Computer Science Research Programs for High School Students (2026)
Updated: Sep 20
Updated September 2, 2026
TL;DR
Computer science research programs for high school students range from fully remote, worldwide-eligible options to free residential programs at top universities to paid regional labs that require local residency. The strongest picks here include the Lumiere Research Scholar Program and Veritas AI's Fellowship, both remote and open to any high schooler. If you want to start from anywhere in the world with no local residency requirement, look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1-on-1 with a PhD mentor to build an independent research paper.
Computer science is a crowded field on college applications. One way to get ahead in the admissions race is to build a strong profile. And in a highly technical field like CS, independent research is usually the best way to show admissions officers an advanced skill set. A research program gives you something a transcript can't: a real project you designed, worked through, and can talk about in an essay or interview.
If you want to go beyond just research in CS, our blogs on computer science courses for high school students and computer science competitions for high school students cover the wider landscape outside of research specifically. If you're weighing options across subjects beyond physics, see our best research opportunities for high school students (2026).
How to get into a computer science research program
Learn basic Python before you apply. Several selective programs, including Veritas AI's Fellowship and CSIRE, either require it or strongly prefer it. You don't need to be advanced, just comfortable with the basics.
Apply to more than one program. The free options on this list, like Clark Scholars and CMU's CS Scholars, each admit a small number of students. Treat them as reach programs, not sure bets.
If you're a freshman or sophomore, start with the remote options. Most campus-based programs require you to be a rising junior or older. Lumiere and Veritas AI don't have that restriction.
Line up your recommendation letters early. Deadlines for these programs cluster between January and March. Ask your teachers well before winter break.
If you live outside the US or can't travel for the summer, filter by location first. Half the programs below require in-person residency in a specific city or region, so narrowing by location saves you time.
How to choose
If you... | Recommended program(s) |
Want to apply from anywhere in the world, with no local residency requirement | Lumiere Research Scholar Program, Veritas AI Fellowship |
Want a program that costs nothing | |
Are not a US citizen or permanent resident | |
Are a freshman or sophomore | |
Already know how to code and want to skip an intro track | |
Live in the NYC, Washington DC/Maryland/Virginia, San Diego, or Chicago areas | |
Want the single most selective credential on this list |
Free, fully funded programs
Both of these cost nothing, cover housing where relevant, and admit a small, highly competitive cohort.
1. Anson L. Clark Scholars Program (Texas Tech University)
Application deadline: Mid-February
Duration: 7 weeks, late June through early August
Location: Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX. Residential
Eligibility: Rising seniors and recent high school graduates, at least 17 years old by the program start date. Open to both US and international students, though the program doesn't provide visa support
Cost: Free. Tuition, housing, and meals are fully covered, plus a $750 stipend after you complete your research report. There's a $25 application fee
Clark Scholars admits just 12 students a year from a pool of roughly 700 applicants, making it one of the most selective programs on this list. Research areas include computer science and electrical and computer engineering alongside a wide range of other STEM and humanities fields. You're paired directly with Texas Tech faculty for hands-on research, with weekly seminars and social activities built in.
Who it's right for: Rising seniors willing to compete for one of 12 spots in exchange for a fully funded, faculty-mentored summer with essentially no financial barrier to entry.
Application deadline: Early February (priority), with a final deadline in early March
Duration: 4 weeks, mid-June through mid-July
Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. Residential
Eligibility: CS Scholars is for rising juniors; AI Scholars is for rising seniors who've typically completed CS Scholars. US citizens or permanent residents only. The program is need-based and aimed at students underrepresented in computer science, so documentation of financial need is part of the application
Cost: Free. Tuition, housing, and meals are fully covered. There's a $50 application fee
CS Scholars introduces you to algorithmic thinking, basic data structures, and Python through classroom instruction, hands-on projects, and lectures from CMU faculty and industry partners. Students who complete CS Scholars may be invited back the following summer for AI Scholars, which goes deeper into machine learning fundamentals.
Who it's right for: US students, especially those without existing access to computer science coursework at their school, who want a genuinely free, no-strings residential introduction to the field.
Remote and worldwide-eligible programs
These two are the only programs on this list with no city, state, or country requirement.
3. Lumiere Research Scholar Program (Computer Science track)
Application deadline: Rolling, with spring, summer, fall, and winter cohorts
Duration: 12 to 20 weeks, depending on track
Location: Fully remote, open worldwide
Eligibility: Currently enrolled in high school, with a strong academic record
Cost: $2,990 for the 12-week track, $5,900 for the 16- to 20-week track. Full financial aid is available
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program pairs you 1-on-1 with a PhD mentor to design and complete an independent computer science research project, ending in a university-level paper. Because it's individual mentorship rather than a cohort curriculum, you define the project. Past students have worked on topics ranging from machine learning fairness to algorithmic bias in hiring systems. Longer tracks add publication support for students aiming at student research journals.
