15 Fall Programs for Middle School Students
- Stephen Turban
- 25 minutes ago
- 10 min read
If you’re a middle school student looking to learn outside of your regular classes, a fall program can be a great way to do it. These programs give you the chance to explore subjects like science, technology, art, or leadership in a more hands-on way than school usually allows.Â
What do fall programs entail? Why should I participate in a fall program in middle school?
Fall programs for middle schoolers come in many formats. Some run on weekends or after school, while others are online and easy to join from home. You might spend your time building a robot, writing stories, solving math challenges, or working on small research projects with mentors. Because they are shorter than summer programs, they’re easier to try out while still giving you a chance to focus on something that excites you.
Taking part in a fall program also gives you an early advantage for the future. The projects, workshops, and skills you gain can make the shift to high school smoother, since you’ll already be used to tackling challenges outside the classroom.Â
With that, here are 15 fall programs for middle school students you can explore this year!
15 Fall Programs for Middle School Students
Location: Virtual
Cost:Â Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective; approximately 12 students per cohort
Program Dates: Three-week summer course (July 8-24) followed by weekly fall meetings (August 26-December 13)
Application Deadline: March
Eligibility: Students in grades 6-7 from low-income families (household income under $90,000 annually) who reside in and attend school in the United States; minimum B- B-grade average required
The Stanford Middle School Scholars Program is a tuition-free opportunity designed specifically for high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds. You begin with a three-week summer experience where you explore subjects like mathematics, philosophy, political theory, history, and media literacy through live online classes taught by Stanford faculty. Classes meet Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM during the summer session, giving you exposure to college-level thinking while building essential academic skills. After the summer component, you continue with weekly after-school meetings throughout the fall semester, focusing on practical skills like academic writing, time management, study strategies, and high school preparation.
Location:Â Virtual
Cost: Varies depending on program
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Moderately selective
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application deadline:Â Multiple rolling deadlines for JEP cohorts across the year; you can apply using this application link! If you'd like to take a look at the cohorts + deadlines, you can refer here.Â
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 – 8
The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program is an eight-week online research experience for middle and early high school students. You’ll work one-on-one with a PhD mentor to design and complete your own research project, gaining exposure to academic thinking and research methods. In the first half of the program, you explore multiple subject areas, such as technology, science, and social studies, before selecting a topic that excites you most. Once you choose your focus, you’ll dive deeper into that field, learning how to ask research questions, analyze information, and think critically like a young scholar. Your final project could be a research paper, case study, or presentation, depending on your topic and goals.
Location:Â RemoteÂ
Cost:Â Varies depending on program; Financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Moderately selective; small cohort size
Dates:Â Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application deadline:Â Varies by cohort (rolling)
Eligibility:Â Students in grades 6-8
Veritas AI’s AI Trailblazers is an online program that introduces middle school students to artificial intelligence and data science through hands-on projects and small group mentorship. You learn the basics of Python programming and explore key topics such as exploratory data analysis, regression, classification, and neural networks. You work with real datasets and build a group project with three to five other students. Past projects have included image classification models and tools that make predictions based on data. The curriculum also covers artificial intelligence ethics and the five big ideas of artificial intelligence, helping you think critically about how machines learn and impact society.
Location: Remote and in-person options available across the U.S. and internationally
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Open to all; no selection process
Program Dates: Ongoing during the school year; clubs typically meet 1–2 hours per week after school or on weekends
Application Deadline: Rolling; students join through their local school or community club
Eligibility: Open to students in grades 3–12; no prior coding experience required
Girls Who Code Clubs are free programs that help students explore computer science through hands-on projects and a supportive community. You can join during the school year or summer, either in person at schools, libraries, and community centers or online through virtual sessions. Once you join, you choose from topics like game design, web development, and cybersecurity. You learn through self-paced video tutorials and build projects that reflect your interests, such as creating an app, designing a website, or solving a real-world problem with code.
