15 Programming Programs for High School Students
- Stephen Turban
- 4 minutes ago
- 13 min read
In high school, learning how to code can help you explore interests in artificial intelligence, game development, cybersecurity, robotics, data science, and countless other fields. Structured programming programs let you spend a few days or weeks building apps, conducting research with university mentors, or collaborating with other students on coding projects. Some programs will introduce you to college-level academics, while others will focus more on technical experience and teamwork.
Why should you attend a programming program in high school?
Programming programs offer a structured environment where you can build technical skills while exploring different areas of computer science. During these programs, you may attend lectures taught by professors, work in labs, participate in hackathons, and connect with industry professionals and like-minded peers from around the world. The strongest programs typically combine mentorship, collaborative projects, and technical training, helping you build experience that can support future internships, research opportunities, and college applications.
To help simplify your search, we have put together this list of 15 programming programs for high school students.
If you’re looking for competitive computer science programs, check out our blog here.
Key takeaways
These 15 programs span AI and machine learning, Python programming, robotics, game development, cybersecurity, data science, computational research, and engineering systems, so students with a wide range of programming interests can find a relevant option in person or online.
Several programs are free or fully funded, including RSI (free with a $75 application fee), CMU CS Scholars (fully funded including housing and meals), Meta Summer Academy (free), Kode With Klossy (free), and MIT Beaver Works (free for families earning under $200,000), while others, such as Veritas AI and Lumiere, offer full financial aid for eligible students.
Many programs are specifically designed for students with no prior coding experience, including Meta Summer Academy, UC Berkeley Summer CS Academy, Kode With Klossy, UT Austin Academy for Robotics, and Illinois Tech Coding Bootcamp, making structured programming education accessible to beginners.
Programs vary in length and format, from one-week introductory bootcamps, such as Illinois Tech Python Bootcamp, to six-week research-intensive residential programs, such as RSI and UChicago DSI Summer Lab, so students can choose based on their schedule and experience level.
Application deadlines for the most selective programs fall early, including RSI (mid-December), UChicago DSI Summer Lab (January 12), CMU CS Scholars (February 1), Meta Summer Academy (February 14), and Stony Brook Simons Summer Research (February 5), so students should begin preparing materials in the fall.
Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus, Cambridge, MA
Cost: $75 application fee (waivers available)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 2.5% acceptance; ~80 – 100 students/year
Dates: Six weeks in the summer; dates vary by year
Application deadline: Typically mid-December
Eligibility: Current high school juniors
The Research Science Institute is a highly selective research program for high school students interested in STEM. The program begins with a week of advanced coursework and seminars covering topics in mathematics, computer science, engineering, physics, biology, and scientific research methods. Then, you will spend five weeks conducting individual research under the guidance of scientists, university researchers, and industry mentors. Depending on your interests and mentor availability, you may work with programming tools, computational modeling, data analysis, machine learning methods, or advanced scientific software while contributing to ongoing research initiatives. Throughout the summer, you will read current scientific literature, develop a formal research plan, and prepare conference-style papers and presentations to communicate your findings. Beyond the research experience itself, RSI also gives you access to MIT’s research and computing resources, lectures from leading scientists and entrepreneurs, and social engagement opportunities to connect with peers.
Location: Remote! You can participate in the program from anywhere in the world.
Cost: Varies by program type; full financial aid available.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Varies by cohort: summer, fall, spring, and winter. Available options range from 12 weeks to one year.
Application deadline: Varies based on cohort
Eligibility: Students enrolled in high school who demonstrate strong academic performance
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous program tailored for high school students. It offers extensive one-on-one research opportunities across a broad range of subjects that you can explore as a high school student. The program will pair you with Ph.D. mentors to work one-on-one on a research project. At the end, you will have developed an independent research paper! You can choose from areas such as computer science, physics, math, data science, engineering, chemistry, psychology, international relations, economics, and more. You can learn more about the application here, and check out students’ reviews of the program here and here.
Location: Carnegie Mellon University campus, Pittsburgh, PA
Cost: Fully funded, including tuition, housing, meals, and select field trips; limited travel assistance available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective
Dates: June 20 – July 18
Application deadline: February 1
Eligibility: Current 10th graders, ages 16 and up by the start of the program; students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents with demonstrated financial need.
