11 Online Engineering Programs for High School Students
If you're a high school student eager to dive into the world of engineering, online programs offer a unique and accessible opportunity to explore various engineering disciplines from the comfort of your home. These programs provide a flexible way to gain valuable hands-on experience, develop practical skills, and network with professionals — all essential for your future academic and career success.
Participating in an online engineering program can significantly enhance your college applications and set the foundation for your journey in your chosen field. Engaging in these programs allows you to acquire real-world experience, explore different career paths, and develop critical skills highly valued by college admissions committees.
In this blog, we’ve curated a list of some of the best online engineering programs specifically tailored for high school students. We’ve featured prestigious institutions such as NASA, Stanford, MIT, and Oxford. These programs offer the best experience to help you kickstart your engineering career.
Ladder Internships is a selective internship program for ambitious high school students. With this program, you will be paired with a startup or nonprofit anywhere in the world for a virtual internship role. Ladder’s partner organizations that you can intern with function across a range of industries, and you can take your pick! Choices include technology, engineering, media, sustainability, media, visual communication, journalism, artificial intelligence, health tech and more.
As an intern, you will work closely with a manager from the startup or nonprofit on a real-world project, contributing to the organization’s larger goal. You will also be paired with a Ladder coach, who will serve as a second mentor, guiding you during the program. Interns are offered one-on-one training in communication, time management, and other valuable skills. You will also have the opportunity to attend group training sessions with other interns in their cohort. The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long.
Dates: The summer 2024 cohort starts on June 3 and runs till August. Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including fall and spring.
Cost: Starts at $1990; Financial aid is offered.
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates and gap year students!
Deadline: Summer cohort (regular admission 1): April 14, 2024 | Summer cohort (regular admission 2): May 12, 2024
2. Veritas AI
Veritas AI stands is an online AI program tailored for middle and high school students, founded and run by graduates from Harvard University. For middle schoolers, there are two distinct paths available. The first is the AI Trailblazers boot camp, where participants delve into the basics of artificial intelligence and machine learning, alongside foundational Python skills. Engaging in practical AI projects spanning fields such as medicine, finance, and autonomous vehicles, students receive guidance from mentors from leading universities. This option is particularly suitable for beginners. This program runs for a total of 25 hours over 10 weekends.
Alternatively, for those who have completed the boot camp or possess prior Python experience, the AI Junior Fellowship presents an enticing opportunity. Over a 12-week period, participants collaborate one-on-one with a mentor to develop their own project or research paper. This avenue offers a compelling platform to explore AI within the context of various disciplines, enabling students to exhibit their enthusiasm and skills. Find the application form here.
For more detailed information about these programs, interested individuals are encouraged to review the provided program brochure.
Dates: Upcoming Summer dates can be found here.
Cost: AI Trailblazers - $1,790; AI Junior Fellowship - $2,900; Need-based financial aid is available.
Eligibility: High School Students.
Deadline: Upcoming summer deadlines - March 24, 2024 (early admission), April 21 (regular admission I), May 19 (regular admission II)
3. Horizon
Horizon offers trimester-long research programs for high school students across subject areas such as data science, machine learning, political theory, biology, chemistry, neuroscience, psychology, and more! It is one of the very few research programs for high school students that offers a choice between quantitative and qualitative research!
Once you select a particular subject track and type of research you’ll be paired with a professor or Ph.D. scholar (from a top university) who will mentor you throughout your research journey. You’ll work to create a 20-page, university-level research paper that you can send to prestigious journals for publication as a high school student.
This program is a solid opportunity for you to pursue a research program in highly specialized fields, under the guidance of a top scholar. The program also provides a letter of recommendation for each student, as well as detailed project feedback that you can use to work on future projects and on college applications. Apply here!
Location: Virtual
Application Date: May 21, 2024 for the summer cohort, and September 25, 2024 for the fall cohort
Program Dates:
Summer seminar - June 24, 2024 - September 2, 2024
Fall seminar - October 23, 2024 - February 19, 2025
Lab dates are flexible, but you must apply 4 weeks in advance.
