advanced hands-on genomics camp at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's DNA Learning Center for students entering grades 11-12 with a genetics or AP Biology background, who manufacture Taq DNA polymerase and use it in PCR-based genomic analysis of several organisms.
Genspace Biorocket Youth Research Internship
A community-lab internship teaching genetic-engineering and biology lab skills plus science communication, with scientific mentors, lab tours, and field trips.
Georgetown Law Academy
Two-week residential law/government program with Supreme Court visits.
GLOBE Program (NASA)
Free international citizen-science program in which students collect and submit standardized environmental observations on atmosphere, water, soil, and land cover that feed a global database used by researchers and scientists worldwide.
Gnomon Digital Arts Summer Camp – Animation
A five-day high school summer camp at Gnomon School of VFX, Games & Animation in North Hollywood where students (grades 10-12) learn 3D character animation and visual effects in Autodesk Maya from working industry artists.
GRAMMY Camp – Los Angeles
A seven-day, non-residential music industry intensive run by the GRAMMY Museum Foundation at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles. High schoolers with existing skills apply to a Music Production track (plus Songwriting, Performance, or Music Business) and work with industry professionals on real recording projects.
GRAMMY Museum Songwriting Sessions
A free five-day non-residential songwriting workshop for currently enrolled high schoolers, hosted by the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles. Students build foundational songwriting, production, and music-business skills through hands-on sessions led by music industry professionals.
GSPA Summer Media Academy
A one-week in-person academy at the University of Georgia (run by the Georgia Scholastic Press Association) where high schoolers choose a track in Broadcast Journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Entertainment and Media Studies, or Advertising and PR, producing broadcast shows, news pieces, and short films.
HEAL Internship Program (Alameda Health System HealthPATH)
A clinical-rotation workforce internship for Oakland high schoolers at Alameda Health System's Highland Hospital, exposing students to fields like emergency medicine, pediatrics, and nursing, with elective school credit and a stipend or scholarship for successful completers via the OUSD partnership.
High School Archaeology Camp (Crow Canyon)
Residential camp excavating an actual Ancestral Pueblo site in Colorado.
High School Field School (Center for American Archeology)
Multi-week residential real excavation/lab work in Kampsville, Illinois.
High School Health Research Challenge (HSHRC)
A virtual competition run by the High School Health Research Forum in which full-time students in grades 9-12 worldwide submit original, evidence-based proposals addressing a societal health issue; the 2026 season was listed as forthcoming as of this research.
History Unfolded: US Newspapers and the Holocaust
A nationwide citizen-history project from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum inviting students to research how local U.S. newspapers reported on Holocaust-era events and upload articles to a national database.
Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program
An eight-week paid summer mentorship sponsored by the American Fisheries Society that pairs high school students with local fisheries professionals for hands-on aquatic and fisheries science fieldwork.
IceCube Masterclass
A one-day international program for high school seniors with a strong interest in physics, held at host research institutions, combining lectures on particle astrophysics with hands-on analysis of real data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole and a virtual session connecting with student groups at other host sites worldwide.
iD Tech – Digital Music and Beats
A live, virtual private-lesson course from iD Tech where teens (ages 10-19) learn beat-making and digital music production software one-on-one with an instructor from home, a flexible remote option for students who can't attend an in-person studio program.
Immerse Education: Entrepreneurship Summer School – San Francisco
A two-week residential 'Career Insights Pathway' program for students ages 15-18, based at UC Berkeley with excursions across the San Francisco Bay Area, featuring 45 hours of project-based entrepreneurship teaching, weekly 1:1 coaching, industry visits, and a personal project for college/CV applications, in small classes of 7-10 students.
Immerse Education: Psychology Summer Program
A pre-university psychology summer course for students aged 13-18, held on campuses in Cambridge, Oxford, and other global locations (with an online option), offering small-group, university-style teaching in psychology and an optional academic reference letter.
Inspirit AI Research Program
1:1 mentorship completing an independent AI research project through experimentation.
InStAR Astronomy Research Seminar
Virtual team-based research reducing real telescope data, co-authoring a peer-reviewed paper.
Interlochen Arts Camp – Animation
A three-week residential program at Interlochen Center for the Arts (Michigan) where high schoolers (grades 9-12) create digital animated shorts using industry-standard software in the 26,000-square-foot DeRoy Center for Film Studies, ending in a public screening.
Interlochen Arts Camp – Music Production & Engineering
A three-week residential program at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan where high schoolers (grades 9-12) record, mix, and produce music in professional studios using Pro Tools and Logic Pro, working on live recording sessions with expert faculty.
International / USA Brain Bee
Live Q&A neuroscience competition for high schoolers testing knowledge of the brain, neuroanatomy, histology, MRI, and patient-diagnosis skills, running through local, regional, national, and international levels.
International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC)
A free citizen-science program in which student teams analyze real telescope imaging data using Astrometrica software to search for and report new asteroids. Month-long campaigns run several times a year and student discoveries can result in official credit and provisional asteroid designations.