Carnegie Mellon’s CS Scholars program is a fully funded residential opportunity that introduces high school students to college-level computer science through hands-on coursework and collaborative projects. During the four-week program, you will learn foundational programming concepts in Python, strengthen computational thinking skills, and apply problem-solving techniques to real-world challenges. The experience also includes faculty lectures, mentorship from graduate students and researchers, writing workshops, and seminars focused on college readiness and career exploration. You will work on group research projects, participate in field trips to technology companies, and engage with professionals across the computing industry. The program concludes with a capstone symposium where you will present your final projects and research to peers, faculty, and mentors. Upon completing the program, you may also be invited to continue your engagement through Carnegie Mellon’s AI Scholars program the following summer.
4. Veritas AI
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies by program type; financial aid is available.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Multiple 12 – 15-week cohorts throughout the year
Application deadline: Rolling enrollment; deadlines vary by cohort: Fall (September), Spring (January), Summer (May), and Winter (November). You can find more details and apply to the program here.
Eligibility: High school students; AI Fellowship with Publication and Showcase accepts previous AI Scholars participants or those with some experience working with AI or Python.
Veritas AI, started and run by Harvard graduate students, offers various online programs for high school students who are passionate about artificial intelligence. If you are looking to get started with AI, ML, and data science, you can choose the AI Scholars program. Through this 10-session boot camp, you will learn about the fundamentals of AI and data science and work on real-world projects. Another track for more advanced students is the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase. During this program, you will get a chance to work 1-on-1 with mentors from top universities on a unique, individual project. A key feature of this program is that it offers you the support of an in-house publication team to help you secure publications in high school journals. You can check out examples of past projects here and read about a student’s experience in the program here.
Location: Meta, Menlo Park, CA
Cost/Stipend: Free; stipend availability and amount vary by year
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 15 – July 24
Application deadline: February 14; applications open on December 1
Eligibility: Current 10th graders with a minimum GPA of 2.0 who are full-year residents of Belle Haven, North Fair Oaks, East Palo Alto, or Redwood City; no prior coding or work experience is required
Meta Summer Academy is a six-week summer program that introduces you to coding, career exploration, and workplace skills through an immersive experience connected to the tech industry. During the program, you will learn foundational coding concepts while also exploring topics such as financial literacy, networking, communication, and media. You will participate in workshops, collaborative activities, and professional development sessions designed to strengthen both technical and interpersonal skills. The program also includes opportunities to meet Meta employees, attend guest speaker sessions, and learn about different career pathways within and beyond technology. Throughout the experience, you will work alongside other high school students on a structured, full-time schedule that mirrors a professional work environment, while receiving support from instructors and program managers.
Location: University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Cost/Stipend: No cost; $1,200 stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 6 – 30
Application deadline: April 1
Eligibility: High school students in 10th or 11th grade at a Washington State-based school; applicants must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents, DACA recipients, or hold an Employment Authorization Document
The CIC program is a mentorship-focused learning experience for high school students in Washington who want to start developing coding skills. During the four-week program, you will work on coding projects while receiving guidance from undergraduate student mentors at the University of Washington. In addition to technical sessions, you will engage in activities that cover broader topics in technology and engineering with an emphasis on the overall impact of computing and social responsibility in the field. Faculty members will provide insights into college preparation and the application process. Throughout the experience, you will have the opportunity to work with peers and near-peer mentors who share your interests.
Location: Virtual and in-person camps (sites vary by year)
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Two weeks in the summer
Application deadline: Typically, the end of March
Eligibility: Women and gender expansive teens ages 13 – 18
These free summer camps offered by Kode With Klossy are designed for middle and high school teens seeking structured coding exposure through project-based learning. Depending on the track you join, you will dive into artificial intelligence, web development, or data science over the course of two weeks. Sessions are designed to help you progressively add to your technical skill set and learn how to use programming logic to create digital projects focused on chatbot training, data visualization, or website design. During the camp, you will also hear from women in technology, who will share their experiences and offer insights into careers in the field.
