15 Free History Programs for High School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Jun 17
- 12 min read
If you’re a high school student interested in history or planning to study social sciences in college, studying the subject outside regular classes can help you understand it better. History involves working with sources, examining viewpoints, and studying how historians explain events, and joining a history program can help you learn how this work happens.
History programs give students the opportunity to go deeper than what is usually covered in school. You might examine original documents, analyze historical debates, or work on small research projects that help you understand how historical arguments are built. These programs also help students develop research and analytical skills that are useful for college-level work.
Why should I participate in a free history program in high school?
Free programs open the door to academic opportunities that might otherwise be difficult to access. They allow students to participate in lectures, workshops, and research-based learning without financial pressure. This means you can focus on exploring the subject and gaining solid academic experience.
These experiences can also strengthen your college applications. They show admissions officers that you actively pursued your interest in history and were willing to engage with the subject in a more serious academic setting. At the same time, the research and writing skills you develop can help you prepare for college-level coursework.
With that in mind, here are 15 free history programs for high school students!
If you’re looking for online summer research programs, check out our blog here.
Key takeaways
All 15 programs on this list are free to participate in, and several offer stipends, including the Met High School Internship ($1,100), Student Historian Internship at NY Historical ($700), Anson L. Clark Scholars Program ($750), and Telluride TASS (fully funded, including travel).
Programs span a wide range of history sub-fields, including American political history (Gilder Lehrman, National History Academy), Holocaust history (Holocaust Museum LA), women's history (Harvard edX), ancient history and literature (Harvard edX), maritime and navigation history (Harvard edX), and museum and archival studies (Met, NY Historical, Library of Congress).
Students looking for in-person or residential experiences can apply to the Met Internship, NY Historical Student Historian Program, Anson L. Clark Scholars Program, Telluride TASS, and Holocaust Museum LA, while fully online options include Gilder Lehrman History School, History U, Library of Congress, and multiple Harvard edX courses.
Several programs are highly selective and competitive, including Telluride TASS (a fully funded residential seminar), Anson L. Clark Scholars (a seven-week research program), and the Met and NY Historical internships, all of which require strong academic profiles and early applications.
Deadlines for competitive programs fall as early as December (Telluride TASS) and January (Library of Congress), so students should begin identifying programs and preparing applications in the fall semester.
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (in-person)
Stipend: $1,100 stipend upon completion
Program Dates: July 1 – August 7 (departmental placement July 7 – August 7)
Application Deadline: March 13
Eligibility: Grade 10 or 11 students (or students obtaining a High School Equivalency) who reside in and attend school in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut; must provide working papers and an SSN or ITIN
The Met High School Internship Program is a paid summer opportunity that allows you to gain professional experience at one of the world’s leading museums. Over the course of the program, you are placed within a specific department, such as curatorial, education, social media, imaging, or design, where you work alongside museum professionals and contribute to real projects. The internship begins with a mandatory bootcamp and includes approximately 40 hours of departmental work, as well as biweekly cohort check-ins and professional development sessions focused on career readiness. You also participate in Teen Fridays and a final celebration event that highlights your experience and growth.
Cost: The program is fully funded!
Location: Remote — you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!
Application Deadline: Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Program Dates: Vary based on yearly cohort. Multiple 12-week cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Eligibility: You must be enrolled in high school or plan to enroll as a freshman in college in the fall and must demonstrate a high level of academic achievement.
The Lumiere Breakthrough Scholar Program is the equivalent of the Individual Research Scholar Program at Lumiere Education. In the flagship program, talented high-school students are paired with world-class Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll develop an independent research paper. You can choose topics from subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. This program is a solid option if you are interested in interdisciplinary research and want to create an individual research paper. You can apply here.
Location: The New York Historical, New York, NY (in-person)
Stipend: $700 stipend upon successful completion
Program Dates: July 7 – August 13
Application Deadline: March 29
Eligibility: Students entering grades 10, 11, or 12 who live in and attend school in the New York City metro area (NYC, parts of NY State, CT, and NJ)
The Student Historian Internship Program is a competitive, research-intensive opportunity that allows you to conduct original historical research using the resources of The New York Historical Society’s museum and library collections. As an intern, you explore the annual theme - Our Composite Nation: Frederick Douglass’ America, through substantial research, writing, and digital media production. Your work culminates in a creative digital project designed to serve as a public educational resource. Throughout the program, you meet with museum professionals to learn about careers in history, archives, digital humanities, and public scholarship.
Location: Oxford, Cambridge, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto, and Boston (in-person)
Cost: Varies by location; financial aid available
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions (multiple summer cohorts)
Program Dates: 2 weeks during the summer
Eligibility: Students aged 13–18 currently enrolled in middle or high school
Immerse Education’s History Track within the Academic Insights Program offers you the opportunity to experience university-style learning in a residential setting. You live on campus and study in small groups of approximately 7–10 students, working closely with tutors affiliated with leading universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. The teaching format emphasizes discussion-based seminars, critical analysis, and close engagement with primary and secondary sources. In the history pathway, you examine key historical themes, movements, and debates while developing analytical writing and argumentation skills. The program encourages you to think like a historian—evaluating evidence, constructing interpretations, and situating events within broader political, social, and economic contexts. While the Academic Insights Program offers over 20 subject options across disciplines, the history track focuses specifically on historical inquiry and academic skills development.
