15 Free Online Writing Programs for Middle School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Oct 3
- 8 min read
If you’re a middle school student looking for accessible ways to explore writing, consider an online writing program! Online programs offer an excellent alternative for middle school students to gain exposure to advanced academics, practical skills, industry knowledge, and valuable connections. Free programs, particularly, add a competitive streak to your resume! As strong writing skills are expected across all main course subjects, as well as in many extracurriculars and competitions, students interested in writing can particularly benefit from an accessible and affordable avenue that can prepare them for high school and college.
In this blog, we’ve narrowed down our list of 15 free online writing programs for middle school students!
15 Free Online Writing Programs for Middle School Students
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Varies depending on program type; full financial aid offered
Dates: 8 weeks, with multiple cohorts yearly
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines for each cohort
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 – 8
Lumiere’s Junior Explorers program offers an online writing experience focused on independent research. You’ll identify your preferred academic field, with subjects ranging across STEM, humanities, and social sciences, then be paired with a PhD-level mentor to guide your study. You’ll gain a comprehensive introduction to the field, then design an independent research project addressing a real-world question in the discipline. To strengthen your academic writing skills, you’ll finish the program by writing a formal research paper on your findings.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Varies by program; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Small cohorts of 5 students
Dates: 10 weeks, with multiple cohorts yearly
Application Deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 – 8
Veritas AI’s Trailblazers is an online program providing middle schoolers with training in both computer science and writing skills. You’ll study topics across artificial intelligence, including machine learning, neural networks, and image classification, completing coding activities to solidify your knowledge along the way. As the content grows in complexity, you’ll collaborate with a small group to shape a group AI research project, where you’ll develop writing skills through analyzing data, translating computational research to written formats, and completing a capstone research paper that you’ll present at the end of the program.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Free
Dates: Summer Program: July 7 – 25 | Fall Semester: August 27 – December 10 (weekly meetings)
Application Deadline: March 20
Eligibility: Low-income students in grades 6 – 7 studying in the U.S.; typically for families earning below $90,000/year (average around $55,000/year)
Stanford Middle School Scholars is a free online program supporting low-income students with an opportunity for advanced academic study. You’ll take one of 3-4 available courses, with options in humanities and social sciences that focus on writing through topics like analyzing historical events through philosophical arguments, writing close-reading essays, and literary analysis techniques. The program continues through the following academic year, during which you will develop additional writing skills, including academic papers, high school and college application essays, and tutoring for your coursework. The program also serves as a feeder to Stanford Online High School.
Location: Online (EdX)
Cost/Stipend: Free | $169 for graded assessments and completion certificate
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: Self-paced (16–20 hours total)
Application Deadline: N/A
Eligibility: Open to the public; no prior experience required
For students interested in politics, sociology, law, or social issues, UC Berkeley’s BerkeleyX program offers a free online writing program in social justice topics across written genres. You’ll learn how to critically develop political perspectives on a personal, national, and global scale, and express your perspectives in writing through both persuasively articulating your own argument and engaging with alternative perspectives. You’ll apply these skills to genres such as personal journaling, writing compelling letters to public officials, crafting opinion articles in a journalistic style, and creating your own blog or podcast.
Location: Online (Coursera)
Cost/Stipend: Free | Certificate and additional features available for a fee (financial aid available)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: Self-paced (6 hours total)
Application Deadline: N/A
Eligibility: Open to the public; no prior experience required
Wesleyan’s Writing a Personal Essay course is a free online writing program for middle schoolers interested in memoir-style creative writing. You’ll learn skills in planning and organizing your planned essay, gaining confidence in writing creatively about yourself, selecting meaningful anecdotes and stories to discuss, and turning these elements into an engaging narrative. You’ll watch asynchronous lectures, study memoirs from well-regarded authors, and develop your personal style through practice writing assignments.
Location: Online (Coursera)
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: Self-paced (30 hours of lessons)
Application Deadline: N/A
Eligibility: Open to the public; no prior experience required
STEM-focused students seeking to improve their writing skills can consider Stanford’s free online course on Writing in the Sciences. In this asynchronous course, you’ll learn scientific writing styles across scientific abstracts, grants, adapting advanced topics for non-technical audiences, and research papers. You’ll study skills including writing efficiently, decreasing anxiety, ethical practices in scientific research, avoiding plagiarism, and formatting each section of a scientific paper.
Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: Self-paced (~26 sessions, each ~1.5 hours)
Application Deadline: N/A
Eligibility: Open to the public
MIT offers a wide range of free online courses through its Open Learning system — asynchronous versions of its in-person courses for undergraduate students. Beyond the STEM classes you might expect, middle school students can find multiple free online creative writing programs through courses including Writing Science Fiction, Writing and Reading Short Stories, Writing and Reading Poems, and Playwriting I. You can download courses, listen to lectures from MIT professors, and complete (independent) assignments at your own pace. While a challenging option, the flexibility of the online structure means you can switch between courses or skip lessons that may be too complex.