Location: University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Cost: $25 application fee + $5,197 program fee (includes tuition, housing, meals, excursions, orientation, and program activities); scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 21 – July 3
Application deadline: March 17; applications open on February 2
Eligibility: Domestic and international students, ages 16 and up, who will have completed their 10th or 11th grade by the start of the program with a minimum 3.0 GPA
UC Berkeley’s Summer Computer Science Academy is a two-week residential program designed to introduce you to college-level computer science and artificial intelligence through hands-on coding and collaborative learning. Based on UC Berkeley’s “Beauty and Joy of Computing” curriculum, the program uses the visual programming language Snap! to teach foundational topics such as algorithms, abstraction, recursion, Boolean logic, and the social impact of computing. You will also explore introductory AI concepts, including supervised machine learning, reinforcement learning, generative AI, and AI ethics. Throughout the program, you will complete coding challenges, work on team-based programming activities, and develop an independent or group coding project that you will present during the final Code Celebration. Outside the classroom, you will participate in college preparation workshops, campus activities, trips, and residential programming led by UC Berkeley undergraduate mentors and staff.
Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA; online courses also available
Cost: $2,400 for students with a family income > $200,000; free for other students
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Four weeks in the summer; exact dates vary by year
Application deadline: March-end
Eligibility: Students in grades 9 – 11 residing and attending high school in the U.S.
MIT’s Beaver Works Summer Institute is a rigorous STEM program that offers courses focused on advanced programming, engineering, and applied research through hands-on technical projects. You can choose from specialized courses across areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, machine learning, robotics, game development, and hardware engineering. Depending on the course you choose, you will train AI models, program autonomous vehicles, analyze satellite imagery, develop cybersecurity tools, or build hardware systems using microcontrollers and embedded devices. The courses center on collaborative capstone challenges in which you get to work with peers to solve real-world engineering problems using professional software tools, coding frameworks, and research workflows. Several tracks run virtually, while in-person options allow you to work directly with advanced hardware and technical systems on MIT’s campus.
Location: Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Cost: $1,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not publicly disclosed
Dates: June 15 – 26
Application deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students in grades 7 – 10
ASU’s Game and AI camp lets you practice coding, game design, and 2D game development using the beginner-friendly tool GameMaker. Over the course of two weeks, you will explore programming logic and game development, and explore how to set up game mechanics and characters to bring your game design to life. The camp lets you work with AI tools to automatically generate music, 2D images, and sound effects for your game project. You will receive support from ASU faculty and student assistants from the university’s gaming program. At the end of the camp, you will finish developing your own original games and present your work to peers and the camp instructor.
Location: Kettering University, Flint, MI
Cost: $700 (day camp) | $1,070 (residential)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 20 – August 6 (multiple camps within this window)
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Students in grades 8 – 12; some camps prefer or require prior programming knowledge.
Kettering University offers a range of programming and robotics camps to middle and high school students. The focus areas span introductory Python programming to advanced autonomous programming, engineering challenges, and CAD design with 3D printing and fabrication. You will spend most of your time at the university’s Robotics Center and engage in experiences sponsored by partners like VEX, GM, and Magna. You will work on real programming and robotics projects using industry-relevant tools and software, as well as collaborate with other students and learn from experienced instructors and mentors from Kettering University. You will test your work during challenges, which are designed to help you build creative thinking, troubleshooting, and teamwork skills. You can choose between day and residential camps.
Location: Virtual (asynchronous)
Cost: $30 application fee + $1,300 tuition; scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: Multiple six-week sessions offered throughout the year
Application deadline: Varies by session
Eligibility: Current high school students who have completed grade 9 and recent high school graduates; applicants must have completed Algebra II and have As/Bs in math and science courses.
Johns Hopkins University’s Intro to Python course gives you the chance to explore programming through a college-level class built specifically for high school students. Over six weeks, you will learn core Python concepts while working on coding exercises, debugging challenges, data analysis, and programming projects. Beyond lectures, the course emphasizes applied learning through projects like designing a virtual zoo simulator, building a paycheck calculator, and creating a cipher-breaking tool inspired by cryptography. The asynchronous format allows you to complete coursework on your own schedule while still participating in weekly deadlines, discussion forums, and optional live study sessions with instructors and teaching assistants. The program additionally offers experience in using professional programming tools such as Visual Studio Code. On completing the course, you will earn one transferable college credit from Johns Hopkins University.