Location: Cambridge, MA
Cost: Free with museum admission; some workshops may have additional fees
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Open to all; no selection process
Program Dates: Available year-round
Application Deadline: Varies by workshop or event
Eligibility: Open to all ages; workshop eligibility varies; some are designed for middle or high school students, others for adults
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum Maker Hub is a hands-on space where you explore design, science, and engineering through short creative projects. Activities are drop-in, so each visit is different. You might build a balance sculpture, wire a paper circuit, or experiment with bioplastics made from seaweed. Museum educators and students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology guide each session, keeping the challenges fun and accessible for middle school students while connecting to real research ideas.Â
Location: Nationwide; finalists travel to Washington, D.C. for finals
Cost: Free to enter via nomination from an affiliated science fair
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Top 300 projects selected nationally; 30 finalists attend finals week
Program Dates: Finals week held in fall; dates vary annually
Application Deadline: Students must be nominated between February and June through an affiliated science fair
Eligibility: U.S. students in grades 6–8 who are nominated by a Society-affiliated science fair
The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge is a national science and engineering competition for middle school students. To qualify, you first present your project at a local or regional science fair and then apply online to be considered for the national stage. Finalists are invited to Washington, District of Columbia, where they take part in team challenges, showcase their research, and meet professional scientists. The competition focuses on independent investigation, so students bring forward projects they have developed themselves in areas such as biology, engineering, or environmental science.
7. 4-H Programs
Location: Nationwide (organized by local county extension offices)
Cost: Typically free or low-cost; some events or projects may have fees
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Open enrollment; club sizes vary by county
Program Dates: Available year-round
Application Deadline: Rolling; sign up through your local 4-H office or extension website
Eligibility: Youth aged 5-18 with some state-specific variations; full participation begins at age 8, with Cloverbud programs for ages 5–7
The 4-H Youth Development Program offers clubs and projects where you explore topics like robotics, agriculture, public speaking, and health. Programs are led by volunteers and supported by universities, giving you access to mentors and resources as you work on your interests. Most clubs meet weekly or every other week during the school year, so you can build skills over time while staying on a steady schedule. Depending on your focus, you might raise animals, design a science experiment, or develop leadership skills for community involvement.
Location: Franchise centers across the U.S. and internationally
Cost: Often free to schools; costs vary widely by location
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Open enrollment; class sizes usually range from 8–16 students
Program Dates: Available year-round during the academic calendar; summer camps and holiday workshops also offered
Application Deadline: Varies by location and program; early registration recommended
Eligibility: Students ages 4–14; grouped by age for appropriate curriculum
Engineering For Kids after-school classes let you explore science and engineering through hands-on projects that connect learning with creativity. Depending on the class, you might launch rockets, design sailboats, build robots, or use computer programming to solve challenges. Many sessions also introduce technology and coding, giving you the chance to try three-dimensional modeling, game-based coding, or video game design. If you enjoy Minecraft, you might even design a futuristic city while learning about sustainability and problem-solving.
Location: American Museum of Natural History, New York City
Cost: $1,000 per session; financial aid available
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective; 20–25 students per session
Program Dates: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer sessions; typically run on Saturdays over 6–8 weeks
Application Deadline: Varies by session; usually 1–2 months before start date
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8 who can attend in person; no strict residency requirement
The Science Alliance program at the American Museum of Natural History gives you the chance to explore real scientific topics through hands-on learning and direct mentorship. Each session focuses on a different area of science, such as astrophysics, evolutionary biology, or conservation, so you can dive into subjects that interest you most. Classes take place after school or on Saturdays during the fall semester, making it easy to fit into your weekly routine. You might work with specimens, explore museum exhibits, or try lab-based investigations connected to current research. Some sessions also support science fair projects, helping you develop ideas for independent research.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Open-access; no selection process
Program Dates: Self-paced and scheduled events; Day of AI held annually in spring
Application Deadline: No formal application required; registration deadlines posted for specific events
Eligibility: Students in grades 3–12; curriculum varies by age group
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Responsible Artificial Intelligence for Social Empowerment Workshops help you explore artificial intelligence while thinking about its impact on people and communities. You begin with beginner-friendly coding tools like Scratch or App Inventor and can move on to more advanced platforms such as Jupyter Notebooks, depending on your experience level. As you progress, you learn how artificial intelligence systems make decisions, how machine learning works, and how fairness and bias can shape technology. You also take part in team projects where you design tools powered by artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems.
