9 Online STEM Internships for High School Students
If you are a high school student interested in STEM and want to gain hands-on experience in your field of interest, an online STEM internship can be a solid option. These internships combine work, research, and skill-building training to provide valuable insights into different STEM disciplines.
Participating in a STEM internship in high school might improve your college application by showcasing your enthusiasm and dedication to your chosen area. Many prominent institutes and organizations provide virtual STEM internships, making them available to students globally.
In this blog, we have compiled a list of 7 online STEM internships for high school students. If you want to know more about STEM opportunities, check out our other blogs on STEM scholarships, courses, and competitions for high school students.
Note: Please keep in mind the following information is for 2024-2025, though dates tend to be similar year on year.
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: $2490 (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!
Application Deadline:
Spring: Aug 23
Summer Early Decision: Oct 25
Summer Final: Feb 28
Fall: May 16
Stipend: Varies
Duration: Varies
Eligibility:
Must be a full-time high school student with a GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale
Must be a U.S. citizen
NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) offers a bunch of exciting internship opportunities in various STEM fields centered around space exploration and scientific research. As an OSTEM intern, you will get to work on projects under the guidance of experienced mentors. You will be given tasks such as conducting research, analyzing data, and contributing to ongoing projects. Structural Design, Analysis of Special Test Equipment, Data Science, and software development are a few fields in which internships are currently being offered. Look here for available internship positions.
Cost: $2,490
Application Deadline: October 20
Internship Date: The start date for the cohort is November 11
Eligibility: Open to high school students who have prior experience with AI/ML or have completed a Veritas AI program
The AI Internship Program by Veritas AI is founded and run by Harvard graduate students. Through the 8-week internship, students have the opportunity to work with VC-backed startups on real-world AI/ML projects. Students work directly with mentors from Harvard, Wharton, Google, Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, and more. This program is a great opportunity for students who have prior experience with AI/ML and are looking to gain real-world exposure to a career in the field. Students get a chance to network with industry professionals, work closely with company leadership, and receive a letter of completion from the company at the end of the internship. You can learn more about the program here and apply here.
Application Deadline: TBA
Cost: None ($25 application fee required)
Duration: June 18 - Aug 9
Eligibility:
Must be 15 years or older at the beginning of the program
ASSIP is an 8-week-long program, where you will get hands-on experience using cutting-edge technology and equipment. Every student selected will be paired with faculty researchers across various fields and will get to work one-on-one with them. The format of the internship will be decided entirely by your mentors. This program will help enhance your communication and creative skills and improve your scientific writing. You will also be introduced to several STEM career choices. Your research papers written during the internship may be published in scientific journals or presented at scientific conferences.
Application Deadline: March 1 (Applications open on Dec 1)
Stipend: $500
Duration: July - August (5 weeks)
Eligibility:
High school students from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply
Must be a U.S. citizen
This program is for students interested in neurological sciences. Students taking part in this program virtually will get to experience educational presentations, professional development training, mentorship training, and more. You will also get to learn basic laboratory techniques and experiments. The program will also have college prep classes and networking activities.
Application Deadline: Aug 4
Cost: $1950
Duration: 3 months
Eligibility:
High school students 15 or older by August
Must be fluent in English
For high school students, StandOut Connect provides an extensive three-month online program. During a month, the first section consists of interactive weekend seminars that cover topics such as creating resumes, crafting compelling stories for internships and college applications, and incorporating contemporary tools like AI and Excel into daily tasks.
After the first month, students participate in a two-month remote internship sourced from accelerators like Techstars and Y Combinator as well as the university entrepreneurship department. They complete meaningful initiatives and get a recommendation letter that could lead to a second offer. Students commit up to 10 hours a week during the academic year to their internships as part of the curriculum.
Application Deadline: Rolling Admissions
Stipend: Unpaid internship
Duration: Varies
Eligibility:
High school students with at least one honors science or honors English class with a GPA of over 3.25
EnergyMag offers internships for students interested in renewable energy and energy storage technologies. These internships provide a hands-on learning experience, allowing students to collaborate and conduct research alongside mentors. Interns will be tasked with conducting detailed research reaching out to industry experts for insights and compiling findings into comprehensive analysis reports.
Application Deadline: Fill this to get updates about future applications
Stipend: Unpaid
Duration: June - August
Eligibility:
Must be a high school student or a senior in this school year
Must be at least 14 years old by June 17
Stanford University's SHTEM (Science, Humanities, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program offers high school students an eight-week virtual summer internship focused on multidisciplinary research. Participants complete a research project under the guidance of Stanford mentors, devoting 30-40 hours per week to remote study.
Projects are conducted in small groups of 2-5 students and cover a variety of fields, including engineering, linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, and technology. The program culminates with a final presentation on the research project. If you wish to know more about the program, you should read our review of the program.
Application Deadline: 31 March.
Cost: Unpaid
Duration: 17 - 28 June
Eligibility:
High school students over the age of 14 at the start of the program
Students with a mathematical/computer science background or students with experience in the healthcare sector are given preference
Only students in the US may apply
This is an exciting opportunity for students interested in AI/ML and healthcare. There are introductory and intermediate lectures on AI and its applications in the field of healthcare combined with activities with your mentors who will be Stanford Student Leads and researchers. You will also get to participate in hands-on group tasks and social activities. Frequent Visual Career Lunch and Learns with guest speakers from academia, non-profit, government, etc will also be conducted. For interested students, there is also an opportunity for an independent research internship.
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 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.
Image Source: Stanford University logo