Location: Illinois Tech, Chicago, IL
Cost: $550
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not officially specified
Dates: June 22 – 26
Application deadline: May 8
Eligibility: Rising 9th – 12th graders between the ages of 14 and 17
Illinois Tech runs various in-person and virtual summer programs for high schoolers who want to explore their interests in STEM. The Coding Bootcamp: Introduction to Python is a daytime program designed to offer high schoolers with little to no prior coding experience an introduction to computer programming. During the week-long program, you will study and practice using Python, learn about the fundamentals of programming, and engage in coding sessions and project work. The curriculum covers coding concepts like variables, data types, functions, control structures, and basic algorithms.
Location: The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) campus, Ewing, NJ
Cost: $625/camp
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Unavailable
Dates: Week 1: July 6 – 10 | Week 2: July 13 – 17
Application deadline: Not specified | Check website for updates.
Eligibility: Students entering grades 8 – 12
The iSTEM Summer Academy allows you to spend one or two weeks at TCNJ diving into engineering, programming, robotics, and product design. The Automation and Robotics track helps you learn how to program microcontroller devices, with the goal of helping a robot carry out a series of tasks. At this camp, you will learn how to work with rapid prototyping technology, design automated circuits, and use MathWorks Simulink to manage your robot. You can also attend the MakerCraft camp to practice working with CAD software to design a wearable product and use MATLAB and Simulink to program the device. This track focuses on coding, electronics, 3D printing, and laser cutting.
Location: University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Cost: $2,100; scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not officially disclosed
Dates: July 26 – 31
Application deadline: Rolling enrollment
Eligibility: Students entering grades 10 – 12 in the fall; no prior programming or robotics experience required
UT Austin’s Academy for Robotics is a six-day program that lets you explore robot building and programming under the guidance of UT Computer Science faculty and undergraduate student mentors. You will spend the week learning programming in C++, mechanical design, and control system basics, and working with tools used in robotics research. You will also apply what you learn through robotics projects, test your designs in real challenges, and hear from industry representatives. Additionally, you will attend guest lectures, tour campus departments, and connect with current UT students. The program is designed to help you explore what studying tech at the collegiate level entails and learn how to draft a college application to UT Austin. You will live on the UT Austin campus and experience college life firsthand throughout the week.
Frequently asked questions
What programming programs are available for high school students?
Options include research-based programs, such as RSI, Lumiere, and Veritas AI, fully funded university programs, such as CMU CS Scholars and MIT Beaver Works, robotics and engineering programs, such as Kettering University Robotics Camps, UT Austin Academy for Robotics, and TCNJ iSTEM Academy, introductory coding programs, such as Illinois Tech Coding Bootcamp and Johns Hopkins Intro to Python, and tech industry programs, such as Meta Summer Academy and UW Changemakers in Computing.
Are there free programming programs for high school students?
Yes, RSI is free with a modest application fee, CMU CS Scholars is fully funded including housing and meals, Kode With Klossy is free, Meta Summer Academy is free, MIT Beaver Works is free for families earning under $200,000, and Veritas AI and Lumiere both offer full financial aid for eligible students.
Which programming programs are best for complete beginners?
Meta Summer Academy, UC Berkeley Summer CS Academy, Kode With Klossy, UT Austin Academy for Robotics, and Illinois Tech Coding Bootcamp all explicitly welcome students with no prior coding experience, making them strong starting points for students new to programming.
Do any programming programs offer college credit or lead to publications?
Johns Hopkins Intro to Python awards one transferable college credit upon completion, UC Berkeley Summer CS Academy concludes with a Code Celebration showcase, Veritas AI supports students in publishing AI research projects through its in-house publication team, and Lumiere Research Scholar Program guides students through producing an independent research paper.
Which programs are open to students regardless of location?
Lumiere Research Scholar Program and Veritas AI are fully virtual and open to students anywhere in the world, Kode With Klossy offers both virtual and in-person options, MIT Beaver Works includes virtual course tracks, and Johns Hopkins Intro to Python is fully asynchronous and accessible to students nationally.
When should I apply to programming programs for high school students?
RSI closes in mid-December, CMU CS Scholars closes February 1, Meta Summer Academy closes February 14, UC Berkeley Summer CS Academy closes March 17, and MIT Beaver Works closes in late March, so students should begin researching options in the fall and preparing applications over winter break.
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.