10 Engineering Internships for High School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Jun 16, 2023
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 6
If you're an ambitious high school student considering a career in engineering, you may want to consider doing an engineering internship before applying to college. Admissions officers are looking for students who go beyond their classroom curriculum to engage with subjects they are interested in.
Completing an internship as a high school student in a competitive field like STEM can significantly enhance your resume. In this blog, we’ve compiled a list of 10 engineering internships for high school students, including aerospace engineering internships, mechanical engineering internships, and biomedical engineering internships.
Note that most of these opportunities are fully funded and provide a stipend. This list also includes prestigious national–level internship programs offered by organizations such as NASA, which you can consider while exploring potential engineering internships.
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.
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!
NASA’s Office of STEM Engagements provides internship opportunities at all its locations around America. NASA conducts virtual internships as well. You can access their internship database here (you will have to filter through the database to find opportunities open for high school students specifically). Through this internship, you will gain the opportunity to experience the applications of aerospace engineering. Students interested in engineering or astrophysics can consider this program as it’s a great value-add for college applications, owing to the reputation of this program and NASA. For tips on getting a NASA internship while in high school, check out our complete guide here.
Cost: No cost, stipend provided
Location: Varies, different for each internship offered
Application Deadline: Varies from internship to internship
Program Dates: Fall - from late August/early September to mid-December (16 weeks) | Spring - from mid-January to early May (16 weeks) | Summer - from late May/early June to August (10 weeks)
Selection Rate: Highly Selective
Eligibility: High school students who are U.S. citizens and have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA.
The SEES program is collaborative between NASA, the Texas Space Grant Consortium, and UT Austin. This national-level summer internship program is an opportunity for you to work alongside NASA subject matter experts—a coveted achievement. The program is centered around Earth and space research. As an intern, you will assist with analyzing and visualizing data in your respective area of research. You can expect to work on Earth and space research (either through astronaut photography or galaxy classification), climate research, mission design (through satellite design or Mars Rover resource utilization), and more. There is a virtual learning component and an on-site experience at the University of Texas, Austin. You are expected to present your research at the program's concluding symposium. To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.
Cost: No cost
Location: National Institute of Health Campus (Bethesda, MD)
Application Deadline (Summer): 20th February
Program Dates (Summer): June 25th-July 7th (remote) | July 8th - July 22nd (onsite).
Selection Rates: Highly Selective
Eligibility: Open to rising juniors and seniors who are U.S. citizens
The SEAP Program allows high school students to conduct Naval research while being mentored by scientists and engineers at the DoN. Prospective students can choose between the 30 labs spread out over the country. Lab choices are based on interest (e.g., very few labs offer Marine Biology as a topic of interest, while Statistics and Engineering are more common among the labs). Some topics of research that have been covered at the SEAP program are Submarine Life Support, Development of Ansys Fluent Workflow for Axial Fan Simulation and Flow Around Objects, and Catalytic Oxidation of Li-Ion Electrolyte. Get a more detailed understanding of their contributions here! To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.
Cost: No cost + stipend of $4,000 (new participants) or $4,500 (for returning participants)
Location: Varies depending on lab choice.
Application Deadline (Summer): 1st August
Program Dates: Varies from lab to lab (expect it to be conducted in the summer months).
Selection Rates: Highly selective
Eligibility: Open to rising juniors and seniors (at the time of the program) who will have turned 16 years old by the start date of the program and are U.S. citizens. Note: Eligibility changes based on lab to lab, so check the website for the lab you're interested in.
Quarknet offers a 7-week summer internship program that allows students interested in science and technology to contribute to Fermilab research. Fermilab (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) operates under the U.S Department of Energy’s Office of Science and is America’s premier lab for particle physics research. The program focuses on particle physics and accelerator research, and you’ll work alongside scientists who conduct Fermilab research. You can expect to work on projects involving particle physics, particle accelerators, and detectors, and computing and quantum science. Your role will involve collecting data through entrance and exit surveys, working on the team’s research abstract, and giving oral presentations. To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.
Cost: A salary ($16.20/hour) will be provided.
Location: Varies depending on lab choice.
Application Deadline (Summer): December 15th - January 31st
Program Dates (Summer): June 20th - August 4th
Selection Rates: Selective
Eligibility: Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are U.S. citizens or have permanent resident status with Illinois high school enrollment and medical insurance.