International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) - U.S. Teams
One of the 12 International Science Olympiads, with the U.S. sending two four-student teams selected via top NACLO performance to compete in individual and team analytical linguistics contests.
International Neuroscience Olympiad (INO)
Global brain-science competition using exams, events, and collaborative learning to make neuroscience accessible to students worldwide.
International Public Policy Forum (IPPF)
Teams of 3-6 research and write a policy debate brief on a global issue, advancing through written elimination rounds to live oral debates in NYC.
Iowa Lyceum
Free week-long virtual philosophy camp from the University of Iowa.
IRIS Seismographs in Schools Program
An NSF-funded program (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) that places real educational seismometers in classrooms so students can access and analyze real-time seismic data from around the world. Several Northern California schools, including in the Sacramento area, participate by hosting a seismometer and using it in coursework.
Irish Weather Rescue
Zooniverse citizen-science project run by Met Éireann (Ireland's national meteorological service) with the Adler Planetarium, University of Minnesota, and University of Oxford. Volunteers transcribe handwritten historical rainfall ledgers online to digitize over 3.5 million observations and help reconstruct Ireland's historical climate record.
Island School Summer Term (Cape Eleuthera Institute)
Six-week residential marine and human ecology program in The Bahamas for rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors, including PADI scuba certification and field research on mangroves, reefs, and sustainable systems.
JA All About Cars
A single-session Junior Achievement of Northern California learning experience that teaches high schoolers to be smart consumers when purchasing a first car, covering true ownership costs, financing versus leasing, and evaluating whether a dream car fits their budget.
JA Career Success
A Junior Achievement of Northern California learning experience in which high school students act as interns in a simulated company, Orbit Boom, rotating through departments to practice workplace skills like goal-setting, collaboration, and problem-solving.
JA Job Shadow
A Junior Achievement of Northern California experience that uses design-thinking activities to help high schoolers explore career paths and connect with local business professionals, culminating in a self-designed individualized career plan.
JA Marketing Principles 1
A one-semester Junior Achievement of Northern California course introducing high schoolers to marketing fundamentals through guest speakers, coaching, and project-based case studies; the course has received UC A-G articulation approval.
JA Personal Finance
A Junior Achievement of Northern California course covering earning, budgeting, saving, credit, debt, and investing across eight core sessions plus three optional modules, helping high schoolers connect today's financial decisions to their future financial well-being.
Jackson Hole Science Expedition (Teton Science Schools)
A 26-day field ecology expedition for students in grades 10-12 based at Teton Science Schools' Kelly Campus in Grand Teton National Park, combining wildlife and ecosystem study with an independent field research project, a Yellowstone camping trip, and a capstone backcountry backpacking expedition.
Jefferson Lab High School Summer Honors Program
A paid six-week research internship at Jefferson Lab where local high schoolers conduct mentored physics and engineering research alongside lab scientists.
John Muir Health Young Healers High School Internship Program
A job-shadowing and career-exploration internship for high school juniors and seniors from partner Contra Costa school districts, offered as a 6-week spring session or 2-week summer session at John Muir Health facilities.
Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Science (JHIBS)
An eight-week Johns Hopkins summer internship placing high schoolers in neuroscience labs to work on projects related to brain imaging and neurological disease under faculty and postdoc mentorship.
Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Sciences (JHIBS)
An eight-week paid summer research internship for Baltimore high school juniors/seniors in neuroscience and mental health medicine.
Judith River Dinosaur Institute Dinosaur Digs
6-day campout excavating real Jurassic dinosaur bones in Montana.
KIDS FIRST! Youth Film Critics Team
A national program where kids and teens who love film join KIDS FIRST!'s film critics team to write reviews and produce on-camera video critiques of children's and family entertainment, with their reviews and ratings published on the organization's platforms.
L.A. Times High School Insider
CA students get their own WordPress account to publish under the LA Times banner.
LA Conservation Corps — Clean & Green
Paid crew-based program where LA teens do community beautification: tree/garden maintenance, graffiti removal, and recycling collection, building job and environmental-stewardship skills.
La Jolla Playhouse Conservatory (Senior)
3-week pre-professional acting intensive with Playhouse artist mentoring.
Ladder Internships
Tech internship matching platform connecting high school students with Bay Area startups for data science and analytics roles.
Las Cumbres Observatory – 100 Global High School Teams
A Las Cumbres Observatory education program that gives high school student teams free access to LCO's global network of 0.4-meter robotic telescopes to observe galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters, with online training in astronomical data-analysis tools such as SalsaJ and TopCAT.
Lawrence Hall of Science - Teen Research Programs
Summer research programs exploring cutting-edge science at UC Berkeley.
LegiSchool Civics Virtual Institute (Sacramento State & California State Legislature)
Four-week online summer institute for California high school students exploring state policy issues and the three branches of government. Includes discussions with officials, research on CA policy, and professional skills workshops; students receive a stipend upon completion.
