10 Online Entrepreneurship Internships and Programs for High School Students
Internships offer more than just a glimpse into the professional world—they allow you to build skills, experiences, and networks that can contribute to your future. For high school students, internships are a great way to explore career interests, develop problem-solving and communication skills, and experience the real-world applications of classroom learning.
Participating in an entrepreneurship internship is a great way to improve your creativity, resilience, and ability to find solutions. Colleges value students who show initiative and leadership, and taking on entrepreneurial challenges can help you demonstrate these traits. Whether you're pitching ideas, analyzing markets, or developing business plans, an entrepreneurship internship can make your college application stand out.
Here’s our list of 10 online entrepreneurship internships and programs for high school students! These programs are remote, allowing you to participate from anywhere.
Cost: Starting at $2,490 (financial aid available)
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort. Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September) and Winter (November).
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program for ambitious high school students! In the program, you work with a high-growth start-up on an internship. Start-ups that offer internships range across a variety of industries, from tech/deep tech and AI/ML to health tech, marketing, journalism, consulting, and more. You can explore all the options here on their application form. Ladder’s start-ups are high-growth companies on average raising over a million dollars. In the program, interns work closely with their managers and a Ladder Coach on real-world projects and present their work to the company. Here is the application form.
The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Application Deadline: Applications are rolling; interested students can send an email to apply.
Dates: Internships run year-round for 3 months.
Eligibility: Students currently enrolled in grades 9-12
Building-U allows high school students to address real-world business challenges while gaining experience in marketing, coding, multimedia production, and resource research. Teams include Resource R&D, Student Ambassadors, Blog Squad, Marketing, Social Media, Coding, Animation, Data Privacy, and Business Development. Each team works on meaningful projects, from developing Google Ad campaigns to producing YouTube content, hosting podcasts, and building websites. You will develop leadership, teamwork, and communication skills, often collaborating across teams for integrated learning. The marketing and business development teams are good fits for high schoolers interested in entrepreneurship.
Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, or virtual
Cost:
4-week residential: $8,650
7-week residential: $14,950
7-week online/commuting: $4,050 (4 credits) or $7,900 (8 credits)
Application Deadline: February 12 (regular application and financial aid deadline)
Dates:
4-week session: July 13 – August 8
7-week session: June 21 – August 9
Eligibility: Students who will graduate high school and enter college in the next 3 years; students must be at least 16 years old but no older than 19
Harvard’s Secondary School Program allows high school students to explore college-level academics while earning college credit. This summer program includes courses in various fields, including entrepreneurship. The Introduction to Entrepreneurship course offered in this program equips students with essential skills to create and scale high-impact ventures. Using human-centric design and lean/agile methodologies, this course guides you through the entrepreneurial process. You will work in teams, develop ventures step-by-step, and pitch to angel investors and venture capitalists. To learn more about Harvard’s pre-college programs, check out our full guide here.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $2,810 per session
Application Deadline: December 5
Dates: Spring: January 18 – March 23
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9–12
Columbia University’s Academic Year Weekend program offers high school students a 10-week virtual learning experience. The program includes small class sizes, mentorship opportunities, college preparation workshops, and virtual clubs. The program's Entrepreneurial Innovation and Human Behavior course teaches you to enhance social innovations using behavioral science. Through readings and hands-on projects, you will learn about user psychology, opportunity framing, prototyping, and impact evaluation. By integrating principles from behavioral economics, psychology, and cognitive science, you’ll learn to create evidence-based interventions that drive meaningful behavior change and positive social impact.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $2,810 for a 1-week session, $3,960 for a 2-week session (additional fees may apply)
Application Deadline: Applications for the Summer open in early December
Dates:
Session A: July 1 – 12
Session B: July 15 – 26
Session C: August 5 – 9
Eligibility: Domestic and international students enrolled in grades 9–12 in the fall and students currently enrolled in grade 12 who will be age 16 or older by the start of the program.