Location: Virtual (nationwide) with hybrid option for DC-area students
Cost: None
Program Dates: June 23 – July 17
Application Deadline: Jan 23
Eligibility: Current high school students or recent graduates (age 16+ at time of internship)
The Library of Congress High School Summer Internship Program, hosted by the Informal Learning Office, is a short-term summer opportunity designed to engage teens in shaping educational resources and public programming at the nation’s library. During the internship, you meet with Library staff to learn about collections, exhibitions, visitor engagement strategies, and youth programming. In recent years, interns have contributed feedback on new public-facing initiatives, such as youth learning spaces and creative research experiences. The program primarily runs virtually, allowing students from across the United States to participate. A small number of local students from Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia may be selected for a hybrid format that includes limited on-site sessions.
Location: Hybrid (in-person at Holocaust Museum LA with virtual components available)
Cost: None
Application Deadline: Varies based on the academic calendar of the partnering school and the museum schedule
Program Dates: Varies based on school partnership and museum scheduling
Eligibility: High school students
The Share Our Stories Program at Holocaust Museum LA offers you an immersive introduction to Holocaust history through direct engagement with survivors, museum educators, and archival materials. During the program, you participate in a docent-led tour of the museum’s collection, which includes survivor testimonies, personal artifacts, and rare historical photographs. This guided experience emphasizes historical context, critical reflection, and ethical engagement with memory. A central component of the program is a live speaking engagement with a Holocaust survivor, where you can hear firsthand testimony and ask questions.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Program Dates: Varies by course (typically July–August)
Application Deadline: Not specified (course information usually released in April)
Eligibility: High school students
The Gilder Lehrman History School offers free, live online courses that explore major themes and turning points in American history. Hosted by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, a leading nonprofit organization focused on K–12 history education, the program connects you with expert educators and historians through interactive virtual sessions. You can choose from a range of focused topics, including the Cold War, immigration and American identity, Black lives in the Founding Era, and foundational government documents. Courses are discussion-driven and emphasize close reading of primary sources, historical interpretation, and evidence-based argumentation.
Location: Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX (in-person)
Cost: Free; $750 stipend upon completion
Program Dates: June 21 – August 6
Application Deadline: February 24
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors and recent high school graduates
The Anson L. Clark Scholars Program is a highly selective, seven-week summer research experience for academically strong high school juniors and seniors. While the program spans multiple disciplines, students interested in history and political studies may have the opportunity to conduct in-depth research under faculty mentorship in areas such as Modern American Politics, Conservatism, and post-1945 political developments in the South and West, particularly within Texas and broader Sunbelt political culture. During the program, you work closely with a university professor on an individual research project, gaining hands-on experience in academic research methodologies, source analysis, and scholarly writing. The experience mirrors early-stage undergraduate research and strengthens your ability to think critically, construct arguments, and interpret historical evidence.
Location: Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) or University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
Cost: Fully funded (tuition, books, room & board, field trips covered; travel and additional financial aid available)
Program Dates: June 21 – July 25
Application Deadline: December 3 (applications typically open October 15)
Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors (rising juniors and seniors), ages 15–17; U.S. and international students eligible (international applicants must be sophomores if studying outside the U.S. without a U.S. passport)
The Telluride Association Summer Seminar is a fully funded residential program where you spend several weeks studying a focused seminar topic with a small group of students and a faculty instructor. During the program, you read academic texts, write analytical essays, and participate in daily discussions to examine themes related to subjects such as Critical Black Studies or Anti-Oppressive Studies. The program centers on seminar-style conversations where you analyze readings and debate ideas with the group. You also live in a shared residential setting where students organize activities and hold community meetings to discuss how the program operates.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Program Dates: Self-paced (available year-round)
Application Deadline: None (rolling access)
Eligibility: Open to high school students
History U is a free online learning platform developed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Designed to support high school students studying U.S. history, the program provides access to high-quality video lectures, primary sources, and instructional materials created by leading historians and educators. Through structured courses and topic-based modules, you explore major themes in American history, including the Founding Era, slavery and abolition, the Civil War, Reconstruction, civil rights, and modern political developments. Lessons emphasize primary source analysis, contextual understanding, and historical argumentation—skills essential for AP U.S. History, IB History, and college-level coursework.
Location: Online (via edX)
Cost: Free to audit; optional Verified Certificate for $209
Program Dates: Available anytime (self-paced; approximately 8 weeks recommended)
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to all learners, including high school students
Women Making History: Ten Objects, Many Stories is an introductory humanities course offered by Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences through edX. The course explores how American women shaped and responded to social, political, and cultural change in the 20th century by examining ten carefully selected objects from the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe. Through guided lectures and archival analysis led by Professors Laurel Ulrich and Jane Kamensky, you examine how ordinary individuals contributed to transformative historical movements. The course highlights themes such as suffrage, activism, technology, education, art, inclusion, and intersectionality, situating women’s experiences at the center of American history.
