15 Online Summer Writing Programs for Middle School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Aug 7, 2025
- 9 min read
Updated: Oct 11, 2025
If you are a middle schooler interested in building writing skills, an online summer writing program can be a great, budget-friendly option to explore. Writing programs can help you practice creative and/or academic writing and work on your communication, critical thinking, and time management skills, which are crucial for pursuing a career in the field (or writing your college essays!). These programs can also offer you a glimpse into writing-related careers like journalism or publishing. Many of them allow you to access these insights from home and at a lower cost than in-person camp fees.
These summer programs can also offer you opportunities to learn from writers, grow, and connect with like-minded peers. Here we have compiled a list of 15 online summer writing programs for middle school students.
We have focused on factors like rigor, strong networking opportunities, low costs or partial funding, selective admissions, and credibility of host institutions.
15 Online Summer Writing Programs for Middle School Students
Location: Virtual
Application deadline: Multiple rolling deadlines for JEP cohorts across the year, you can apply using this application link
Program dates: Eight-week sessions are offered multiple times a year, including in the Summer
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 to 8
The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program is an eight-week virtual mentorship experience designed for middle school students interested in exploring academic subjects in depth. In this program, you will be paired with a mentor , usually a researcher or scholar from universities like Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stanford, Duke, or LSE , to work on a project related to your chosen topic. Held entirely online, the program offers a balance of structure and flexibility, allowing you to explore areas such as STEM, medicine, or other fields at your own pace. It focuses on independent thinking and helps you build skills in research, writing, analysis, and problem-solving. By the end of the program, you will have a finished project that reflects your learning.
Location: Virtual
Application deadline: Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November). You can apply to the program here.
Program dates: 25 hours over 10 weeks (on weekends) during the spring and 25 hours over 2 weeks (on weekdays) during the summer cohort
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–8
The AI Trailblazers is a virtual experience designed for middle school students who want to explore artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Over roughly 25 hours, you will learn the basics of Python programming and study topics like data analysis, regression, image classification, neural networks, and the ethical issues related to AI. The program combines lectures with small group sessions, typically assigning one mentor to five students. As the course progresses, you will work within a small team to complete a final project. Previous student projects have included building models to recognize music genres and recommend learning tools based on user data.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Application deadline: March 20
Program dates: July 7–25
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 and 7 from low-income families
The SMSSP is a free, online academic program for middle school students, designed to help you prepare for high school coursework. Over three weeks in the summer, you will attend live virtual classes led by instructors from Stanford Online High School. The curriculum covers academic writing and math, with a focus on building foundational skills required for advanced study. Additionally, you will join workshops and community activities that support your overall learning experience. Writing is a key part of the program, helping you practice organizing ideas, developing arguments, and communicating clearly. Following the summer session, the fall component runs, requiring your engagement just once a week in one-hour meetings that help you stay on track as you prepare for high school.
Location: Virtual or in-person at UCLA
Cost: $650
Application deadline: Not specified
Program dates: June 20 – July 3
Eligibility: Rising 5th to 8th graders
UCLA offers two online writing courses for middle school students, each designed for a different age group. The first course, Crafting the Story: Writing Workshop, designed for 5th and 6th graders, provides opportunities to practice writing short stories, reflect on personal memories, and learn how to use dialogue effectively. At the end of the course, you will contribute your work to a class anthology. The second course, "Be a Force of Nature: Reading and Writing about the Environment," is designed for students entering 7th and 8th grade. During this course, you will explore environmental themes through a range of reading, viewing, and listening materials. You will then write personal stories related to nature and complete an argumentative essay that discusses environmental issues and possible solutions.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,850/course
Application deadline: Open enrollment
Program dates: Multiple sessions in a year, including summer
Eligibility: Varies depending on the course; several courses are open to middle school students
The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) offers online courses for middle school students looking to explore subjects beyond the standard school curriculum. In the Language Arts course category, you will find multiple writing-focused options available in flexible formats throughout the year. For instance, the Art Meets Science: Nonfiction course explores the intersection of science and art through reading and writing personal essays in the nonfiction genre. You could also opt for the Crafting Fiction course that focuses on the key elements of fiction, such as plot, character, dialogue, and theme, and offers opportunities to read short stories and write original pieces. Another option is Crafting Poetry, which introduces you to poetic techniques, including sound patterns and structure, and examines how these elements shape a reader’s experience. Each course can help you strengthen your writing skills, creativity, and analytical thinking.
Location: Virtual via Coursera
Cost: Free to audit; $79 to earn a certificate
Application deadline: Open enrollment
Program dates: Rolling
Eligibility: Middle school students
Stanford Online’s Writing in the Sciences is an eight-week course designed to help students become more effective writers, particularly in scientific and technical fields. While the course is geared toward science writing, the first four weeks focus on general writing skills that are useful for pursuing any discipline. Here, you will learn how to write with clarity, organize your ideas, and improve sentence and paragraph structure. The second half of the course focuses on topics specific to scientific writing, including manuscript formatting, peer review, and communicating research to broader audiences. The course includes video lectures, quizzes, short writing assignments, and peer editing.