Lily McKee High School Fellowship (Folger Shakespeare Library)
A spring fellowship for DC-metro-area high school students to conduct original literary research at the Folger Shakespeare Library, using its rare books, manuscripts, and digital collections under guidance from Folger scholars, centered on a different Shakespeare play each year.
LiMPETS Citizen Science Program
CA program monitoring rocky intertidal/sandy beach ecosystems with real conservation data.
LLNL Biotechnology Summer Experience
A free two-week program engaging students in an authentic molecular-biology/bioinformatics research project isolating, characterizing, and sequencing duckweed genes.
Local Summer Archaeological Field School (Foothill College)
Free 10-day field school teaching survey/excavation at Clear Lake, CA sites.
Los Angeles Center of Photography Summer Camp Certificate for Teens
An in-person certificate program at the Los Angeles Center of Photography for students ages 12-18 with no prior experience required, consisting of one foundational course plus two elective courses in photography completed within a single summer term.
LSU Virtual Math Circle
A virtual research-oriented course where high schoolers study material beyond the standard curriculum with a research focus.
Lumiere Education – Economics Research Mentorship
Selective 1:1 mentorship program where you design and execute an original research project in economics and produce a paper or similar output.
Lumiere Education – Linguistics Research Mentorship
A selective, fully virtual research program pairing high schoolers with a PhD mentor in linguistics for a 12-week, one-on-one independent research project culminating in an original paper.
Lumiere Research Scholar Program
12-week 1-on-1 research program where students work with PhD mentors from top universities to conduct original CS research and write research papers.
Manovill Seminar (JFCS Holocaust Center of San Francisco)
A high school seminar run by the JFCS Holocaust Center in San Francisco that examines the Holocaust and the Cambodian genocide, exploring patterns of genocide, Jewish identity, and antisemitism through survivor testimony, archival research, and guided discussion. Students complete a culminating project applying seminar themes and can continue into the Center's Conversation Circle, meeting Holocaust survivors directly through the William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau.
Marine Science Careers + Internship Academy
Weeklong (and multi-week) academy where teens explore intertidal ecology, animal husbandry, lab investigations, and shipboard research aboard Ocean Institute vessels.
Max Planck Florida Institute (MPFI) Summer Research Internship
A six-week full-time paid internship in neuroscience (also scientific-programming and mechanical-engineering tracks) with hands-on wet-lab work including genetic engineering, histology, and microscopy.
Mayo Clinic HERO (Healthcare Experience and Research in Oncology)
A two-week virtual Mayo Clinic program where Midwest high school students collaborate with peers on a genetics-based cancer research project and a patient case study to explore oncology and clinical care.
MediaWise Teen Creator Network (Poynter)
A free virtual newsroom run by the Poynter Institute where teens ages 13-20 research and produce social-media fact-checks and media-literacy content for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube; it evolved in 2026 from the original Teen Fact-Checking Network.
Missouri University Journalism Workshop
A one-week residential summer workshop at the University of Missouri School of Journalism where high schoolers learn 'The Missouri Method' through hands-on instruction in writing, interviewing, audio, podcasting, video, and investigative reporting, culminating in original reporting projects with instructor coaching.
MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute – Serious Games Development with AI
A selective four-week in-person MIT summer program (following an online prerequisite) where high school students with Python proficiency build an AI-driven disease-outbreak simulation game, learning software development practices, UI design, and AI's role in game mechanics.
MOCA Teens
A paid, cohort-based program at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles in which high school juniors and seniors learn about contemporary art and museum work by collaborating on projects with artists, planning public teen events, and meeting museum professionals.
Modus Ponens Institute Intro to Philosophy Camp
4-day live online camp for beginners, no background required.
Mosaic Journalism Workshop
Mosaic is a free youth journalism training program based at San Jose State University serving greater San Jose area high school and community college students. It runs an intensive two-week summer workshop covering reporting, writing, photography, videography, and podcasting, plus paid fall/spring internships and boot camps for student newspaper staff.
Mountain Rain or Snow
NASA- and Desert Research Institute-backed citizen science project (started as Tahoe Rain or Snow) where volunteers text or use a web app during winter storms to report whether precipitation is rain, snow, or a mix, helping researchers improve mountain precipitation forecasting models used across the Sierra Nevada and other US mountain regions.
MSEFCU Student-Run Branches (Merced, CA)
Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union operates student-staffed teller branches inside four Merced-area high schools, where enrolled students ages 14-17 handle real deposits, withdrawals, transfers, and loan payments under supervision while creating financial-education social media content.
MSK HOPP Summer Student Program
A highly selective eight-week paid lab internship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for NYC-area high school juniors, where students conduct an independent, mentor-supported cancer research project in a translational oncology lab.
MSU Denver Art + Action Lab High School Internship
Paid internship at MSU Denver's Center for Visual Art that gives Denver-area high school students an inside look at careers across the arts (curation, installation, programming, education) through hands-on work alongside professional museum staff.
MTC Bay Area High School Internship Program
A paid summer internship placing Bay Area high schoolers with regional transportation, city planning, and public works agencies across nine counties, where students gain hands-on experience in transportation and urban planning and present a capstone project.
