11 Online Writing Internships for High School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Apr 28
- 6 min read
If you’re a high schooler interested in a career in journalism, literature, or even social media marketing, consider an internship in writing! Online writing internships, specifically, can offer high school students an accessible and affordable path to gaining experience in the field.
These virtual opportunities enable you to develop essential skills in content creation, research, and editing, which can be valuable for both STEM and non-STEM graduates.
Beyond basic skill-building, these internships provide solid exposure to industry practices and the chance to connect with professionals, enhancing your experience and resume.
We’ve shortlisted 11 online writing opportunities/work-learn programs that offer a rigorous learning experience as well as networking opportunities. If you're looking for more prestigious internships for high schoolers, check out this set of blogs!
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 aid available)
Dates: Multiple 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!
Pasquines, a non-profit news organization, offers an unpaid virtual writing internship focusing on U.S. territories. As an intern, you will research and write about politics, public affairs, and policy issues, contributing to articles by senior journalists. The flexible program allows you to work at your own pace while gaining experience in non-profit journalism. Pasquines also assists in obtaining college credit if required.
Cost: None
Dates: Various opportunities throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students
PWN offers a virtual, unpaid internship for teens interested in developing their writing and leadership skills. It offers internship opportunities in three areas, two of which are available virtually: editorial assistant and interview project.
In the editorial assistant role, you will work on a number of editorial projects, create original content for blogs and websites, and even participate in editorial meetings. In the interview project, you will learn essential journalism skills like interviewing and narrative building, and write your own completed stories, which could even be published.
Cost: None
Dates: Varies; typically held in June
Application Deadline: Check PWN's website for updates
Eligibility: High school students aged 15 – 18
EnergyMag offers limited virtual internships focusing on renewable energy research and writing. You will learn a lot about renewable energy, the energy storage industry, and acquire research and analysis skills at the intersection of environmental science and the energy business. There are 2-8 week-long internships in the summer and 1-9 month-long internships held throughout the year. Since EnergyMag is a nonprofit institution, the internships are all unpaid.
Cost: None
Dates: Half-time (summer) and quarter-time (school-year) options
Application Deadline: Check EnergyMag's website for updates
Eligibility: High school students
Premier Travel Media is a travel publishing company that offers hybrid and virtual editorial internships covering both U.S. and foreign destinations. As an editorial intern, you will actively research and write articles for PTM’s print and online publications. Not only that, you will even assist the editorial team with researching and acquiring photographs for your articles. It’s a good option if you want to build a portfolio of your published work.
Cost: None
Dates: 3-month-long internships at any point of the year, with a work commitment of 2-3 days per week for 7 hours a day.
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines by open roles
Eligibility: High school students with strong writing skills and an interest in travel journalism
The Young Writers Initiative is a youth-led nonprofit that runs free chapters in schools across the nation to empower young writers. It offers all of its services via volunteer services, which is where their internships come into play. As a TYWI intern, you can work as an editor, a beta reader, or even a workshop teacher, providing you with exposure to a broad swathe of skills part of the writing process. It’s a good opportunity to improve your writing skills and become part of a community that works with writers nationally and globally.
Cost: None
Dates: Volunteer opportunities throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines as per role
Eligibility: High school students aged 14–19
The Incandescent Review, a student-led literary magazine, offers volunteer positions for high school students interested in both critical and creative writing. As the name implies, creative writing interns compose and submit poetry and/or prose every week, while critical writers write about current events, editorials, and culture reviews. Since the magazine is completely student-run by a small team, you will also get to learn about the editorial cycle and content curation while being mentored by older students and editors.
Cost: None
Dates: Varies depending on role
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Students below the age of 24
GirlSpring is an online community created by girls for girls, and they are looking for intern editors and bloggers to help contribute to important topics like mental health, money management, arts, and women’s rights. While most internships are for college-goers, some positions, like editing and blogging, do consider high school applicants. Working alongside more experienced writers and individuals while building a community space can be great exposure for any budding writer.
Cost: None
Dates: Role dependent
Application Deadline: Role dependent
Eligibility: High school girls
The Writing Cooperative is an online publication on Medium that allows high school students to become contributing writers. Though not a traditional internship, accepted contributors receive editing support, writing feedback, and the chance to publish under their own byline. Such an opportunity allows you to gain experience writing for an established audience and lets you use said articles for your college portfolio.
Cost: None
Dates: Flexible; self-paced
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students with strong writing samples
Interns 4-Good is a nonprofit that places high school students in remote volunteer internships. Their writing and editing track includes roles such as content creator, newsletter writer, and social media copywriter. Interns are matched with nonprofits needing communication support and often collaborate with professional staff while building nonprofit writing experience.
Cost: None
Dates: Typically 6–12 weeks, depending on the project
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students in Grades 9–12
Young Eager Writers is a youth-focused writing initiative that offers virtual editorial internships. As an intern, you will assist with editing manuscripts, blog writing, and publishing logistics for teen authors. The program includes mentorship from professionals in the publishing world, including the founder of YEW herself, collaboration opportunities, and even the potential to be promoted within YEW itself. It’s a great way to obtain insights into the editorial side of creative writing.
Cost: None
Dates: Role dependent
Application Deadline: Role dependent
Eligibility: High school students aged 15–18
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.
Image Source - Ladder Internship Logo