Who it's right for: Students outside the US, freshmen and sophomores who can't yet apply to campus programs, and anyone who wants a finished paper rather than a group presentation.
Application deadline: Rolling by cohort, with an early admission window in mid-to-late January for the spring cohort
Duration: 12 to 15 weeks
Location: Fully remote, open worldwide
Eligibility: High school students and advanced middle schoolers. You need either completion of Veritas AI's Scholars program or existing experience with Python and AI concepts
Cost: $5,900 for the Fellowship alone, or $7,900 combined with the AI Scholars program. Need-based aid can cover up to 100% of the cost
Veritas AI's Fellowship pairs you with an AI or machine learning mentor to build an original AI project over 12 one-on-one sessions, moving through an exploration phase, a data and feasibility phase, and an execution phase. Past projects have combined AI with medicine, finance, climate science, and education. Students who complete the program are also eligible for 3 post-baccalaureate credits through UC San Diego Extended Studies.
Who it's right for: Students who already have some coding background and want a structured, mentor-guided AI project rather than an open-ended research topic. Because it requires prior Python experience, it's a step up from Lumiere for students who've already coded before.
Paid university research programs
Both of these put you directly in a research lab with a faculty, postdoc, or PhD mentor, at a real cost.
5. CSIRE: Computer Science and Informatics Research Experience (Stony Brook University)
Application deadline: Early February (early decision), with a final deadline around March 1
Duration: 6 weeks, late June through early August
Location: Stony Brook University, Suffolk County, NY. Commuter or fully virtual, with no residential housing option
Eligibility: US high school students with existing programming or data analytics skills
Cost: $3,900. Financial aid is available
CSIRE puts you in an active research group under faculty and PhD mentors across computer science, biomedical informatics, machine learning, cybersecurity, and human-computer interaction. Because it now offers a fully virtual option alongside commuting, it's one of the few programs on this list where you can do genuine lab-affiliated research without living near campus, as long as you're a US student.
Who it's right for: Students who already code and want faculty-level research experience, without necessarily needing to travel to Long Island.
Application deadline: Mid-December through early March, decisions made on a rolling basis
Duration: 7 weeks, mid-June through the end of July
Location: UC Santa Barbara, CA. Commuter or residential
Eligibility: High-achieving sophomores and juniors, worldwide. Some exceptional freshmen are considered
Cost: Around $5,675 for the commuter option, or around $13,274 residential. A limited number of need-based scholarships are available, with priority for California residents
RMP pairs you with a graduate student, postdoc, or faculty mentor on an interdisciplinary research project you help select, computer science being one of many available tracks. You'll also enroll in two research courses and earn 8 units of university credit, on top of presenting at the program's GRIT talks lecture series and a final symposium.
Who it's right for: Students who want one of the more academically rigorous, credit-bearing research credentials on this list and can manage the cost.
Regional and location-specific programs
Each of these requires you to live in, or be able to commute to, a specific metro area. If you don't live nearby, these aren't worth applying to.
7. ARISE (NYU Tandon School of Engineering)
Application deadline: Typically February to early March
Duration: About 10 weeks: 4 weeks of remote evening workshops, followed by 6 weeks of in-person lab work
Location: NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY
Eligibility: Current 10th or 11th graders who live in one of New York City's five boroughs
Cost: Free, plus a stipend of at least $1,000 upon completion
ARISE places you in an NYU faculty lab working on real research in computer science, machine learning, robotics, and other STEM fields, alongside mentorship from a graduate or postdoctoral student. The program specifically encourages students from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM to apply.
Who it's right for: NYC students, especially those without existing access to research opportunities, who want a paid lab placement with zero cost to apply.
8. ASPIRE (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)
Application deadline: Applications open January 1, with a single annual window
Duration: An intensive summer session, roughly late June through August, with an optional academic-year continuation
Location: JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD. In-person, 30 to 40 hours a week on-site
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors, US citizens (not just permanent residents), with permanent residence in specific Maryland, Virginia, or DC-area counties and reliable transportation to APL, which isn't accessible by public transit. Minimum 2.8 GPA
Cost: Free, but unpaid. There's no stipend
ASPIRE pairs you with an APL staff mentor for hands-on project work in fields including computer science, cybersecurity, and engineering, inside one of the country's most active applied research labs. It's extremely competitive, admitting only around 7% of applicants.
