10 Programs for High School Students in Arkansas
Arkansas offers a diverse range of programs designed to enrich the educational experience of high school students. Whether you're passionate about science, technology, the arts, or leadership, there are opportunities across the state that can help you explore your interests, develop new skills, and prepare for your future. From hands-on research camps in the Ozarks to innovative STEM initiatives and creative arts workshops, these programs provide a unique chance to learn outside the classroom and connect with peers who share similar passions.
In this blog, we'll highlight ten exceptional programs available to high school students in Arkansas. Whether you're looking to immerse yourself in nature, dive into advanced scientific research, or hone your creative talents, there's a program in Arkansas that can help you achieve your goals. Join us as we look at the key features of each program, including deadline, eligibility, and dates.
Cost: Individual Research Program ($2,990), Premium Research & Publication Program ($5,900), the Research Fellowship ($8,900), Professor Premium Publication Program ($8,900)
Application Deadline: Multiple deadlines throughout the year. November 24, 2024 for the upcoming Winter Cohort
Program Dates: Individual Research (12 weeks) | Premium Research (16-20 weeks) | Research Fellowship (6-12 months) | Professor Premium (16-20 weeks)
Eligibility: Open to students anywhere in the world
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program offers extensive 1-on-1 research opportunities for high school students across a broad range of subject areas.
The program pairs high-school students with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll have developed an independent research paper! You can choose research topics from subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. You can find more details about the application here.
Cost: AI Scholars - $2,290 (financial aid is available); AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase - $5,400; Combination (AI Scholars + AI Fellowship) - $6,900
Application Deadline: Multiple deadlines throughout the year. October 20, 2024 for the upcoming Winter cohort. You can apply here!
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year. December 16, 2024 onwards for the Winter cohort
Eligibility: High school students passionate about AI; Basic understanding of Python or completion of AI scholars is required for the AI Fellowship program
Veritas AI is founded and run by Harvard graduate students, and our programs are geared toward high school students who want to build their foundations in computer science. In the program, students learn various concepts in data science and artificial intelligence like neural networks, image classification, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, coding using Python, and more.
Veritas AI offers up to 100% financial aid for the 10-week AI Scholars program. Through the program, students build real-world, hands-on projects in groups of 3-5 students to showcase their interests and skills. You can also apply for the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase Program where you work 1-1 with mentors from top universities to build unique machine learning projects over a period of 12-15 weeks. These programs are a great option for you if you like engaging in hands-on learning and are a beginner!
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world
Cost: $2,490 (Financial Aid Available)
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort. November 24, 2024 for the upcoming Winter cohort
Internship Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year. December 16, 2024 onwards for the Winter cohort
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, 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. Past founders have included YCombinator alums, founders raising over 30 million dollars, or founders who previously worked at Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. 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. Interns are offered one-on-one training in communication, time management, and other such valuable skills and will also have the opportunity to attend group training sessions with other interns in their cohort. The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long.
Location: Virtual
Application Date: Multiple deadlines throughout the year. September 25, 2024 for the upcoming Fall cohort
Program Dates:
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.
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! Horizon is one of the very few research programs for high school students that offers you the choice to engage in either quantitative or qualitative research.
Once you select a particular subject track as well as the type of research you wish to carry out, Horizon pairs you with a professor/PhD scholar from a reputed university who acts as a mentor throughout your research journey. As a participant, you will be expected to develop a 20-page 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. Apply here!
Location: This program is 100% virtual, with live, interactive workshops
Cost: The total cost to attend the 3-week program is $2,900. There is need-based financial aid.
Application Deadline: Multiple deadlines throughout the year. October 20, 2024 for the upcoming Winter cohort. You can access the application link here!
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year. December 21, 2024 – January 5, 2025 for the Winter cohort
Eligibility: The program is currently open to all high school students
The Young Founder’s Lab is a real-world start-up boot camp founded and run by Harvard entrepreneurs. In this program, you will work towards building a revenue-generating start-up that addresses a real-world problem. You will also have the opportunity to be mentored by established entrepreneurs and professionals from Google, Microsoft, and X.
Apart from building the start-up itself, you will also participate in interactive classes on business fundamentals and business ideations, workshops and skill-building sessions, case studies, panel discussions, and more. The program is an excellent opportunity to delve into the world of business in high school and have a space to explore multiple theoretical as well as practical frameworks that lead to a successful business. You can check out the brochure for the program here.