Music Production Boot Camp (Music for All)
A hands-on residential music production camp at Ball State University where high schoolers learn Pro Tools, Ableton, professional recording sessions, and game-audio design in a 10,000-square-foot studio facility, run by the nonprofit Music for All.
National Academy Foundation – Academy of Finance
Career academy within participating high schools teaching finance, banking, and entrepreneurship, requiring an 80+ hour internship and earning NAFTrack Certification.
National Student Leadership Conference: Law & Advocacy
A selective 9-day residential pre-college program at Georgetown University or the University of Michigan where students step into the role of trial attorney, examining evidence and arguing a simulated case from start to finish alongside practicing attorneys.
National Youth Leadership Forum: Law & CSI
Explores both sides of the criminal justice system via simulations and legal/forensic mentorship.
Native Biodiversity Corps (NBC)
High schoolers throughout San Diego design and implement native-wildlife gardens on their home campuses, gaining inquiry- and critical-thinking skills through nature-based fieldwork.
Naturalists in Training
HS interns train in science communication and conservation, then engage Museum visitors through interpretive activities and independent natural-history projects.
NEURO-RocHS
A paid six-week neuroscience research program pairing Rochester high schoolers with University of Rochester Del Monte Institute lab mentors for hands-on research and career-pathway exposure. Currently limited to Rochester City School District partner schools.
News Decoder
A global nonprofit journalism education platform where students draft, revise, and publish news and opinion stories with mentorship from professional journalists through its 'Get Published' pipeline, plus a 'Youth Voices' section showcasing student work and contest winners.
NexGeneGirls
A San Francisco (Bayview Hunters Point)-based nonprofit offering hands-on biotech bootcamps and paid internships for high school girls of color from underserved SF neighborhoods, teaching lab techniques like pipetting, DNA extraction, and cloning with mentorship from CCSF and SFSU scientists.
Non-Trivial Research Fellows
An 8-week online summer research fellowship for students ages 14-20 to develop an original research or policy project on high-impact issues including AI safety, with $1,000 in project grants available and no program fees; one of the most selective teen programs by application volume.
Non-Trivial Research Scholars
The advanced tier of Non-Trivial's research pathway, offering high-achieving students ages 14-20 ongoing custom mentorship, publication support, and career guidance, with top projects earning up to $10,000 and other Scholars receiving at least $2,000.
Northern California Public Media (KRCB) Student Internship Program
NorCal Public Media, operator of public TV/radio station KRCB, offers a paid internship for high school, technical school, and college students interested in news, journalism, digital media, and environmental storytelling, providing hands-on newsroom and production experience.
NYFA 3-Week 3D Animation Summer Camp for Teens
A three-week intensive at the New York Film Academy's Los Angeles campus where teens (ages 14-17) learn 3D animation fundamentals — drawing, storyboarding, sculpting, and character animation — from professional animators and VFX artists, with optional residential housing.
NYFA 3-Week Screenwriting Summer Camp for Teens
A three-week screenwriting intensive at the New York Film Academy's Los Angeles campus where teens (ages 14-17) learn story structure, character development, and script formatting from professional screenwriters, culminating in a completed short script.
NYU Langone High School Bioethics Project Internship
An NYU Langone Medical Ethics internship where high schoolers work with faculty on real bioethics issues like genetic testing, transplant ethics, and clinical consent, producing case studies and lesson materials.
Oakland University Philosophy Camp
5-day residential camp with lectures, discussions, ethics-bowl-style activities.
Pacific McGeorge Law Summer Camp
University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law offers a two-week immersive high school course, 'Lawyers and the Rule of Law,' in Sacramento, where students learn legal analysis, argue mock cases, mediate disputes, and draft contracts alongside law faculty and JD students, with courtroom field trips.
Pathways to Health Careers Academy (Charles R. Drew University)
Year-long LA pipeline program starting with a 4-week summer academy plus community internship.
PBS News Student Reporting Labs Summer Academy
Free, all-expenses-paid week near D.C. reporting real community stories with PBS/WETA mentors.
Perspectives Photo School – Youth Photography Program
A Bay Area photography school in Emeryville offering teens (ages 12-18) studio-based technical training plus field shoots across Bay Area locations like Golden Gate Park and Tilden Regional Park, with an advanced Photography Intensive + Exhibition track for building a portfolio.
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology Volunteer & Internship Program
Volunteer and internship placements at UC Berkeley's Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology supporting exhibitions, education and public programs, conservation, registration, and collections management under staff supervision; open to Bay Area community members, with capacity currently limited.
Photosprouts Teen Photography Camp
Small-group teen photography camps (ages 12-19) in San Francisco and Palo Alto where all camera equipment (Canon R50 mirrorless, lenses) is provided; students shoot on location around the Bay Area and learn editing in Adobe Lightroom.