Location: Online (Coursera)
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: Self-paced (~30 hours total)
Application Deadline: N/A
Eligibility: Open to the public | No experience required
Duke’s English Composition free online writing course provides a college-level curriculum in varied nonfiction writing styles. You’ll focus on academic writing, research papers, op-eds, and case studies in STEM, humanities, and social science fields. You’ll also be trained in skills such as citation practices, annotated bibliographies, concision, and evidence analysis. You’ll complete ungraded assignments, including writing critical reviews of articles, drafting your own op-ed and case study, and developing an annotated bibliography.
Location: Online (MIT OpenCourseWare)
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: Self-paced (~20 sessions, each ~1.5 hours)
Application Deadline: N/A
Eligibility: Open to the public
MIT’s OpenCourseWare provides training in science writing for a non-technical audience through their Science Writing and New Media Course, a free online version of their undergraduate class. You’ll learn about expressing challenging material across STEM subjects in formats outside of research papers, including news articles, interviews, and essays. You’ll learn how to research strong and reliable sources, develop rhetorical strategies, interview scientists and industry experts, and build confidence in writing about complex topics. You’ll complete writing assignments and read science-focused news articles and interviews while watching lectures from MIT faculty deconstructing the process and analyzing the strengths in professional science writing.
Location: Online (Coursera)
Cost/Stipend: Free (optional paid upgrade for personalized assignment feedback; financial aid available)
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Open enrollment
Dates: ~20 hours total (self-paced)
Application Deadline: N/A
Eligibility: Open to the public; no prior experience required
UC Irvine’s Getting Started with Essay Writing course is a comprehensive online introduction to academic writing based on a college-level curriculum. Through this course, you'll gain an understanding of different analytical approaches, such as comparing and contrasting texts or perspectives, examining causes and effects in science and history, and writing argumentative essays that tackle controversial issues. Students interested in strengthening their essay writing abilities for school assignments and high school-level coursework can particularly benefit from this free online writing program.
Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: Free (optional fee for assignments, feedback, and certificate; financial aid available)
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: N/A
Dates: Self-paced; 20 hours total
Application Deadline: N/A
Eligibility: Open to the public; no prior experience required
MSU’s Script Writing course promotes a hands-on approach to television and web series writing through an online format. Working towards a final project at the end of the course, you’ll study the whole script writing lifecycle, including developing a series or video concept, writing the introductory act, developing the plot, and creating a compelling conclusion. While the asynchronous course content is free, students seeking peer review or feedback on their work can upgrade to a paid version for additional support.
Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: $1,795; need-based scholarships available
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Information not provided
Dates: Multiple 2- and 4-week programs offered throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling; varies by program
Eligibility: Ages 13 and up
Notre Dame’s Pre-College Program in medical research provides online training in medicine and biology, including coursework on writing scientific research papers. You’ll study topics in community health, diseases and medical research, cellular and molecular biology, and how to apply experimental results to clinical treatments. To develop your writing skills, you’ll study experimental design and hypothesis writing, applying clinical findings to research papers, and writing essays about scientific innovations and medical practices. You’ll finish the course with a capstone project, where you’ll write about a topic in modern healthcare and analyze ideas for future research in the field.
Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: $1,895; full need-based scholarships offered
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not available online
Dates: Multiple 1-, 2-, and 4-week sessions offered throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling; timeline varies by program
Eligibility: Ages 13 and up
Students interested in journalism and current events can pursue Georgetown’s online writing program for middle school students focused on media writing with a digital focus. This course will equip you with writing skills for various online media, including journalism, editing, social media, podcasts, and blogging. The curriculum emphasizes journalistic ethics, developing compelling narratives, information gathering, crafting clear communication, and adapting writing styles for different online platforms. You will also gain insights from professional journalists and media writers on applying these skills in a career setting. The course culminates in a capstone writing project, allowing you to choose a journalistic format and topic.
Location: Remote
Cost: Varies
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective; requires testing to determine eligibility
Dates: Multiple 12-week sessions offered
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions
Eligibility: Students in grades 7–11
The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth hosts an online Youth Writer’s Workshop program for middle school and high school students interested in creative writing, publication, and online zine creation. You’ll work in a hands-on and collaborative format, developing a digital zine from start to finish, alongside interactive workshops and feedback sessions with your instructor and fellow students. Along with writing, you’ll also be trained in creating publication names, cover art, and developing an independent style.
Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: $1,895; full need-based scholarships offered
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not available online
Dates: Multiple 2- and 4-week sessions offered throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling; timeline varies by program
Eligibility: Ages 13 and up
Students interested in law, history, and philosophy can consider pursuing Dartmouth's Pre-College online writing program for middle school students on Law: Navigating the American Legal System. You’ll study topics including writing legislation, lawsuits and legal prosecution, constitutional law, and analyzing Supreme Court cases with a focus on real-world applications of legal principles. You’ll enhance your writing skills by studying the structure of legal documents, bills, laws, and court case briefs. You’ll complete a final capstone paper, choosing from options such as analyzing a legal dispute, addressing a constitutional issue, or writing a formal legal brief on a court case or legal matter.
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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