7 Online Machine Learning (ML) Internships for High School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Apr 28
- 5 min read
Are you a high school student looking for professional experience in machine learning (ML)?
If so, consider an internship in ML! Online internships, specifically, allow you to gain professional skills, industry exposure, and valuable connections without the logistical hassles of an in-person program. These virtual experiences are not only accessible and more affordable but also serve as great additions to college applications and resumes.
When selecting an internship, it makes sense to seek out programs that offer prestige, rigorous professional experience, and opportunities to network with professionals and peers.
To help you out with this, we've curated a list of 7 online ML internships for high school students!
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. Here is the application form.
Cost: starting at $2,490 (financial assistance available)
Dates: Multiple 8-week cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort. Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
The Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging (AIMI) offers a two-week virtual internship focusing on AI applications in healthcare. The program comprises technical lectures on core AI and healthcare concepts, mentoring from Stanford researchers and Student Leads, group work sessions on live research projects, and Virtual Lunch and learning with guest speakers. High-achieving participants may additionally be eligible to participate in an extended research opportunity with senior Stanford researchers.
Cost: $850 + $40 application fee
Dates: June 16 – 27
Application Deadline: February 28
Eligibility: High school students entering grades 9–12 and over the age of 14
The AI Internship Program by Veritas AI is founded and run by Harvard graduate students. Through the 8-week internship, students have the opportunity to work with VC-backed startups on real-world AI/ML projects. Students work directly with mentors from Harvard, Wharton, Google, Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, and more.
This program is a great opportunity for students who have prior experience with AI/ML and are looking to gain real-world exposure to a career in the field. Students get a chance to network with industry professionals, work closely with company leadership, and receive a letter of completion from the company at the end of the internship. You can learn more about the program here and apply here.
Cost: $2,490
Dates: Multiple 8-week cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Application Deadline: Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Eligibility: Open to high school students who have prior experience with AI/ML or have completed a Veritas AI program.
Omdena defines itself as a “collaborative AI platform where a global community of changemakers unites to co-create real-world tech solutions for social impact.” It provides the opportunity to work on genuine challenges and real-world projects across the globe, alongside 5-50 other collaborators of all skill levels.
These can include such diverse challenges as helping build Bangkok’s AI-based traffic management system, building a conflict management system for herders in Nigeria, using LLM to evaluate Peru’s import and export, and detecting plastic debris in the oceans through satellite imagery. It is an excellent opportunity to apply machine learning and AI concepts to local and global challenges and learn by doing rather than seeing..
Cost: Free
Dates: 2 to 6-week projects throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines as per project
Eligibility: Ages 15+; at least basic coding knowledge and motivation required, and individual projects may require additional qualifications
This program is not a traditional internship but provides an accessible, virtual opportunity to gain ML experience. Andrew Ng’s “AI for Everyone” course covers foundational AI concepts, while guided projects teach students how to build ML models using real datasets. You can explore tools like Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and Python in a structured learning path with project-based applications.
This is a good opportunity for students looking for a way to work on their technical portfolio while being guided through advanced topics in ML.
Cost: Free to audit; optional certificate available for a fee
Dates: Self-paced
Application Deadline: Open enrollment
Eligibility: Open to all high school students; basic Python knowledge recommended for guided projects
STEM-Away offers structured virtual internships with a focus on learning-by-doing. You can select research tracks of your choice and work on supervised projects involving core ML skills like data preprocessing, model building, and evaluation. The program includes mentor-led sessions, peer collaboration, and final presentations. It also teaches you professional skills like communication, documentation, and GitHub usage.
Cost: Free
Dates: Multiple sessions throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines
Eligibility: High school students with some programming experience
Lockheed Martin runs 9+-week-long internships across a variety of roles, letting high schoolers pair up with experienced aerospace scientists and engineers to work on world-changing projects and cutting-edge defense tech. While many of these internships are on-site at Lockheed Martin facilities, there are remote openings as well and carry many of the same benefits, such as on-the-job training, mentoring, leader shadowing, professional development workshops, networking, and more.
Cost: None, these are paid internships
Dates: 9+ weeks in the summer, dates varying by specific positions
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary by position
Eligibility: High schoolers aged at least 16 years
One other option—the Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you’re interested in pursuing independent research, consider applying to one of the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs, selective online high school programs for students founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4,000 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. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!
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.
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