Pioneer Academics – Global Problem-Solving Institute: Analyzing AI
A college-accredited virtual research program where high school students in grades 9-12 tackle a predefined 'Analyzing AI' challenge exploring how to steer AI toward safer, more ethical outcomes, combining artificial intelligence, economics, and science-technology-society perspectives under university faculty mentorship.
Pioneer Academics — Astronomy Research Program
Accredited online 1:1 research program culminating in an original paper for college credit.
Pioneer Academics — Psychology Research Program
A fully accredited, virtual research institute in which high school students write an original psychology research paper over several months, starting in small international seminar groups before moving to one-on-one mentorship with a professor; credit is offered through Oberlin College & Conservatory.
Placer County Criminal Justice Pathways Summer Workshop
A District Attorney's Office program that introduces Placer County high schoolers to the criminal justice system through presentations, tours of the Santucci Justice Center, and hands-on activities with prosecutors and investigators.
Planet Hunters TESS (Zooniverse)
A free online citizen-science project where volunteers examine light-curve data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to help identify signals of possible exoplanets. Participant identifications have contributed to real peer-reviewed exoplanet discoveries, and an educator guide supports classroom or independent use.
Political Science Internships for High School Students in California – Ladder Internships Guide
Article compiling 15 real political internships in California (e.g., USC Center for the Political Future, state legislative offices, local government programs). Many are exactly the kind of public policy placements you're looking for.
Polygence - Computer Science Research
1-on-1 mentorship with graduate students and PhDs to conduct original computer science research over 10-20 sessions.
Polygence - Neuroscience Research
1-on-1 research mentorship. You can request a mentor specifically in Neurobiology or Cognitive Science.
Polygence – Artificial Intelligence Research
A 1-on-1 mentorship program pairing high school students with expert or PhD mentors to design and complete an original AI/machine learning research project of their choosing, culminating in a paper, GitHub portfolio, or conference-style presentation.
Polygence – Economics Projects
Online mentorship program where you choose an econ topic (e.g., inequality, macro, development) and build a project such as a paper, data analysis, or policy brief.
Polygence – Environmental & Earth Science Research
One-on-one research mentorship pairing high schoolers with a PhD mentor to design and complete an original environmental or earth science project, spanning topics like geology, natural hazards, and sustainability, culminating in a paper, presentation, or other deliverable.
Polygence – Linguistics Research Projects
A one-on-one online research mentorship matching high schoolers with a linguistics-focused mentor (covering topics like applied, cognitive, and sociolinguistics) to design and complete an independent research project resulting in a paper, website, or podcast.
Polygence – Psychology & Sociology Research Projects
A personalized, one-on-one online mentorship program pairing high school students with PhD mentors in social psychology, clinical psychology, sociology, or public policy to complete an original research project, paper, or creative output over roughly 3-6 months.
Pre-College Program in American History (William & Mary / Colonial Williamsburg NIAHD)
Three-week residential summer program where high schoolers earn William & Mary college credit while studying American history on-site at Colonial Williamsburg.
Public Health Solutions (PHS) - Contra Costa Health
A training-and-internship model run by Contra Costa Health that teaches youth ages 14-19 from underserved communities the principles of public health, social determinants of health, and health equity, with successful completers matched to paid public health internships.
Pulsar Science Collaboratory (NANOGrav)
An out-of-school-time citizen-science research program in which students age 13 and up receive training and then analyze real radio-astronomy data from the Green Bank and Arecibo-affiliated telescopes to search for new pulsars; several student participants have been credited as co-discoverers of real pulsars.
Quarknet - Cosmic Ray Studies
National program connecting HS teachers and students with particle physics researchers; includes cosmic ray detector projects.
Radio Bilingüe – Alza tu Voz / Speak Out Youth Radio Program
A free youth radio production training program based in Salinas, California, where teens learn basic radio production and produce a weekly bilingual music and talk show broadcast live on KHDC 90.9 FM to Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
Reason & Rationality High School Foundation Program
2-week residential "intellectual salon" at Princeton Theological Seminary.
ReData
Zooniverse citizen-science project led by the Meteonetwork Association with the University of Milan and Politecnico di Milano to digitize historical Italian meteorological data (1879-1940) from the former Royal Central Meteorological Office archives, creating an open dataset for climate research.
Research Mentorship Program (RMP)
Six-week university-level summer research program pairing top HS students with UCSB faculty/grad mentors across disciplines, including environmental science and environmental policy.
Richmond Pulse Youth Voices
A Richmond, California community journalism program that trains young people in multimedia reporting and storytelling as youth reporters for the local outlet Richmond Pulse, with participants paid for their published work.
RISE Research – Machine Learning Research Mentorship
A 10-week 1-on-1 research mentorship program pairing high school students with PhD mentors from institutions like MIT, Oxford, and Carnegie Mellon to produce original, publishable machine learning research, with a stated 90% publication success rate.
RJOY Youth Internship Program
A paid restorative-justice internship in Oakland for ages 15-19. Interns learn to facilitate community-building circles and develop leadership, public speaking, and life-planning skills over a 10-week cohort that meets three afternoons a week, including an overnight trip to RJOY's Ubuntu Healing Farm.