Columbia University’s Online Summer Program offers high school students class discussions, debates, simulations, and projects. The 2-week program includes the Columbia Writers Workshop, where you can draft college application essays. One of the courses offered in the Business, Economics, and Entrepreneurship track is Entrepreneurship: From Idea to Early Design. This course provides students with practical tools for developing customer-driven product solutions. Using design-thinking principles, you will learn to identify real customer problems, create surveys, and assess current market solutions. You will then develop and test a minimum viable product, gather feedback, and validate customer needs.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $3,218 – $6,238, depending on the duration of the program.
Application Deadline: May 9
Dates: June 16 – July 25
Eligibility: Students completing grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18 by June 15
Summer@Brown Online offers high school students over 50 college-level courses. Of the courses offered, the Leadership in Changing Business: Social Entrepreneurship course explores how social entrepreneurs address pressing challenges in health, education, and the environment. You will examine various social enterprise models, including nonprofits, social purpose businesses, and hybrid ventures while hearing from expert guest speakers. Key topics include assessing opportunities for innovation, creating business models, and understanding legal structures and social impacts. As a capstone project, you will develop a comprehensive business plan and deliver an elevator pitch for your social enterprise. To learn more about Brown’s summer programs, check out our full guide here.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,990 + $35 application fee
Application Deadline: Dates vary depending on the start date you choose.
Dates: Dates vary depending on the start date you choose. The program is self-paced and takes 20-25 hours to complete.
Eligibility: Students must be at least 14 and enrolled in a high school or secondary program.
USC’s Entrepreneurship: Exploring What It Takes to Create Your Own Business course allows you to explore the fundamentals of entrepreneurship through recorded lectures, case studies, and expert insights from professionals in finance, law, and other business fields. Key topics include market sizing, understanding competition, creating customer value, small business finance, and pitching and managing a venture. You will learn to differentiate between business models, assess growth methods, and analyze markets to identify opportunities. You will also receive a certificate of completion upon successfully completing the program. To read more about USC’s summer program, check out our full review here.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,795
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the program dates you choose.
Dates: Deadlines vary depending on the program dates you choose. The program is available in 3 formats: 1-week intensives, 2-week sessions, and 4-week sessions.
Eligibility: Students ages 13 and above
Georgetown University’s Becoming an Entrepreneur: An Inside Look at Innovation is a course designed to help high school students identify market needs and launch a business. You will explore the history and foundation of entrepreneurship, learn how to identify market gaps, and understand the process of gaining support through networking and financing. The course provides insights into different types of business models, teaches the art of crafting compelling business pitches, and emphasizes the importance of learning from failures. The program is interactive. It culminates in a Capstone Project where you will create a video presentation showcasing your business idea, target customers, value proposition, and revenue model.
Location: $329 – $4,099
Cost: $100 application fee. Scholarships are available.
Application Deadline: May 1
Dates: Dates vary depending on the course chosen. Detailed information can be found here.
Eligibility: Students in grades 9-12 with a minimum 3.3 unweighted GPA
The Wharton Global Youth Online Program offers high school students two courses focused on building leadership and entrepreneurship skills. The Essentials of Leadership course is a two-week intensive program that builds leadership, teamwork, and communication skills through live lectures, digital simulations, and collaborative projects. You will participate in case competitions, experiential learning, and TA-led recitations. Future of the Business World introduces design thinking, scenario planning, and teamwork strategies to tackle real-world business challenges. You’ll analyze global business trends, explore Wharton research topics, and collaborate on projects predicting the future of business.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $6,295 + $95 application fee
Application Deadline: March 14
Dates: July 7 – 28
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors aged 16 or older by the program's start.
The Babson Summer Study introduces students to Babson’s Entrepreneurial Thought & Action methodology while exploring social, economic, and environmental challenges aligned with the U.N. Global Goals. At the heart of the program is EPS 1110: Introduction to the Entrepreneurial Experience, a 4-credit college course. You will engage with foundational concepts in entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, finance, and communication. Academic mentors provide personalized guidance throughout the program, helping you develop impactful social ventures.
One other option—the Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you’re interested in pursuing independent research, 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 4,000 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 PhD 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.