7 Ivy League Entrepreneurship Programs for High School Students
If you are a high school student interested in starting your own business in the future and coming up with a new product or service, then an entrepreneurship program might be worth considering. An entrepreneurship program can help you explore the ins and outs of starting a venture, from thinking of a profitable idea to building a business.
The program can also give you insight into what university studies in the field of entrepreneurship would look like. Additionally, through instruction, discussions, project work, and hands-on individual and group activities, an entrepreneurship program can cover key concepts like pitching an idea, business finances and their management, startup basics, branding, networking, and more.
One way to access the best resources and instructors is to apply to entrepreneurship programs offered by Ivy League universities. These institutes are known for academic excellence, selectivity, and well-equipped facilities. Participating in an entrepreneurship program at an Ivy League school can also boost your college admissions profile.
To help you get started, here’s our list of 7 Ivy League entrepreneurship programs for high school students!
Location: Remote/virtual
Cost: No cost
Eligibility: High school students
Application Deadline: October 31, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Program Dates: The five-day program is conducted during winter break, exact dates vary as per the availability of fellows
The HVTWF is a five-day fellowship meant for high school students interested in learning about entrepreneurship and product development from Harvard faculty and industry leaders. Through a combination of instruction from university professors, hands-on project work, workshops led by industry experts, and mentorship and networking opportunities, you will develop the skills required to become an entrepreneur. This free program focuses on the intersection of technology and business.
The program’s mentorship sessions can help you with the key steps to becoming a successful entrepreneur, like refining your business idea, pitching your business to investors, and coming up with a long-term career strategy. This is also an opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs and get access to HVTWF’s exclusive newsletter offering regular insights into the field.
Location: The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Cost: $7,899 | financial aid is available
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9–11
Application Deadline: April 2, 2025
Program Dates: Multiple two-week sessions are held in the summer:
June 8 – 21, 2025
June 22 – July 4, 2025
July 13 – 26, 2025
July 27 – August 9, 2025
The Wharton School, UPenn’s business school, organizes the Global Youth Program every year to help high schoolers explore business and related fields. In its Essentials of Entrepreneurship program, you will attend lectures by Wharton professors and PhD students. During the program, you will also get to explore key concepts in the field of entrepreneurship, like user research techniques, opportunity testing, marketing, scaling, and minimum viable product development.
You will work with other program participants to come up with a pitch for a startup. The two-week session may also cover topics like idea generation, customer discovery, financing, social entrepreneurship, business model generation, A/B testing, entrepreneurial strategy, and tech entrepreneurship. This is an opportunity to gain insight into the entrepreneurial process as well as college life on an Ivy League school’s campus.
Location: Brown University, Providence, RI
Cost: $5,256 for the residential session and $4,076 for the commuter session | financial aid is available
Eligibility: High school students who are 14–18 years old
Application Deadline: May 9, 2025
Program Dates: Multiple 1- to 6-week sessions are held each summer; dates vary but are typically between June and July
Summer@Brown is a pre-college program for high school students interested in exploring college curriculum and campus life at an Ivy League university. This program offers you the opportunity to choose from over 200 courses. The I Heart Startups: An Entrepreneurship Incubator is a great option for understanding the entrepreneurial process and getting some hands-on experience to launch your own venture.
This two-week course covers the tools and techniques of ideation and the process of developing and launching business ventures. You will develop skills like problem-solving and decision-making. During the program, you will work on two projects—first, you will be assigned a group to come up with and pitch a business idea, and second, you will work individually on an original idea and pitch it. This experience can help you get a jump start on your business ideas.
Location: Online
Cost: $2,700
Eligibility: High school students
Application Deadline: TBA for 2025
Program Dates: Multiple 1- to 2-week sessions are conducted each summer; dates vary but are typically between July and August
Columbia University offers multiple pre-college programs to high schoolers with a choice of several courses. Its Online Summer Pre-College Program offers a course called Entrepreneurship: From Idea to Early Design, which covers the development, testing, and validation of products to help you come up with innovative solutions for key customer or community problems.
You will first determine a major problem that needs to be solved and then work with real customers to understand the problem better. Then, you will generate multiple solutions and choose one to test with customers. This experience will help you learn how to draft customer surveys that can validate your theories regarding customer problems and solutions. The program will also help you understand how to assess existing solutions, develop a minimal viable product, and come up with a customer-driven solution to build a successful and valuable business venture.
Location: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Cost: $4,799 – $9,299
Eligibility: Students entering grades 9–11
Application Deadline: TBA in December 2024
Program Dates: June 29 – July 11, 2025
Dartmouth College’s Summer Scholars Program is an opportunity for high schoolers to take noncredit courses taught by university faculty. Its Art of Entrepreneurship is a two-week course that covers key concepts like opportunity recognition, solution creation, and business model formulation across different types and scales of businesses. The course will also cover aspects like the entrepreneurial mindset, customer identification and profile development, pitch development, business model research, and customer research and testing.
The first week involves classroom instruction, discussions on case studies, and guest speaker sessions, while the second week involves hands-on project work, where you will participate in a challenge and pitch contest. With this program, you will understand how to recognize viable opportunities for business ventures, seek support for the business, and deal with various outcomes and phases in the entrepreneurial process.
Location: No information is available
Cost: $175 | financial assistance is offered
Eligibility: High school students
Application Deadline: TBA
Program Dates: TBA
Yale Entrepreneurial Society (YES) is an undergraduate organization on the university campus. Its High School Fellowship is an eight-week masterclass for budding entrepreneurs. Here, you will engage with Yale professors and undergraduate entrepreneurs and develop skills to put together a pitch deck for your business venture. You will explore the basics of the field and what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur. Additionally, you will get guidance from Yale undergraduates and network with like-minded peers. During the program, you will also have the chance to pitch your business idea to industry leaders and win a cash prize for your venture.
Location: Brown University’s Nelson Center For Entrepreneurship, Providence, RI
Cost: Free
Eligibility: High school students in Providence
Application Deadline: Varies according to the session, multiple sessions are conducted in a year
Program Dates: Vary according to the session, each session typically lasts eight weeks
The Young Entrepreneurs Program (YEP) was founded in 2019 by three Brown University students. This free program runs all semester, offering high schoolers insights into the entrepreneurial process and concepts. However, you can also choose to attend the YEP Day of Entrepreneurship, which is a one-day crash course on the field. The semester-long version is structured like an after-school program.
You will attend lectures, workshops, and guest speaker sessions at the Brown University campus after school hours. You will also receive guidance for turning your business idea into a reality. The program ends with a pitch night where you will get to pitch your venture to investors and entrepreneurs. This is also an opportunity to interact with industry leaders and experts who can offer valuable insights to make your venture successful.
Bonus - Young Founders Lab
If you’re looking for an incubator program that helps you establish a developed startup in high school, consider the Young Founders Lab!
The Young Founders 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.
You can access the application link here!
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.