13 International Camps for High School Students
- Stephen Turban
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
If you’re interested in exploring new places while learning outside the classroom, international camps can offer a structured way to combine travel with academic or creative experiences. These programs introduce you to subjects such as marine biology, entrepreneurship, leadership, language learning, and technology while allowing you to engage with students from diverse countries and backgrounds. They also provide opportunities to experience new cultures, environments, and educational settings.
Why should I attend an international camp in high school?
International camps allow you to explore subjects and activities in immersive settings while developing independence and communication skills. You might participate in field research, language workshops, leadership exercises, coding projects, cultural excursions, or collaborative group activities while learning from instructors and peers from around the world. Over time, these experiences can help you broaden your perspective, build confidence in unfamiliar environments, and better understand your academic and personal interests.
To help with your search, we’ve put together a list of 13 international camps for high school students.
If you’re looking for online summer programs, check out our blog here.
Location: Remote , you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!
Cost: Varies depending on program type. Full financial aid available
Application Deadline: Varying deadlines based on cohort
Program Dates: Varies by cohort: summer, fall, winter, or spring. Options range from 12 weeks to 1 year
Eligibility: You must be currently enrolled in high school and demonstrate a high level of academic achievement
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program offers extensive 1-on-1 research opportunities for high school students across a broad range of subject areas. The program pairs high school students with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll have developed an independent research paper! You can choose research topics from subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. You can find more details about the application here, and check out students’ reviews of the program here and here.
Location: Village Camps, Swiss Alpine Center, Leysin, Switzerland
Cost: Varies from CHF 5050 to 5500
Dates: July 5 – July 18, July 19 – August 1
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school students
The Science and Discovery camp in Switzerland is designed for high school students who want to understand the practical applications of science in a fun way. The program combines outdoor learning with hands-on science exploration. You’ll develop core lab skills and apply them through themed projects across biology, chemistry, and physics. Apart from labwork, you will go on field trips to Geneva and Lausanne, and to a chocolate factory, and attend group outdoor activities with campers from other programs.
Location: Oxford, Cambridge, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto, and Boston
Cost: Varies; financial aid available
Application Deadline: Multiple summer cohorts with rolling admissions
Program Dates: 2 weeks during the summer
Eligibility: Students aged 13-18 currently enrolled in middle or high school
The Academic Insights Program provides school students with an opportunity to take undergraduate-level classes at universities around the world. You will work with academics from universities like Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard in classes of 4-10 students. You’ll attend university-style lectures and 1:1 weekly sessions with your tutor. The program includes practical experiences such as dissections in medicine, building robotic arms in engineering, and moot courts in law. You can choose from over 20 subjects, including architecture, artificial intelligence, business management, and computer science. By the end of the program, you’ll complete a personal project and receive written feedback and a certificate of completion. You can find more details about the application here.
Location: Curaçao
Cost: $7,680
Dates: June 18 - July 7, July 11 - 30
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school students
The Curaçao Marine Biology Adventure is a three-week program for high school students interested in the biology and ecology of tropical marine environments. You'll learn the research techniques used by marine biologists through labs, dives, and fieldwork. You’ll participate in reef restoration projects, including building coral nurseries and assessing reef health. The course combines daily scuba dives with instruction in marine research and data collection. Outside of class, you’ll explore Curaçao’s coastline, historic Willemstad, and nearby mangroves while observing the region’s marine and terrestrial wildlife.
Location: PASCAL International Education, Republic of Cyprus
Cost: €900/week
Dates: Week 1: July 5 - 11, Week 2: July 12 - 18, Week 3: July 19 - 25, Week 4: July 26 - August 1, Week 5: August 2 - 8
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Students aged 7-17
The English Language and AI Adventures Camp at PASCAL International Education is a summer program for high school students interested in English, AI, and technology. At the camp, you will attend workshops in robotics, 3D printing, virtual reality, and space exploration, as well as English language classes. The program also includes outdoor learning, STEAM projects, and cultural trips across Cyprus. You will live on the PASCAL campus and meet students from around the world.