Rubin Comet Catchers (Zooniverse)
A Zooniverse citizen-science project launched in 2025 in which volunteers examine images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time to spot comets and active asteroids showing tails or comae, helping scientists understand how planetary systems, including our own, formed and evolved.
Sacramento County DA Criminal Justice Youth Shadow Day
A one-day job-shadowing event held by the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office where current or incoming Sacramento County high schoolers are paired with prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation officers, investigators, and judges to see the criminal justice system firsthand.
San Diego Natural History Museum High School Internship
School-credit internship rotating through Paleontology, Entomology, and Botany departments.
San Francisco Historical Society Internship
SFHS internship roles for high school students to support the Museum of San Francisco, archives, and educational programming.
San Jose Conservation Corps + Climate Corps Youth Climate Corps
Paid internship for Santa Clara County high schoolers working on local climate and environmental improvement projects with the San Jose Conservation Corps.
Sandia National Laboratories High School Internships - Livermore
Highly selective paid internships in engineering, physics, chemistry and related fields at Sandia's California site.
Save Ancient Studies Alliance Mentoring Team Internship
Remote unpaid internship mentoring younger students interested in ancient studies/archaeology.
Save the Cat! Screenplay Challenge
A prestigious international screenplay competition based on the popular Save the Cat! story methodology; writers under 18 may enter features or TV pilots with parent/guardian permission. Every entrant receives a full professional script analysis, and the grand prize includes a trip to Los Angeles and a live table read at the Lee Strasberg Institute.
SCA Bay Area Urban Green
Paid, after-school/weekend conservation jobs for Bay Area high schoolers restoring parks and green spaces across Vallejo, Oakland, Hayward, SF, and the Peninsula.
Scripps Research Alcohol Research Center – HS Mentorship Program
A neuroscience-focused mentorship program offering both a virtual Summer Journal Club and an in-person lab research track exploring how alcohol and drugs affect the brain.
Sea Education Association (SEA) High School/Pre-College Programs
Pre-college marine science and oceanography courses offered either on land at SEA's Woods Hole, Massachusetts campus or aboard a tall-ship research vessel at sea, open to current high schoolers and graduating seniors.
Service Learning in Public Policy (SLiPP)
A week-long immersive summer program at Founding Forward's Valley Forge, PA campus for students entering 9th-11th grade, combining public-policy coursework, hands-on service-learning projects, and college-prep workshops across four tracks: Environment & STEM Policy, Healthcare Policy, Legal Policy, and Media & Communications Policy. The 2026 session runs July 26-31.
SF Bay Area Urban Green SCA
SCA's Bay Area Urban Green program provides year-round paid opportunities for high school students to work on urban environmental projects, some involving historic sites.
SIREN Youth Leadership Internship
A paid year-long internship with SIREN (Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network) in which youth ages 16-25 organize alongside immigrant and refugee communities in the Bay Area (San Jose) or Central Valley (Fresno), building leadership and community-organizing skills. Interns support SIREN's Youth Leadership Institute programming and civic engagement campaigns.
Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation High School Summer Programs
College-credit-bearing summer field courses at the Smithsonian's conservation research campus in Virginia, where high schoolers learn hands-on conservation ecology field methods from Smithsonian and George Mason University researchers.
SOCAPA Los Angeles
A precollege summer intensive held at Occidental College in Los Angeles offering 2- and 3-week courses in filmmaking, screenwriting, and photography for students ages 14-18, with both residential and day-student options.
Southern Exposure (SoEx) Internships
Internships in a nonprofit visual arts organization supporting exhibitions, education, and community art projects; strong exposure to curatorial and gallery operations.
Speaker of the Assembly – District Office Student Internship Program (California)
Unpaid internship in a California State Assembly district office, performing constituent services, legislative research, event support, and community outreach—excellent direct exposure to state politics.
SPICE – Summer Program in Computational Psychiatry Education
A free eight-week NYC program at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai introducing high schoolers, especially from underrepresented STEM backgrounds, to computational psychiatry and neuroscience research.
St. Jude High School Research Immersion Program
A paid eight-week summer research program at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for Memphis-area rising seniors, who pair with a mentor on a lab, epidemiology, clinical, or data-science project related to childhood cancer.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes – Business Strategy
A Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes course where high schoolers analyze strategic decision-making at the global, industry, corporate, and functional levels, applying core business strategy concepts to real-world case examples in a live online classroom.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes – Introduction to International Relations
This two-week virtual course from Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes analyzes the causes of war and peace, global trade and protectionism, and international inequality through faculty lectures, small-group discussion sections, a public-opinion data analysis exercise, and a policy memo.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes: Legal Studies
Legal reasoning tools from law, education, and business faculty, capped by a mock trial.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes: Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence
A two-week live-online Stanford Pre-Collegiate philosophy course examining the ethics and metaphysics of artificial intelligence, including questions of machine consciousness, algorithmic fairness, accountability, and potential machine rights, through readings, discussion, and projects.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes: Sociology of Inequality
A two-week live-online Stanford Pre-Collegiate course examining the causes and consequences of social and economic inequality through sociological frameworks, discussion, and short analytical writing, culminating in a group presentation.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes: The Nature of Evil
A two-week live-online Stanford Pre-Collegiate course exploring philosophical, psychological, and historical conceptions of evil, from individual wrongdoing to bureaucratic and systemic harm, culminating in a comparative-analysis group presentation.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes: Topics in Neuroscience
A two-week live-online Stanford Pre-Collegiate course introducing high schoolers to core neuroscience concepts spanning brain structure, cognition, and behavior, through discussion-based sessions and a culminating project.