Location: Online via Coursera
Cost: No cost
Application deadline: Open enrollment
Program dates: Self-paced course; typically required two months (10 hours/week)
Eligibility: Open to all
The Academic Writing Specialization from UC Irvine is a five-course series that helps you develop skills in academic writing and research. The program begins with the fundamentals of grammar and punctuation, then progresses to essay writing and more advanced writing techniques. Here, you will learn how to find and evaluate sources and how to structure a research-based essay. Each course focuses on an aspect of academic writing: Grammar and Punctuation (17 hours), Getting Started with Essay Writing (19 hours), Advanced Writing (19 hours), and Introduction to Research for Essay Writing (20 hours). The specialization ends with a capstone project, for which you will write a full research paper on a topic of your choice, using the skills you have built throughout the series.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $799
Application deadline: Open enrollment
Program dates: Summer I: June 9 – July 6 | Summer II: July 14 – Aug 10
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–12
The Short Fiction Writing Certificate Program consists of three online courses to be completed over four weeks. The first course introduces key elements of fiction writing, while the following two focus on refining structure and adding detail to make your stories more engaging. Throughout the program, you will participate in hour-long video sessions with instructors, where you will discuss your work and receive feedback. You will also complete writing projects designed to help develop your portfolio. You will earn a high school arts credit upon finishing the program.
Location: Online
Cost: One Credit Honors: $835 | Two Credit Honors: $1,425; need-based financial assistance is available
Application deadline: Flexible enrollment period
Program dates: June 4 – August 13
Eligibility: Many courses are open to students entering grades 6–8
Northwestern University offers middle school students a chance to advance their studies during the summer through various courses. These courses cover academic material worth one or two credits in a shorter timeframe, allowing you to complete the material faster. You can enroll in writing courses, such as creative writing and effective essay writing, to engage in the reading and analysis of various texts and compose original pieces in new genres. The coursework involves independent work as well as virtual sessions, symposiums, and project work. You will also learn to establish your own narrative identity and come up with fictional worlds and characters.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $800
Application deadline: Open enrollment
Program dates: TBA for summer
Eligibility: Open to everyone who is proficient in English and has a solid grasp of English grammar
UC Berkeley’s The Craft of Writing course can help you explore key elements of creative writing, such as imagery, voice, character, scene, summary, and setting. You will learn how to work with these components in the context of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction and then apply them in your own work. The course offers weekly readings and discussions designed to help you develop the skills to recognize what makes writing effective. You will also engage in the review and discussion of your classmates’ work, which can help you learn how to analyze writing thoughtfully. You will also develop a portfolio of work, which will include a couple of poems, a story, and a sample of creative nonfiction.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Application deadline: Open enrollment
Program dates: 15 weeks, self-paced
Eligibility: Open to all
Offered by MIT’s Comparative Media Studies/Writing department, the Writing and Rhetoric course examines how rhetoric shapes meaning and influences understanding, motivation, and change. The course guides you through analyzing how rhetorical strategies affect readers, helping you make thoughtful decisions when working on your own writing.
Throughout the course, you will learn to evaluate public arguments and develop persuasive claims that connect with a broader audience. The course is self-paced, but includes assignments and oral presentations to help you get practical writing and analysis experience.
Location: Online
Cost: $730
Application Deadline: Open enrollment
Program dates: 10 weeks at approximately 10 hours a week; the course is available in the summer from April 22 to July 3
Eligibility: Open to all
This Oxford University course focuses on how personal experiences can turn into well-crafted narratives. It introduces advanced techniques and approaches that are commensurate with second-year university or Level 5 study, making the course an opportunity to engage in college-level academics. The course encourages you to come up with original and creative work in memoir and narrative writing. As a participant, you will also learn how to write reflective, critical commentary on your work. You will participate in weekly reading and writing exercises and get access to peer feedback and tutor guidance.
Location: Virtual via Zoom
Cost: $275; financial assistance offered
Application deadline: Not specified
Program dates: August 4 – 8
Eligibility: Students who are 11–13 years old
The Mysteries and Suspense workshop is a virtual opportunity to explore mystery and suspense writing genres and the art of storytelling. Here, you will attend daily online sessions and learn how to come up with key elements like a detective figure, clues, red herrings, suspects, and a final twist. You will apply what you learn to create your own mystery text. Even if you do not finish the whole story in a week, you will have a plan and ideas in place to keep working on your story following the program.
Location: Online via edX
Cost: Free
Application deadline: Open enrollment
Program dates: 8 weeks; self-paced
Eligibility: Open to all
This course introduces you to the principles and practice of rhetoric, focusing on persuasive writing and speaking. You will study speeches from influential figures like Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan to understand different rhetorical techniques and structures. The course, based on Harvard Professor James Engell’s “Elements of Rhetoric,” covers how to create clear arguments, identify persuasive strategies, and apply them in your own writing and speech. These skills can be especially useful for writing application essays and communicating your ideas effectively.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies depending on the program
Application deadline: Rolling basis
Program dates: Varies depending on the program
Eligibility: Middle school students
Outschool’s Middle School Writing program is an online course designed to help you strengthen your writing through a variety of genres. In these interactive classes, you’ll practice key writing skills such as building narratives, writing persuasive texts, and using descriptive language. The program instructors will provide feedback on your work and lead class discussions to support your learning. The program is structured to help you grow as a writer and express your ideas more clearly and effectively.
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.
Image Source - Stanford University logo