Location: Offered through participating schools and educators
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Open to all students at participating schools; not selective
Program Dates: Varies by school or district; can run for several weeks or a full semester
Application Deadline: No formal application; students participate through their school.
Eligibility: Students in grades 8–12; typically offered in math, science, or computer science classes
Bootstrap Data Science is a classroom-based course that helps you connect coding with the math and science subjects you already study. You work with datasets and learn how to ask research questions, analyze information, and create visualizations that explain patterns and trends. The course is often taught during regular class time, and your teacher is trained to guide you through coding exercises even if you have never tried computer science before. Projects might focus on sports statistics, crime data, or civic trends, depending on what your school selects.
Location: Virtual (on-demand via Udemy)
Cost: $15-50, depending on promotions
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Open enrollment; no limits or prerequisites
Program Dates: Self-paced; start anytime
Application Deadline: Rolling; no formal application required
Eligibility: Open to anyone interested in learning robotics basics
This Udemy robotics course gives you a beginner-friendly introduction to robotics through step-by-step video lessons. You start with Fusion Three Hundred Sixty, a computer-aided design tool that helps you model and plan robotic parts. Then you move into topics like data handling and problem-solving for different levels of complexity. The course includes two projects that let you apply what you have learned, showing how design and coding work together in robotics. You receive assignments and notes to help you stay on track, and you can message the instructor directly for feedback and guidance.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Open enrollment; no application required
Program Dates: Self-paced; typically completed in 4–6 weeks
Application Deadline: None; start anytime
Eligibility: Open to anyone interested in learning computer science basics
Stanford University Computer Science One Hundred One is a self-paced online course that introduces you to computer science through interactive examples and short coding exercises. You run code directly in your web browser while learning about loops, logic, and structured data. The course helps you understand how computers process information by breaking complex ideas into patterns you can actually follow. You also explore how hardware and software work together, how the internet functions, and how digital images and media are stored. Security topics such as viruses and passwords are explained in ways that connect to the technology you use every day.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,795
Acceptance rate: Not Selective
Application deadline: Rolling Â
Eligibility: Students aged 13 and above
In Dartmouth’s Regenerative Medicine course, you’ll explore how science is being used to repair and rebuild the human body. The program introduces you to topics like stem cells, tissue engineering, and organ regeneration, along with the role of new technologies such as 3D bioprinting and biomaterials. You’ll look at case studies that show how scientists are tackling challenges like organ shortages, tissue repair, and disease treatment. Lessons also connect regenerative medicine to wider areas, including biotechnology, precision medicine, and even space-related healthcare. To wrap up, you’ll complete a capstone project that pulls together everything you’ve studied.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,495
Acceptance rate: Not selective
Application deadline: RollingÂ
Eligibility: Students aged 13 and above
Rice University’s Foundations of Medicine course introduces you to physiology, the science of how the body’s systems work together to keep you alive and healthy. Across 20 to 30 hours of virtual instruction, you’ll study the nervous, muscular, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems in detail, learning about concepts like neuron communication, muscle contraction, blood circulation, and breathing. Alongside these lessons, you’ll also cover key scientific principles such as flow and resistance, electrical signaling, and gas exchange. Practicing physicians share real-world perspectives on what happens when these systems malfunction and how doctors address those challenges.Â
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 in which students work one-on-one with a mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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