Stanford Summer Session: Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology
An eight-week Stanford Summer Session course open to current high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors that introduces core anthropological concepts and methods through ethnographic case studies on gender, power, and immigration, plus hands-on field-observation exercises in Bay Area communities.
Stockholm Junior Water Prize (US/CA)
Students conduct an original water-related research project, competing through state and national judging; the US winner receives a cash prize and represents the US at the international finals in Sweden.
Summer Acting Workshop — South Coast Repertory
Two-week open-enrollment acting camp culminating in a family showcase.
SVA Pre-College Program
The School of Visual Arts' pre-college program in New York City offers high schoolers ages 14-18 intensive summer, fall, and spring coursework in disciplines including animation, cartooning, and film taught by SVA faculty, with summer participants earning three college credits.
TCR History Camp
An immersive online or in-person workshop in which secondary students choose their own historical research topic and, guided by instructors, transform it into a first draft of a historical research paper over a two-week session.
Teach Me Wall Street: Investing & Trading Summer Program
A live virtual summer program for grades 9-12 covering stock market fundamentals, technical analysis, risk management, and portfolio management across two-hour live Zoom sessions in small breakout groups, with multiple weekly session times offered June through August.
The Nature Conservancy LEAF Program
Paid summer conservation internships for urban high school students, offering hands-on stewardship work and career exposure with The Nature Conservancy at sites across the country.
ThinkNeuro Virtual Research Internship
A fee-based, 10-week virtual neuroscience research program pairing high schoolers with mentors from institutions including Harvard and Stanford Medicine to complete an independent research project.
Turn Up Youth Activism – Remote Internship
Remote civic-engagement internship doing voter registration, advocacy, social-media campaigns, and organizing.
UC Davis Department of Anthropology Museum Outreach Program
UC Davis's Anthropology Museum invites elementary and high school students, especially from the greater Sacramento area, for group visits, private viewings of its artifact collections, and introductions to anthropology; the department also offers a hands-on museum internship for interested students.
UCLA Brain Research Institute – CELL Scholars
A paid, school-year research position at UCLA for high school juniors and seniors from underrepresented backgrounds, working in UCLA labs, including neuroscience, with graduate mentors on technical and coding skills.
UCLA BrainSPORT Summer High School Internship
An in-person clinical research internship with pediatric neurologist Dr. Christopher Giza's team, where students assist with concussion and traumatic brain injury research through neuroimaging, cognitive testing, and patient recruitment.
UCLA Summer Sessions Greek & Latin Intensive Language Courses
Eight-week, in-person intensive Greek or Latin courses at UCLA that compress a full year of language study, preparing students to read authors like Homer or Cicero in the original. Language Intensives are on UCLA's pre-approved course list for high schoolers age 15+, so no petition is required.
UCSF Fresno Doctors Academy & Junior Doctors Academy
A multi-week summer healthcare career-exploration program run by UCSF Fresno for Central Valley high school seniors from partner school districts, combining mentorship from health professionals, hospital and clinic shadowing at VA and community facilities, and personal-development workshops.
UNCSA Animation Summer Intensive
A rigorous introductory-to-advanced animation intensive at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, open to rising high school freshmen through incoming college freshmen, covering animation fundamentals and advanced technique.
Unearthing Ancient History in Tuscany (Earthwatch)
Teen expedition excavating a Roman-Etruscan site in Populonia, Italy.
United States Senate Page Program
A highly selective program in which junior-year high schoolers, sponsored and appointed by a U.S. senator, work full-time delivering documents and assisting with Senate floor operations in the Capitol while attending an accredited early-morning school.
University at Albany RNA Institute High School Bioinformatics Summer Camp
A competitive virtual camp training students to analyze RNA-sequencing data through live lectures and mentorship, with an independent bioinformatics project based in neurodegenerative-disease research.
University of Dallas Summer Institute in Classical Languages
A fully online summer program offering intensive first-year Latin or Greek language courses for college credit. High school students who have completed their junior year and are at least 16 by July 1 are explicitly encouraged to apply, alongside undergraduates and teachers.
University of Michigan BioMed Focus
An eight-week paid biomedical research internship at Michigan Medicine for Michigan high school juniors and seniors, combining full-time lab research with science-communication training and college-prep support.
University of Michigan Genetics Immersion Program (GIP)
A six-week paid in-person experience working in active genetics/genomics labs with graduate-student mentors, with training in DNA analysis, genetic screening, and molecular biology.
