8 Spring Internships for High School Students
If you are a high school student looking to complete an internship in the spring, this list is for you! We’ve compiled a list of 8 of the best spring internship programs open to high school students. This list includes internships in STEM subjects such as math, engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology as well as humanities and art, law, international relations, and computer science!
With an internship in the field of your choice, you can learn, explore, and apply concepts in the real world. Being selected as an intern for prestigious programs like the ones mentioned below can add great value to your resume and overall college admissions profile. For example, if you intern with NASA for aerospace engineering, it demonstrates your skills compared to your peers and opens up the door to more such opportunities.
Many of the following opportunities are fully funded and will provide a stipend upon completion.
Cost: $2,490 (Financial Aid Available)
Location:Â Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Application deadline:Â Deadlines vary depending on the cohortÂ
Program dates:Â Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including a spring cohort
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
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.Â
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.Â
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.
Location: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, D.C.
Cost/Stipend:Â Unpaid
Eligibility:Â U.S. high school students with an offer of admission or current enrollment at an accredited institutionÂ
Application deadline: Typically in October for spring internships
Program dates: Spring internship dates range from January to May
During this internship, you will collect, analyze, and present policy data. You will be conducting research and summarizing academic literature and news that is important for the department’s missions. Additionally, you will get to attend and report on Congressional meetings, hearings, and conferences. You will also be expected to come up with briefing material, talking points, and reports for stakeholders and department leaders. This internship offers a valuable foundation for a career in public service. You'll have the chance to enhance your research, analytical, management, and organizational skills through interactions with Treasury staff and other government agencies. You can search for internship openings at any of the Treasury Departmental Offices.
Location:Â U.S. Senate, Washington D.C.Â
Stipend: Stipend is offered on an annual salary of $35,360. Since most pages don’t serve the entire year, they get a monthly stipend of $2,946
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors who are 16 or 17 years old and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0/BÂ
Application deadline: Rolling
Program dates: The Spring 2024 session ran from January 28 – June 7, 2024
The US Senate Page Program offers high school students interested in political science a unique opportunity to gain real-world experience. Pages are sponsored by senators and live in Washington, D.C. during the program. As a page, you'll perform various tasks like delivering documents within the Capitol, preparing the chamber for Senate sessions, and assisting senators and staff during debates.
Interns are also expected to attend page school every morning. The program has only 30 page positions for supporting about 100 members of the U.S. Senate. Hence, not all senators will sponsor or select a page. You can even directly reach out to a senator here to check if they are willing to sponsor a page.
Note that during the high school year, pages need to live in the Daniel Webster Senate Page Residence on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. Costs incurred will be $780/ month, which will be deducted from the stipend.Â
Location: Remote or Foreign Policy Research Institute, Philadelphia, PA
Stipend: None
Eligibility: High school students who are authorized for employment in the U.S.Â
Application deadline:Â Spring session: November 1, 2024 (Decisions by December 15, 2024)
Program dates:Â The spring session runs from February to May (exact dates TBA)
The Foreign Policy Research Institute offers a competitive internship program for high school students interested in international relations. This program helps you learn about foreign policy and develop essential skills like critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.
As an intern, you'll have the opportunity to network with foreign relations professionals and attend weekly seminars on foreign policy. You can choose from research, special events, communications, or operations internships. The requirements, duties, and format vary for each opportunity. You'll also have the chance to write a research paper that could be published on the FPRI's Intern Corner.
Location: Remote, but interns mustn’t work from these states since APA is not registered as an employer there
Stipend: Both unpaid and paid internships are available. There is no information about the exact stipend amountÂ
Eligibility:Â Exact requirements vary as per the positionÂ
Application deadline: Varies based on the internship
Program dates: Internships are offered throughout the year on a rolling basis
The American Psychological Association offers internships for high school students in both remote and in-person settings. The specific requirements and duties vary depending on the position, which could be in areas like policy, research, communications, operations, ITS, or financial services. Internships typically involve research, writing, web-based projects, administrative tasks, and special projects. The goal is to provide students with insight into professional psychology. You will also participate in workshops, discussions, and group projects and interact with senior psychologists. You can find all available internship opportunities here.
Location: Washington D.C.
Stipend: Unpaid and paid opportunities
Eligibility: High school students at least 16 years oldÂ
Application deadline:Â Rolling, depending on program dates. Winter/spring internship applications typically open from September 1 to November 30
Program dates:Â The winter/spring internships run from January to May
The Department of Education internships offer students the opportunity to contribute to government and federal education, policy, and administration. Internships are tailored to the student's interests, with options in areas like education policies, data analytics, grants management, and more. This program gives you the chance to explore career paths in your fields of interest.Â
Specific eligibility requirements vary by position. Interns work 20 to 40 hours per week during the spring term, with flexible scheduling and hours. This internship is a great way to network and potentially build a foundation for a federal career. You can find available opportunities here.
Location:Â New York City, NY
Stipend: Students are paid $15/hour
Eligibility: High school students at least 16 years old who are residents of NYC. All applicants under 18 must have youth working papers to be eligibleÂ
Application deadline: Deadline for fall/spring term is likely to be early September based on previous years
Program dates: The fall/spring term typically runs from September/October to April (specific dates TBA for 2024-25)
The New York City Mayor's Office offers a paid internship program for high school students to gain experience in city government operations. You will choose a department when you apply. The internship will involve collaborating with staff, conducting research, attending meetings, analyzing data, managing inquiries, drafting briefings, and staffing events. The program includes a bi-weekly Speaker Series with guest speakers from the NYC government. You will also work on a service project with your fellow interns to help New Yorkers in need. Apply here.Â
Location: Several locations across the United States
Stipend: Students are paid $492.40/week
Eligibility: High school students who are:
at least 16 years oldÂ
U.S. citizens
in good academic standing
willing to participate in a background check
Application deadline:Â Deadlines vary based on the chosen site
Program dates: The program offers a limited number of spring internships. Internships typically run 10–12 weeks, with a minimum requirement of 8 weeks. They can last up to 14 weeks based on mentor preferences and funding availability.
The Air Force Research Laboratory's Scholars program offers paid internships to high school students interested in aerospace engineering. You will work with AFRL scientists and engineers, tour AFRL laboratories, and conduct research. The program focuses on topics like satellite navigation, machine learning, atomic physics, AI development, astrodynamics, robotics, and more. You can check the research topics and mentor bios here. Apply to no more than 3 topics per AFRL site. Some topics offered this spring include Cold Atom Experimental Control and Data Acquisition and AI Opponents for Contested Space.
One other option—the 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 4,000 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.