Location: Camp Cooper locations in Edinburgh and Crieff, UK
Cost: Ranging from £1,410 to £2,815. Check here
Dates: Multiple one, two, four, and six-week sessions available in summer, check here
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students aged 7–17
Camp Cooper is designed as an American-style overnight camp in Scotland for high school students seeking a mix of creativity, adventure, and independence. You can design your own schedule, from options like tennis, dance, cooking, journalism, film-making, to outdoor adventures and performing arts. You will attend skill-based workshops alongside classic camp traditions, focusing on teamwork and confidence. The camp is a chance to explore new passions and connect with campers from around the world.
Location: Village Camps, Leysin, Switzerland
Cost: CHF 5500
Dates: July 5 – 18, July 19 – August 1
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students aged 15-17
The Leadership Training Camp in Leysin, Switzerland, is designed for students aged 15–17 who want to develop confidence and learn teamwork and leadership skills. You’ll attend workshops, talks from international speakers, and participate in outdoor challenges that test your problem-solving and communication abilities. You’ll take part in discussions, goal-setting sessions, and time management exercises that prepare you for university life. There will be off-site excursions and team-building activities that will help you apply the skills you learned to real-life settings.
Location: Virtual and in-person in San Francisco, CA; site can vary each year
Cost: No cost
Dates: Multiple two-week sessions during the summer
Application deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Women and gender expansive teens who are 13 to 18 years old
Kode With Klossy summer camps are fully funded, two-week programs for high school students. Here you can choose from four tracks: Machine Learning, Data Science, Web Development, and Mobile Application. In the machine learning track, you will use Python to train a chatbot. The data science track will let you explore data visualization using SQL and Python. With the web development track, you’ll develop a website using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, and learn how to improve its UI and UX. Lastly, the mobile application track can help you learn to code in Swift, Apple’s programming language, to develop an iOS mobile application.
Location: Republic of Costa Rica
Cost: $8,160
Dates: June 18 - July 9, June 25 - July 16, July 12 - August 2, July 19 - August 9
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Students completing grades 9-12 with an Introduction to Biology or equivalent experience
The Costa Rica Veterinary Experience is a three-week program for high school students interested in animal science and veterinary medicine. You’ll study anatomy, physiology, behavior, and surgery while working alongside animal care professionals in clinics, farms, and rescue centers. The course combines lectures and labs with 20 hours of service learning, giving you practical experience in welfare and husbandry. You can get three natural science college credits through Lesley University.
Location: Leysin, Switzerland
Cost: CHF 5100
Dates: July 5 – 18, July 19 – August 1
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students aged 10-17
The French Language Camp in Leysin, Switzerland, is an experience for students who want to strengthen their French skills in a native-speaking environment. Here, native French speakers help you learn the language in small group sessions in class and while on excursions to nearby cities. You’ll also go on field trips to Geneva, Lausanne, and a local chocolate factory.
Location: Yucatan, Mexico
Cost: $7,180
Dates: June 21 - July 8, July 11 - 28
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Available to students completing grades 9-12, PADI Open Water scuba certification (or equivalent) required
The Yucatan Ocean Conservation Program is a marine science and conservation course for high school students. You’ll work with local experts in Cozumel to design and evaluate projects that address threats to ocean ecosystems, from plastic pollution to habitat loss. Through diving expeditions, you’ll collect and analyze data while learning about research methods and conservation frameworks. The program offers two natural science credits through Lesley University and the opportunity to earn a PADI Conservation Diver Specialty certification.
Location: Austria
Cost: EUR 3550
Dates: July 5 – 18, July 19 – August 1
Application Deadline:
Eligibility: High school students aged 10-17
The German Summer School in Zell am See, Austria, is an immersive language and culture program for students eager to learn German in a natural, German-speaking environment. You’ll study with native instructors and practice the language daily through interactions with fellow campers and locals in the scenic Austrian countryside. The classes focus on communication and creativity, with projects such as creating a ‘personality poster’, writing and filming a short movie, or designing a travel brochure. Each activity helps you build vocabulary, confidence, and fluency through real-world use rather than rote memorization.
Location: Cambridge, UK
Cost: £7,900
Dates: July 8 - July 29
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students
The International Summer Schools (ISSOS) Cambridge program is a three-week residential experience for high school students who want to study and live at one of the UK’s most renowned universities. You’ll choose one academic course and one elective, combining classroom learning with creative and cultural exploration. Alongside classes, you’ll join evening events, outdoor adventures, and cultural trips around Cambridge.
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.