Urban Barcode Research Program (UBRP)
A Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center mentorship program where NYC-area high schoolers use DNA barcoding lab techniques to study local biodiversity over the school year, presenting their findings at a research symposium.
USC Bridge Institute BUGS Jr. Program
Paid summer research program pairing high schoolers with USC faculty labs across biological disciplines, culminating in a poster symposium.
USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future High School Summer Internship
A fully virtual USC summer research internship in which competitively selected high schoolers analyze environmental and sustainability legislation, attend speaker sessions, and produce a published policy assignment.
USC Gould Pre-Law Summer Program
A USC Gould School of Law course dissecting case law, practicing oral advocacy, attending real federal appellate proceedings.
USC Pre-College: Digital Marketing – From Content Creation to Strategic Planning
A fully online, self-paced USC Pre-College course where high schoolers learn digital marketing strategy, brand development, content creation, social media platforms, and data analytics through recorded lectures and real campaign analysis.
USGS Volunteer for Science Program
Federal volunteer program placing supervised volunteers directly on USGS research projects.
Vacaville Fire Explorers Program
A hands-on Explorer post for Vacaville-area youth ages 15-18 interested in fire service careers, offering training alongside Vacaville Fire Department personnel in equipment, procedures, physical conditioning, and emergency response fundamentals.
Vanderbilt Aspirnaut Summer Research Internship
A six-week residential biomedical research internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for high schoolers nationwide, who work full-time in a lab on projects ranging from kidney disease to cancer alongside paid room, board, and stipend.
Vanderbilt Research Experience for High School Students (REHSS)
A six-week immersive research internship that embeds rising seniors full-time in a Vanderbilt University or Vanderbilt University Medical Center research lab under a faculty mentor.
Veritas AI Fellowship
12-15 week 1:1 mentorship building an original AI model.
Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)
A Library of Congress American Folklife Center program that collects and preserves firsthand veteran narratives, with students in grade 10+ conducting and submitting oral-history interviews with veterans.
Vindolanda Trust Work Experience Placement
A structured work-experience placement for students aged 16-17 at the Vindolanda Trust's Roman Army Museum and Vindolanda Fort and Museum in Northumberland, England, including hands-on excavation assistance, post-excavation and artifact preservation work, and a final project, with opportunities to observe live digs.
Waksman Student Scholars Program (Rutgers)
A year-long program at Rutgers University in which high school students and their teachers conduct authentic genomic sequence analysis research on the duckweed species Landoltia punctata, beginning with a summer institute and continuing as a class or club project through the school year.
Weather Archive Africa (Zooniverse Citizen Science)
A virtual citizen-science project where volunteers help digitize and quality-check historical African weather station records from paper archives, supporting climate change research across 43 African countries. Students transcribe station names, dates, and readings, and flag damaged documents.
WPI Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (BCB) Summer Research Experience
A program where high schoolers apply math and CS to biological/medical problems through lectures, journal clubs, and lab work.
Write the World Screenwriting Competition
An online screenwriting competition from the global teen writing platform Write the World, open to writers ages 13-19 to submit an original short screenplay for peer and professional feedback and judging, part of Write the World's monthly competition series.
Yale Neuroscience Summer Scholars (YNSS)
An eight-week summer program covering neuroscience, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation, with didactic education, lab-technique training, and a supervised research project for New Haven Public Schools students.
Yale Young Global Scholars – Politics, Law & Economics
A highly selective two-week residential summer program at Yale (14,000+ applicants for the full program) in which high schoolers take the Politics of Law & Economics (PLE) academic track alongside Innovations in Science & Technology and Solving Global Challenges tracks, across three summer sessions.
YIS CYIA™ Designation Program
A highly selective credential from the Young Investors Society, earned by fewer than 10% of members, requiring completed coursework, a 3.0+ GPA, participation in a Stock Pitch Competition, a savings/investing challenge, a recommendation letter, community service hours, and a passing score on a quarterly 60-question timed exam based on investment analysis material.
Young Scientists Program (YSP)
Ocean-loving high schoolers conduct hands-on research projects in conjunction with the Aquarium's Aquatic Nursery, exploring marine biology through original investigation.
Youth Art Exchange – Teaching Assistant / Alumni Intern
Year-round or session-based paid roles where advanced teens assist teaching artists, support classes, and mentor younger students.
Youth Radio (Oakland)
Oakland nonprofit training teens in journalism/audio storytelling, with paid pathway after training.
Youth Radio (YR Media)
Youth Radio is an Oakland, California nonprofit that trains young people ages 14-24 as journalists, podcast producers, and media makers, pairing them with professional editors to produce real published audio and media work. Relaunched in 2026 after a hiatus, the program requires no prior experience and centers youth voice on current events and culture.
ECFinder provides links to outside extracurricular opportunities for informational purposes only. Students and families should research each program before applying. ECFinder does not operate or control the listed organizations and is not responsible for their actions or policies.