Eligibility: High school students with good academic standing (>3.67/4.0 GPA) can apply. Most accepted students are 10th/11th graders! Only a couple of tracks require formal prerequisites, more details of which can be found here.
SHTEM offers high school and community college students the opportunity to engage in cutting-edge research remotely, guided by Stanford's distinguished faculty and industry experts. As a participant, you will explore a wide range of topics in engineering and beyond, committing 30-40 hours per week to research and regular communication with mentors and peers.
Themes include information science, communication, engineering, arts, linguistics, psychology, biology, neuroscience, computer science, technology, philosophy, and design. The program aims to develop your technical skills and a success-oriented mindset.
Dates: Eight weeks in the summer; 2024 dates are June 17 to August 9, 2024.
Cost: Free for all accepted participants.
Eligibility: Applicants must:- Be current high school juniors or seniors in the 2023-2024 school year (i.e. 11th or 12th grade at the time of application) OR full-time CC students (within first three years of CC)- Be at least 14 by June 17 (if you are a high school junior or senior). - Be between the age of 17 and 21 (inclusive) by June 17 (if you are a full-time CC student).
Deadline: Applications typically close in February.
Kode With Klossy, initiated by model and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss, provides a fortnight-long summer camp designed to empower young women and non-binary individuals in high school by delving into the realms of coding and technology. The program offers four main tracks to choose from: web development, mobile app development, machine learning, and data science. The first two options are particularly well-suited if you have an interest in software engineering, covering aspects such as front-end development, UI/UX enhancement, and programming languages like JavaScript and HTML.
Additionally, participants will gain hands-on experience with tools such as Xcode and Apple’s SwiftUI framework. However, prospective attendees are encouraged to review the details of each track to determine which aligns best with their interests.
Dates: Session 1 from June 3 to June 14, 2024;
Session 2 from June 17 to June 28, 2024;
Session 3 from July 8 to July 19, 2024;
Session 4 from July 22 to August 2, 2024;
Session 5 from August 5 to August 16, 2024.
Cost: Free for all accepted participants.
Eligibility: Open to girls, gender non-conforming, and trans students who are between the ages of 13 - 18.
Deadline: April 10, 2024
The Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI) stands out as an ideal option for students eager to dive into a hands-on journey into robotics, autonomous systems, and mechanical engineering. Within BWSI, you'll delve into practical skills like designing, constructing, and programming robotic systems, all while gaining a deep understanding of computer engineering principles. The curriculum delves into cutting-edge technologies, engineering methodologies, and computer science techniques.
A standout feature of the program is the collaborative project, where you'll team up with fellow students to create autonomous drones, rovers, or other innovative robotic systems. This project culminates in a final presentation, offering participants a platform to showcase their hard work. BWSI caters perfectly to ambitious, imaginative high school students who are eager to broaden their horizons, tackle challenging projects, and nurture their passion for mechanical engineering within a supportive, intellectually stimulating environment. It's worth noting that admission to the Beaver Works Summer Institute is highly competitive and limited due to its selective nature. For more detailed information, check our deep dive blog post review for this program.
Dates: Four weeks in the summer; typically from July to August
Cost: Free for all accepted participants.
Eligibility: All High school students in the U.S.
Deadline: March 31st, 2024
UC Berkeley's summer course on data science to AI is dedicated to providing students with a comprehensive understanding of AI, machine learning (ML), and big data science fundamentals. The academy offers personalized 1-1 classes tailored for students aged 12-18, along with a specialized junior Python coders program catering to ages 7-11.
Throughout these programs, you will delve into the intricacies of Python coding underlying AI and develop ML models using real-world data. Ideal for those seeking to enhance their technical skills, the course accommodates students with varying levels of coding proficiency. Collaborating in small groups, attendees will have the opportunity to conceptualize and execute their projects and models. Check out our detailed review article on this program if you’d like more information.