Location: Geological sites in the Ozarks, AR
Cost: Tuition, room, board, and instructional supplies are fully funded. Students are responsible for their travel to and from the camp and any personal expenses
Application Deadline: TBA for 2025
Program Dates: TBA for 2025, but typically in June
Eligibility: High school students
Project CAVES (Creative Adventures and Valuable Experiences through Spelunking) offers gifted high school students a unique opportunity to dive deep into science outside of the traditional classroom setting. This seven-day/six-night summer residential program immerses participants in hands-on investigative studies focused on cave ecosystems, karst geology, bat populations, and hydrogeology.
Designed for high-ability science students, Project CAVES provides an authentic experience that goes beyond standard classroom learning. Hosted by the Deer/Mt. Judea School District in partnership with the Ozarks Unlimited Resources Cooperative, this program fully funds tuition, room, board, and instructional supplies.
Location: University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
Cost: No cost
Application Deadline: May 15, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Program Dates: TBA for 2025
Eligibility: High school students entering 10th through 12th grade in Arkansas, including homeschooled students at the same grade levels. Students participating in the Arkansas Governor’s School are not eligible to attend the camp during the same summer
The University of Central Arkansas's Department of Government, Public Service, and International Studies hosts one of the few U.S. summer camps focused on international affairs and diplomacy. This immersive camp offers high school students a blend of classroom instruction and experiential learning, with workshops on international relations, United Nations fundamentals, and Model UN practices. Evening sessions feature guest speakers discussing careers in international affairs.
Throughout the week, you engage in UN General Assembly simulations, representing various countries in committee sessions, and participate in competitions like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Poster Competition and Global Trivia. The camp culminates in an emergency UN General Assembly session, where students apply their diplomatic skills to resolve an international crisis.
Location: University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
Cost: No cost
Application Deadline: April 19, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Program Dates: June 17 – June 21, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Eligibility: Arkansas students entering grades 10-12 who have completed at least one high school or concurrent credit computer science course
The AI Robotics & Ethics Camp is a free commuter camp designed for Arkansas high school students. This camp offers a unique opportunity for you to dive deep into the world of artificial intelligence and robotics. Through hands-on activities, you will learn to program and build AI-powered self-driving cars while exploring the ethical and moral implications of this rapidly evolving technology.
In addition to technical training, you will engage with AI and robotics as depicted in popular culture through movies and short stories to understand the broader societal impact of these technologies. The camp ends with a showcase where teams present what they have learned.
9. SummerStage
Location: TheatreSquared, Fayetteville, AR
Cost: Free
Application Deadline: May 1, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program). Applications are accepted until the program is full, so early application is encouraged
Program Dates: July 6 – July 13, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Eligibility: Open to Arkansas residents who are rising 10th, 11th, or 12th graders at public or private high schools or homeschooled students at the same grade levels
The SummerStage Theatre Program is an immersive eight-day residential summer experience for rising 10th, 11th, and 12th graders in Arkansas. This unique opportunity allows you to collaborate with peers from across the state to create original theater works. Guided by a faculty of professional artists with advanced degrees, you will explore various artistic disciplines, including creative writing, performance art, music, and visual art installations.
Facilitated by TheatreSquared, an award-winning regional theater company, the program emphasizes nontraditional methodologies in theater creation. You will take on dual roles as a writer and a performer, working alongside professional playwrights, poets, directors, musicians, and actors to devise an original script. The ensemble will then rehearse and perform their piece in an end-of-session showcase.
Location: Ozark Natural Science Center (ONSC), Ozark Plateau, AR
Cost: No information available
Application Deadline: May 24, 2025
Program Dates: TBA for 2025
Eligibility: Arkansas students entering grades 10-12. Students participating in the Arkansas Governor’s School are not eligible to attend the camp during the same summer
The Water & Wilderness: Plugged into Nature camp is an immersive two-week summer program held at the Ozark Natural Science Center (ONSC), nestled in the heart of the Ozark Plateau. This camp offers you the chance to disconnect from the digital world and dive into the wonders of field biology.
This free camp allows you to work alongside field scientists, exploring diverse habitats such as oak-hickory forests, glades, and the Kings River. You will engage in hands-on research activities, including tracking reptiles with radio-telemetry, monitoring bats, studying birds with ornithologists, and examining aquatic life in the Kings River.
The experience is enriched with conservation literature discussions, Socratic Circles on naturalist writings, and reflective journaling. Evening reflections on the ONSC deck, a capstone glade field study, a canoe trip, and an overnight camping experience along the Kings River round out this adventure in the Ozarks.
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.
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