If you’re a high school student looking for ways to spend a productive summer, an internship can be a solid opportunity to gain valuable experience in your chosen field! For students interested in technology, a summer internship can help build practical knowledge and skills. Doing an internship in high school enhances your resume, making you a more competitive candidate for college admissions and future job opportunities. A tech internship can also help you build a professional network, exposing you to potential mentors and industry contacts.

Securing a tech internship as a high school student can be challenging as it demands a solid academic background, a genuine interest in the field, and often, some preliminary experience or demonstrated skills in areas such as mathematics, science, and technology. We’ve included a mix of beginner and advanced tech internship opportunities in this blog to help you find the right fit. Note that the following information is based on the most recent program, with dates subject to change but generally similar from year to year.

Here are 8 summer tech internships for high school students!

1. Meta Summer Academy

Location: Menlo Park, CA

Stipend:  Students will receive a stipend upon successful completion.

Application Deadline: The admission cycle for summer will open in December.

Program Dates: Typically mid-June to late July (~ 6 weeks).

Eligibility: Sophomores in high school during the year of application who are full-year residents of East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, North Fair Oaks, or Redwood City and have a minimum 2.0 Cumulative GPA.

Meta Summer Academy interns will learn about the day-to-day operations of one of the world’s leading social media networks. You will learn coding, explore careers, and develop soft skills that will help you build a successful career. You will be expected to participate for 30 hours/week. As an intern, you will be mentored by Meta summer academy mentors, who are employees at Meta. While this program focuses on the workings of Meta, you will learn a lot about technology and computer science. The position also offers you exposure to the tech industry. Meta provides transportation to all externs, which makes it accessible to applicants from across California. Landing an internship at Meta as a high school student is a matter of prestige, as the selection process is quite competitive, with only 150 students making it to the final cohort. To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.

2. Ladder Internship Program

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. 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!

3. Spark Summer Mentorship Program (SPARK SMP)

Location: Greater Seattle area, WA

Stipend: Stipends depend on the project

Application Deadline: Applications typically close in May after opening in April.

Program Dates: June to August (~ 6-8 weeks)

Eligibility: High school students in the Greater Seattle area who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and can work 40 hours/week for 8-12 weeks.

Participants in SparkSIP can choose from 1 to 5 projects that interest them, with selected students (only 5-6) receiving mentorship from sponsors. The program also provides beneficial resources and opportunities during and after the college application process. SparkSIP offers the chance to apply concepts in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data visualization. The program lets you interact with and learn from industry leaders, university professors, and mentors. Past internship topics include extreme weather conditions, software engineering, detecting tick-borne infections and cancers, ML workflow, quantum, CHIPS/semiconductors - GaN/AIGaN, low-temperature electronics, competitive analysis, market research, data engineering and AI, social media content generation, and more. To learn more about this internship, check out our complete guide here.

4. MIT Lincoln Laboratory High School Internship Program

Location: Lexington, MA

Stipend: A stipend is provided to the interns.

Application Deadline: Applications typically close in March and open in February.

Program Dates: July 10 - August 15

Eligibility: U.S. citizens who are local high school rising seniors and will be 16 years old before the start date

The Summer High School Internship Program at MIT Lincoln Laboratory offers rising seniors in the New England area an opportunity to explore STEM careers before committing to a college major. You will be paired with Laboratory staff mentors to complete projects, tackle problems, and develop technical and interpersonal skills in a professional environment. If you’re interested in technology, you can work on projects related to developing radar, electronic warfare, and technologies for future integrated air and missile defense systems. You can also work on projects that improve air transportation by developing sensors, weather tracking, and forecasting systems. Alternatively, you could work on developing technology for advanced satellite systems that are used to monitor the activity of objects in space and perform remote sensing of Earth.

5. TARGET by Fermilab

Location: Fermilab site, Batavia, IL

Stipend: Students are paid a salary of $17.20 per hour.

Application Deadline: Applications typically close in February.

Program Dates: Typically mid-June to late July.

Eligibility: Sophomores or juniors at the time of application who are enrolled in an Illinois high school, have a 3.0+ GPA average, and are eligible to work in the U.S. 

The TARGET program is a competitive six-week summer internship for Illinois high school sophomores and juniors. It is designed for students with a strong interest and demonstrated aptitude in physics, mathematics, computer science, and engineering, and it aims to inspire them to pursue college studies and careers in STEM fields. Each year, the TARGET program accepts only 15-25 interns. The program blends work with experiential learning, allowing you to collaborate with scientists and engineers at Fermilab. This experience enhances your technical skills and provides valuable exposure to professional STEM environments, fostering a deeper understanding of these fields. To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.

6. Simons Summer Research Program

Location: Stony Brook University, NY

Cost/Stipend: There is no participation cost, but students are expected to cover transportation, dining, and residential costs. A stipend is provided to the interns.

Application Deadline: Applications typically close in February.

Program Dates: July 1 - August 9

Eligibility: High school juniors at the time of application who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and will be at least 16 years of age by the start of the program

Stony Brook University’s Simons Summer Research Program allows high school students to engage in STEM research alongside faculty mentors. You will be matched with a faculty mentor, join a research group or team, and take responsibility for a specific project. By the program’s conclusion, you will produce a written research abstract and a research poster. You should expect to commit at least 4 hours per day working independently and/or with your mentor or research group. If you’re interested in technology, you can work alongside Dr. Dongyoon Lee in the Computer Science Department, where research projects are offered in computer systems, security, and software engineering. Possible topics include C/C++ memory safety, regular expression denial of service, and software testing. You can view the other projects here! To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.

7. Honors College - The Anson L. Clark Scholars Program

Location: Honors College, Lubbock, TX

Stipend: Students will receive a $750 stipend.

Application Deadline: Applications typically close in February.

Program Dates: June 16 - August 1

Eligibility: Open to applicants who are at least 17 years of age by the program start date, are participating in the summer before or after their senior year of high school, and are U.S. citizens or permanent residents

The Anson L. Clark Scholars Program at Texas Tech University is a seven-week research program for high school students to gain research experience under the mentorship of Texas Tech faculty. Although it is not a traditional internship, the program builds valuable tech skills. This program offers the flexibility to incorporate machine learning and its applications within computer science. This includes areas such as virtual and augmented reality, big data visualization, visual analytics, statistical data analysis, data-intensive computing, computer architectures, and systems software. Additionally, you can explore research in Mechanical Engineering or Electrical and Computer Engineering, which involve applications of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robotics. For tips on how to get into this prestigious program, you can find advice from the Dean of Texas Tech here. To learn more about this program, check out our complete guide here.

8. National Institute of Standards and Technology Internships

Location: Varies from lab to lab.

Cost/Stipend: No participation cost, but students must cover their transportation and housing costs.

Application Deadline: Applications typically close in February.

Program Dates: Typically 8 weeks between June and August.

Eligibility: Open to students who are U.S. citizens, are juniors or seniors in high school during the application period, and have a minimum GPA of 3.0

The Summer High School Intern Program (SHIP) by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers an exceptional opportunity for students with a demonstrated interest in scientific research. This prestigious program allows you to engage in cutting-edge research at NIST with scientists and engineers. You can choose to intern at one of these 6 NIST laboratories. If you are interested in tech, we recommend opting for the Information Technology Laboratory, where you will help with research to support the development and advancement of measurement science, standards infrastructure, and computer technology. Your research activities could include digital data retrieval and preservation, bioinformatics, data mining, machine learning, information visualization, and image analysis.

One other option - Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you would like to participate in a rigorous research program open to high schoolers, you should also consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, a selective online high school program 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.

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: National Institute of Standards and Technology logo