Dates: July 15 - Aug 2
Cost: $2,495 program fee; Limited financial aid available.
Eligibility: Ages 12-14, 15-18
Deadline: March 31st, 2024 for coding. AI applications start from July 15th, 2024.
EnergyMag offers virtual research internships to students looking to gain experience working in the renewable energy sector. As an intern with EnergyMag, you will have the opportunity to gain valuable research and policy-oriented experience in engineering. Students gain research and analytical skills, alongside work experience, by researching companies, analyzing technologies, and more by working half-time (2-8 weeks, 20 hours per week) or quarter-time (1-9 months, 8 hours per week).
Under the expert guidance of professionals, interns will take part in various tasks that align with their academic background and interests. Interns will be equipped with various skills in science from analyzing wind turbine designs to optimizing the efficiency of solar panel configurations enabling interns to work and have a direct impact on renewable energy solutions.
Dates: Rolling Dates
Cost: Free for all accepted participants.
Eligibility: Sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have taken at least one honors science or honors English class; minimum GPA of 3.25.
Deadline: Applications are open year-round, you can apply here.
BlueStamp offers an immersive 2-week summer program for high school students with an interest in technology and engineering. As part of the program, you will work on a project-based remote internship where you will be guided by a mentor who is an expert in the engineering industry.
At the start of the program, you will be provided with a project that matches your interests and skills — something you can build from start to finish. Some interns can expect to do projects in Robotics, Coding, Hardware, Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, 3D Printing, and more.
Each student will work hands-on to build and finish their self-selected project and culminate the program with an engineering portfolio to share with their peers.
Dates: Session 1: June 10 - June 28, 2024;
Session 2: July 1 - July 19, 2024;
Session 3: July 22 - August 9, 2024
Cost: $2200 program fee; financial aid is available.
Eligibility: Incoming 9th to 12th grade students.
Deadline: Applications are on a rolling basis.
10. The Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging’s Summer Research Internship
The Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging is an internship that invites students to participate in the technical aspects of healthcare. The internship provides a series of lectures on AI and computer software in healthcare which is complemented by working on an actual research project. Interns will also be under the expert guidance of Stanford AI research engineers, who will guide them through their projects.
Interns will also have the opportunity to build strong networks in the tech industry by attending Virtual Career Lunch and Learns with guest speakers who are from various parts of academia, nonprofits, and government.
Dates: Two weeks in the summer; 2024 dates are June 17, 2024 - June 28, 2024.
Cost: Free for all accepted participants.
Eligibility:
Summer Research interns must be high school students over the age of 14 by the start of the program.
Student leads must be California residents.
Student interns must reside in the U.S.
Student leads must also be students over the age of 14 and may also be undergraduate students with a computer science background.
Deadline: Typically by the end of March.
Oxford Scholastica offers several internships in the STEM field for students interested in software development and coding. These internships are a great foundation for a good understanding of software and computer engineering. As an intern, you will be under the guidance of expert researchers who will guide you through one month of research and help you co-author a final research paper for publication in an academic journal.
This year, the remote internship offers two research internships for those interested in computer engineering:
Cybersecurity & Machine Learning Research Internship: This internship is offered in the month of June. As an intern, you will delve into the latest research in AI and machine learning and learn about its direct applications in cybersecurity.
Human-Robot Interaction Research Internship: This internship is offered in the month of July. During this internship, you will learn about developments in the field of computer science and social robotics by analyzing algorithms and ML models.
Both these internships will encourage you to work together with your peers and complete research to co-author an academic paper — helping you get that boost in your college CV and applications.
Dates: Dates differ depending on the program.
Cost: Varies depending on the program.
Eligibility: High school juniors, 12 to 18 years of age
Deadline: Applications are on a rolling basis.
One other option - Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you’re interested in pursuing independent research, you could also consider applying to one of the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs, selective online high school programs for students founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
Image Source: Ladder Internships logo
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