Location: Online (via edX)
Cost: Free to audit
Program Dates: Self-paced
Duration: 1 week (2–5 hours total commitment)
Eligibility: Open to all learners, including high school students
PredictionX: Lost Without Longitude is a short, introductory humanities course offered by Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences through edX. The course explores the history of navigation, tracing humanity’s efforts to determine position and direction, from celestial navigation to modern satellite systems. You examine core navigational principles such as position, direction, speed, and time, and learn why measuring longitude was one of the most difficult scientific challenges of the 18th century. The course highlights the historical significance of the Longitude Prize and the innovations of clockmaker John Harrison, situating technical advances within the broader context of global trade, empire, and exploration.
Location: Online (self-paced via edX)
Cost: Free to audit; optional Verified Certificate for $209
Application Deadline: None (rolling enrollment)
Program Dates: Flexible; approximately 3–6 hours per week over 6 weeks
Eligibility: Open to all learners, including high school students
Ancient Masterpieces of World Literature is a humanities course offered by Harvard University that explores some of the earliest surviving literary works and their cultural impact. In this course, you examine foundational texts such as The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, and selections from The 1001 Nights, analyzing how these narratives shaped civilizations across regions and centuries. You study how oral traditions evolved into written texts, how ancient manuscripts were preserved and rediscovered, and how developments in writing technologies transformed storytelling. The course situates literature within broader historical contexts, examining how early societies used narrative to communicate religious beliefs, moral values, political ideas, and collective memory.
Location: Online (live evening sessions, EDT)
Cost: Not specified
Program Dates: One-week modules
Application Deadline: Varies by session
Eligibility: Rising 10th, 11th, and 12th graders, as well as recent high school graduates
National History Academy Online (NHAO) is a college-preparatory summer program designed for high school students interested in civics, civil discourse, and American history. The program focuses on developing analytical thinking and respectful debate skills through a case-based curriculum centered on the foundations of American democracy. Each summer features a thematic focus. One recent theme explored voting and democratic systems, including a deep dive into the Electoral College, as well as case studies examining the Right of Revolution for the Disenfranchised, voting methods and their democratic impact, and redistricting.
Location: Online (self-paced via edX)
Cost: Free to audit; optional Verified Certificate for $209
Application Deadline: None (rolling enrollment)
Program Dates: Flexible; approximately 3–4 hours per week over 3 weeks (9–12 hours total)
Eligibility: Open to all learners, including high school students
18th-Century Opera: Handel & Mozart examines the historical and musical development of opera in the 1700s through close study of Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Mozart’s Don Giovanni. In this course, you explore how opera evolved as both an artistic and social institution during the Baroque and Classical periods. You analyze how composers structured arias, recitatives, and ensembles, and how singers and orchestras collaborated to shape dramatic storytelling on stage. The course highlights the stylistic differences between Baroque opera seria and Classical opera, with particular attention to Mozart’s ability to craft psychologically complex and musically distinctive characters.
Frequently asked questions
What types of free history programs are available for high school students?
Options include paid museum internships (Met, NY Historical Society), NASA and library internships (Library of Congress), fully funded residential seminars (Telluride TASS, Anson L. Clark Scholars), free online courses (Gilder Lehrman History School, History U, Harvard edX), Holocaust education programs (Holocaust Museum LA), and fully funded independent research programs (Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation).
Which free history programs offer stipends or financial support?
The Met High School Internship provides a $1,100 stipend, the NY Historical Student Historian Internship provides $700, and the Anson L. Clark Scholars Program provides $750 upon completion. Telluride TASS is fully funded and covers tuition, books, room and board, and travel assistance. The Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation is fully funded for low-income students.
Which programs are best for students interested in museum work and public history?
The Met High School Internship places students in curatorial, education, or design departments at one of the world's leading museums. The NY Historical Student Historian Internship focuses on original archival research culminating in a public digital project. The Library of Congress internship gives students exposure to collections, exhibitions, and visitor programming at the national library.
Are there free online history programs for high school students?
Yes, several programs are fully online. Gilder Lehrman History School offers live discussion-based courses on American history topics. History U is a self-paced platform with video lectures and primary sources available year-round. Harvard University offers multiple free audit courses through edX covering women's history, ancient literature, navigation history, and 18th-century opera. National History Academy Online runs live evening sessions on civics and American democracy.
Which free history programs are the most selective or competitive?
Telluride TASS is among the most selective, accepting a small cohort of students for a fully funded residential seminar at Cornell or the University of Maryland, with a December 3 deadline. The Met High School Internship and NY Historical Student Historian Internship are also competitive, limited to students in the New York metro area. The Anson L. Clark Scholars Program at Texas Tech is highly selective nationally.
When should I apply to free history programs for high school students?
Telluride TASS has the earliest deadline on December 3. The Library of Congress closes January 23, the Anson L. Clark Scholars Program closes February 24, the NY Historical closes March 29, and the Met closes March 13. Harvard edX courses and Gilder Lehrman History U are available year-round on a rolling or self-paced basis. Students should begin identifying competitive programs in the fall and submit applications by December or January for the most selective options.
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.