If you're interested in pursuing Computer Science in college, you might find SPARK interesting. SparkSIP allows applicants to select 5-6 projects that they’d like to work on and then assigns sponsors to selected students. SPARK provides opportunities and resources that can be used during and after college applications. Previous internships have covered the following topics: detection tool for tick-borne infections or breast cancer, DNA Sequence Classification based on Electrical Signatures, and understanding spike-timing and spike-rate impact on Spiking Neural Network (SNN). The program allows you to apply concepts in machine learning, computer programming, computer vision, and neural networks. You will also learn from industry leaders, university professors, and mentors. To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.
Cost: No cost, stipend provided ($500)
Location: Greater Seattle Area or remote
Application Deadline (Summer): May 1
Program Dates (Summer): 6-8 weeks, June to August
Selection Rates: Very Selective
Eligibility: Must be a U.S. citizen or have permanent resident status and commit to working for 40 hours/week for 8-12 weeks.
The CiS Intern Program invites applications from San Francisco students from communities underrepresented in STEM to learn about science and sustainability. Each student receives mentorship, the opportunity to build their professional skills, and guidance with the college admission process. Topics covered in the program include Python for scientific programming, astronomy, science communication, biomimicry, environmental justice, and California conservation. We reached out to the CiS team regarding the subject tracks they offer, and they said students are allocated to roles and departments based on their interests and the opportunities available in the museum at the time. To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.
Cost: No cost, stipend provided
Location: California Academy of Sciences
Application Deadline (Summer): April 3rd
Program Dates (Summer): Multi-year, year-round participation
Selection Rates: Selective
Eligibility: Open to freshmen or sophomores enrolled in SFUSD schools who maintain a GPA of 2.5 (grade of C or higher in science and math)
As part of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) offers six-week internships for high school students to apply STEM concepts to problems. 80% of your time will be spent in the lab with your mentor, while the other 20% will be centered around enrichment and skill-building activities. You can work in areas such as advanced transportation technology, clean energy, critical infrastructure protection, and cybersecurity. Internship opportunities are categorized based on related sets of research subjects and required skills. A unique feature of INL is its offer of internships in business administration, finance, and accounting. The INL displays the work of all its interns virtually through its ‘Intern Poster’ sessions!
Cost: No cost, stipend provided
Location: Idaho National Laboratory
Application Deadline: Varies based on internship
Program Dates: During summer, for 10-16 weeks.
Selection Rates: Selective
Eligibility: High school students above the age of 16 who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents or foreign nationals who attend an accredited U.S. college or university.
Conducted by the National Institute of Health, the HiSTEP program offers internships in biomedical engineering and healthcare. Spanning over 5 weeks in Bethesda, MD, the program explores the scope of scientific enterprise and the importance of biomedical research and other STEM-M careers. Sessions in the HiSTEP program have previously included basic skills used in laboratory settings through science experiments, current topics in Health Science through case studies and group projects, and college and career advising. The college advising program aims to enhance your understanding of the college application process and help you find scholarships and mentors. To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.
Cost: No cost + stipend ($2150) and public transport benefits provided
Location: National Institute of Health Campus (Bethesda, MD)
Application Deadline (Summer): 1st February
Program Dates: July 5th - August 3rd.
Selection Rates: Selective
Eligibility: High school sophomores or juniors/rising sophomore (turn 17 by June 15th for Summer program) who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0. Students must attend a school where 30% or more of the student body participates in the Federal Free/Reduced Lunch Program and have their primary residence in Virginia, Maryland, or Washington DC (within 40 miles of the main NIH campus in Bethesda, MD).
The AFRL program is a paid internship opportunity for upper-level high school students interested in aerospace engineering. You will receive guidance from AFRL scientists and engineers, tour AFRL laboratories, and work on cutting-edge research. You can find a list of mentors here. The topics in the AFRL program are centered around aerospace/mechanical design, complex electromagnetic structures , and more. The research projects for summer include the Clean-up of PFAs contamination, research on Cold Atom sources and their use in navigation and technology, and the development of a personalized chatbox with natural communication. To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.
Cost: No cost + stipend provided ($468.80/week)
Location: Varies based on program
Application Deadline: Varies from internship to internship
Program Dates: Fall - from late August/early September to mid-December (16 weeks) | Spring - from mid-January to early May (16 weeks) | Summer - from late May/early June to August (10 weeks)
Selection Rate: Selective
Eligibility: Upper high school students (over 16 years old) who are U.S. citizens, have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA, and will be available full-time (40 hours a week).
Bonus - Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you are interested in doing university-level research in engineering then you could also consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, a selective online high school program for students that I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 2100 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. 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: NASA logo