Who it's right for: Students in the DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia area who can handle an unpaid, full-time summer commitment in exchange for real professional lab experience.
9. REHS (UC San Diego / San Diego Supercomputer Center)
Application deadline: Mid-February through mid-March
Duration: 8 weeks, early June through the end of July
Location: San Diego Supercomputer Center, UC San Diego, CA
Eligibility: Southern California residents in grades 10 to 12, at least 16 years old by June 15, with a minimum 3.0 GPA
Cost: $1,500 registration fee. Financial aid and fee waivers are available
REHS is a volunteer research internship where you join an established computational science project at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, working on things like machine learning, data visualization, and high-performance computing under a research scientist mentor. It ends with a scientific poster you present at a public showcase.
Who it's right for: Southern California students who want computational research experience specifically, rather than a general STEM survey.
10. DSI Summer Lab (University of Chicago)
Application deadline: Mid-January
Duration: 8 weeks, mid-June through early August
Location: University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. High school applicants must live in and attend school in the Chicago area; housing isn't provided for high schoolers
Eligibility: Current high school freshmen through seniors who reside in the Chicago area
Cost: Paid stipend, reported around $4,800 in recent cohorts
DSI Summer Lab pairs you with a data science mentor across domains including computer science, materials science, and biomedical research, alongside undergraduate participants. You'll learn research methodology and present a final video presentation at an end-of-summer symposium, with professional development and a weekly speaker series built in.
Who it's right for: Chicago-area students specifically. If you don't live in the Chicago area, this one isn't an option, no matter how strong your application is.
Frequently asked questions: computer science research programs for high school students
Is a computer science research program the same as an internship?
Not exactly, though the terms get used interchangeably. A research program usually means you're working on an original question under a mentor, often ending in a paper or poster. An internship can mean the same thing, or it can mean shadowing, coding tasks, or general professional exposure without an independent research output. Several programs on this list, like ASPIRE and DSI Summer Lab, are technically labeled internships but function like research placements. Read the "what you'll actually do" section of any program's site before assuming the title tells you everything.
Are there free computer science research programs for high school students?
Yes. The Clark Scholars Program and Carnegie Mellon's CS and AI Scholars are both fully funded and free to attend, and ARISE and JHU APL's ASPIRE are also free, though ASPIRE doesn't pay a stipend. Six of the ten programs on this list are free or pay you; the rest range from about $1,500 to over $13,000 depending on format.
Can international students apply to these programs?
Some, but not most. The Lumiere Research Scholar Program and Veritas AI's Fellowship are open worldwide since they're fully remote. The Clark Scholars Program accepts international applicants too, though it doesn't help with visas. Everything else on this list requires US citizenship, permanent residency, or residency in a specific US city or region.
Can freshmen or sophomores apply?
It's limited. The Lumiere Research Scholar Program and Veritas AI's Fellowship don't have a grade floor, so they're realistic options for underclassmen. UCSB's Research Mentorship Program will occasionally consider an exceptional freshman. Nearly everything else requires you to be a rising junior or older.
Do you need to know how to code already?
For some, yes. CSIRE expects existing programming or data analytics skills, and Veritas AI's Fellowship requires either its own prerequisite program or real Python experience. CMU's CS Scholars, by contrast, is designed as an entry point and doesn't assume prior coding background.
How selective are these programs?
It varies widely. Clark Scholars admits 12 students from around 700 applicants, and ASPIRE accepts roughly 7%. Others, like the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, run multiple cohorts a year and aren't a single-shot bottleneck. Selectivity isn't always listed publicly, so treat any acceptance rate you see as directional rather than exact.
How long do these programs run?
Most run 4 to 8 weeks over the summer. CMU's CS and AI Scholars are the shortest at 4 weeks, and REHS and DSI Summer Lab are the longest at 8. The Lumiere Research Scholar Program and Veritas AI's Fellowship run longer, from 12 to 20 weeks, since they're built around finishing an independent paper or project rather than a fixed summer session.
Stephen Turban is the co-founder of Lumiere Education and a graduate of Harvard College, where he earned an A.B. in Statistics before beginning a PhD at Harvard Business School. A former McKinsey & Company consultant and former researcher, his research has been covered by the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, BBC News, Freakonomics Radio, and the Washington Post. In his articles for Forbes, he writes on what students and professionals can learn from high school research, high school passion projects, critical thinking, and mentorship. At Lumiere, he leads a selective research program where students work one-on-one with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper. Connect with him on LinkedIn.