10 Summer Programs for High School Students in Nebraska
For high school students, summer is a great opportunity to explore interests, build skills, and gain valuable experience that can enhance college applications. From the rich agricultural environment and natural resources to Nebraska's educational institutions and local industries, the state offers a range of student programs. Whether through a pre-college program, an internship, a camp, or a research-intensive course, these experiences can shape future research opportunities and even play a role in your college essays.
Here are 10 summer programs in Nebraska that offer high school students an excellent way to make the most of their summer.
Application Deadline: Varying deadlines based on cohort. Main summer deadlines are March 15, April 15, and May 15
Duration: Options range from 12 weeks to 1 year
Location: Remote — you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!
Eligibility:
You must be currently enrolled in high school
Students must demonstrate a high level of academic achievement. (Note: accepted students have an unweighted GPA of 3.3 out of 4)
No previous knowledge of your field of interest is required!
Program Dates: The summer cohort runs from June to August, the Fall cohort from September to December, the Winter cohort from December to February, Spring from March to June
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 that you can explore as a high schooler.
The program pairs high-school students with PhD 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.
Location: University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), Lincoln, NE
Cost: $500 (includes meals and accommodation); scholarships available
Program Dates: June 8 – 13, 2025
Application Deadline: May 3, 2025
Eligibility: Students entering grades 9-12
Big Red Summer Academic Camps offer a range of specialized courses, from digital media and entrepreneurship to veterinary science and filmmaking. Each camp focuses on immersive learning experiences tailored to a specific interest area and is led by university faculty and guest experts. You will participate in hands-on projects, group activities, and presentations. This program emphasizes experiential learning, with highlights such as field trips to local businesses or organizations, evening social events, and a final showcase event for friends and family.
Location: Nebraska State 4-H Camp, Halsey, NE
Cost: $250
Program Dates: No information available
Application Deadline: No information available
Eligibility: High school students ages 14-18
Designed for students interested in developing leadership skills, the Nebraska 4-H Youth Leadership Conference focuses on building confidence, communication skills, and teamwork abilities. The program includes workshops, outdoor team-building exercises, and sessions led by current 4-H members and professional mentors. The conference also includes keynote speakers, networking opportunities, and a community service project that allows you to apply what you’ve learned in a real-world context. This program is ideal for students who are passionate about making a difference in their communities and want to develop their leadership potential.
4. Veritas AI
Location: Virtual
Cost:
$2,290 for the 10-week AI Scholars program
$5,400 for the 15-week AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase
$6,900 for both
Need-based financial aid is available for AI Scholars. You can apply here
Application deadline: On a rolling basis
Program dates: Various according to the cohort
Eligibility: Ambitious high school students located anywhere in the world. AI Fellowship applicants should either have completed the AI Scholars program or exhibit experience with AI concepts or Python
Veritas AI, founded and run by Harvard graduate students, offers programs tailored for high school students who are passionate about artificial intelligence. Students who are looking to get started with AI, ML, and data science would benefit from the AI Scholars program. Through this 10-session boot camp, students are introduced to the fundamentals of AI & data science and get a chance to work on real-world projects.
Another option for more advanced students is the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase. Through this program, students get a chance to work 1:1 with mentors from top universities on a unique, individual project. A bonus of this program is that students have access to the in-house publication team to help them secure publications in high school research journals. The fellowship encourages students to explore interdisciplinary approaches, enabling them to merge AI with various fields such as finance, medicine, sports, environmental science, and more! You can also check out some examples of past projects here.
Location: Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lincoln, NE
Cost: $325. Housing at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln available for an additional $215. Need-based scholarships available
Dates: June 24 – 28, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions starting April 1, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Eligibility: Incoming high school freshmen to recent graduates
The Lied Center for Performing Arts offers a rigorous summer camp for high school students who want to pursue a professional career in musical theater. The five-day intensive is meant for students who are intermediate to advanced performers, giving you the opportunity to learn from Broadway and professional theater artists.
You will work on strengthening both musical theater performance fundamentals and specialized skills needed for a successful career in this field. Classes include ‘Musical Theatre Fundamentals,’ ‘Musical Theatre Audition Techniques,’ and ‘Performance Practice.’ To apply, you need to submit a video audition of you performing a musical theater song.
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. 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.
Cost: $2,490 (Financial Aid Available)
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world
Application deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort
Program dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year 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.
Cost: The total cost to attend the 4-week program is $2,900. There is need-based financial aid
Location: This program is 100% virtual, with live, interactive workshops
Eligibility: The program is currently open to all high school students
Program Dates: Varies according to cohort
Application Deadline: Varies according to cohort. You can access the application link here!
Location: University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Cost: Stipend and travel funds provided, amount unspecified. You must be a U.S. citizen or legally authorized to work in the U.S. to receive the stipend
Eligibility: High school students aged 14-18
Application Deadline: TBA for 2025
Dates/Duration: June 24 – 28, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
The HiRe-ME (High School Research in Molecular Engineering) program at the University of Nebraska is a free, week-long summer camp aimed at giving high school students experience in molecular engineering. You will learn about materials processing, molecules, and macromolecules. Lab activities include dissolving polymers, casting thin films, and using a scanning electron microscope to look at porous films. You will also have the chance to learn about careers in molecular engineering by talking to current students and scientists.
Location: Virtual
Application Date: May 21, 2025 for the summer cohort (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Program Dates:
June 24 – September 2, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
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 few 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 few research programs for high school students that offers you the choice of quantitative or qualitative research.
Once you select a particular subject track and 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 and detailed project feedback that you can use to work on future projects. Apply here!
Location: University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Cost: $350. Scholarships worth $100 available
Dates: July 14 – 16, 2025
Application Deadline: June 2, 2025
Eligibility: High school students
The Nebraska High School Press Association Summer Camp is a three-day camp for high school students who want to explore different tracks within journalism, such as Yearbook, Newspaper, Video, Journalistic Writing, Editorial Leadership, and Photography. Workshops are taught by college instructors and high school teachers. This camp gives you the chance to meet other student journalists, refine your writing and reporting skills, and experience college life as you live on campus at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
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.