15 Statistics Summer Programs for High School Students

If you are considering fields like economics, computer science, public health, or research, learning statistics early can be useful. Statistics summer programs introduce how data supports decisions in these areas. 

Why should I participate in a statistics summer program in high school?

By participating in a statistics summer program, you can analyze datasets, explore probability and trends, and learn how to present data clearly. These experiences show you how data informs problems, from tracking trends to estimating consequences, and help you build skills that are useful in many academic and career paths. They can help you understand if advanced data work matches your interests and give your college applications clear evidence of hands-on learning. 

Without further ado, here are 15 summer programs in statistics for high school students!

1. DSI Summer Lab

Location: University of Chicago

Stipend: $5,600 stipend

Dates: June 15 – August 7

Application Deadline: January 12

Eligibility: High school students from Chicago

The DSI Summer Lab places you on a data science research team for eight weeks. You work with mentors on applied projects where statistics, programming, and domain knowledge come together. Your day-to-day work can include cleaning data, running analyses, building models, or creating visualizations. Projects are tied to real questions in areas like climate, health, and energy, so you see how data science is used beyond textbooks. The program is built like a research job, with expectations around collaboration, documentation, and presenting results.

2. Lumiere Research Scholar Program

Location: Remote — you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!

Cost: Varies depending on program type

Dates: Varies by cohort: summer, fall, winter, or spring. Options range from 12 weeks to 1 year.

Application Deadline: Varying deadlines based on cohort

Eligibility: You must be currently enrolled in high school and demonstrate a high level of academic achievement.

The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is an intensive academic opportunity that allows high school students to engage in individual research under the guidance of a Ph.D. mentor. Over the span of 12 weeks, you’ll work closely with your assigned mentor to explore a topic of your choice and develop a fully independent research paper. This online summer enrichment program for high school students supports a wide variety of disciplines, including areas like math, statistics, economics, and computer science. You can find more details about the application here.

3. Simons Summer Research Program

Location: Stony Brook University, New York

Stipend: Stipend is paid

Dates: June 29 – August 7

Application Deadline: February 5

Eligibility: High school juniors (16+) who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents

At Stony Brook University, you spend six weeks working like a real researcher. You are paired with a faculty mentor and join an active STEM project, where your job is to ask questions, work with data or models, and push the research forward. If you’re interested in statistics, you can be placed with applied math or statistics groups working on areas like machine learning, simulations, or computational methods. By the end, you will write a formal research abstract and present your work as a poster, learning how research is documented and shared in academic settings.

4. Veritas AI 

Location: Virtual

Cost: Varies depending on program type. Need-based financial aid is available for AI Scholars. You can apply here.

Dates: Multiple 12-15-week cohorts throughout the year, including spring, summer, fall, and winter.

Application Deadline: On a rolling basis. Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).

Eligibility: Ambitious high school students located anywhere in the world. AI Fellowship applicants should either have completed the AI Scholars program or exhibit experience with AI concepts or Python.

If you’re interested in doing research at the intersection of statistics, math, and computer science, consider this program! Veritas AI, founded and run by Harvard graduate students, offers programs for high school students who are passionate about artificial intelligence. Students who are looking to get started with AI, ML, and data science would benefit from the AI Scholars program. Through this 10-session boot camp, you will be introduced to the fundamentals of AI & data science and get a chance to work on real-world projects. 

Another option for more advanced students is the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase. Through this program, you get a chance to work 1:1 with mentors from top universities on a unique, individual project. A bonus of this program is that students have access to the in-house publication team to help them secure publications in high school research journals. You can also check out some examples of past projects here. 

5. NIST Summer High School Intern Program (SHIP)

Location: Gaithersburg, Maryland, or Boulder, Colorado (varies by placement)

Stipend: Unpaid

Dates: Typically runs from June 22 to August 7

Application Deadline: January 26

Eligibility: U.S. high school students, at least 16 years old

NIST’s SHIP program places high school students in advanced research laboratories where they can conduct hands-on work in fields such as engineering, materials science, computing, and applied mathematics. You can rank your preferred labs, including the Information Technology Laboratory and the Communications Technology Laboratory, which often offer projects related to statistics, data modeling, and algorithm development. Throughout the internship, you will work closely with NIST scientists and contribute to ongoing research, with opportunities to assist in coding, machine learning tasks, or statistical simulations. 

6. Carnegie Mellon University – Statistics & Data Science Camp for High School Students

Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Cost: Free

Dates: June 22 – June 26

Application Deadline: March 15

Eligibility: High school students from Pittsburgh and surrounding districts

At CMU’s statistics and data science camp, you spend a week learning how data is collected, modeled, and interpreted. You will work in R through labs that cover topics like regression, text analysis, and applied modeling. Short lectures introduce concepts, which you then apply immediately in lab sessions. The program also shows how these tools are used in practice, including a visit to see data science work in an industry setting.

7. Harvard Pre-College Program - Statistics Track

Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Cost: $6,100 + $75 application fee

Dates: June 21 – July 2 | July 5– 17 | July 19–31

Application Deadline: February 11

Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors (must be 16 by June 21 and not turn 19 before July 31)

Harvard Pre-College Program Statistics Track introduces you to how statisticians think about data, uncertainty, and evidence. You will work through probability, distributions, hypothesis testing, and data interpretation, with a focus on how these ideas show up in situations. Classes are small and discussion-driven, so you’re expected to participate, write clearly, and explain your reasoning. You engage with both theory and application, often using tools like R to analyze datasets and complete problem sets. Feedback comes through written evaluations rather than grades, which keeps the emphasis on learning rather than performance.

8. Wolfram High School Summer Research Program

Location: Bentley University, Waltham, MA

Cost: $5,500

Dates: June 24 – July 11 (Pre-program workshop: June 6 – 7)

Application Deadline: Not specified 

Eligibility: Students ages 14–17; international students welcome

Wolfram High School Summer Research Program puts you in the role of a researcher who builds answers through computation. You will start by identifying a question you care about, and then use the Wolfram Language to explore it through modeling, simulations, and data analysis. You work closely with mentors, but the direction of the project is yours. As the weeks progress, your research turns into a computational essay and an interactive paper, forcing you to explain not just results but how you got there. The program pushes you to think precisely, experiment freely, and communicate complex quantitative ideas in a clear way.

9. Wharton Data Science Academy

Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Cost: $10,599

Dates: June 21 - July 11 and July 12 - August 1

Application Deadline: January 28 (Priority) and March 18 (Final)

Eligibility: High school students currently in grades 10–11

Wharton Data Science Academy trains you to think statistically before you think computationally. You will spend the program working through probability, statistics, and data cleaning, then use R to model patterns, test assumptions, and evaluate predictions. Your days mix lectures with recitations and hands-on labs, so concepts move quickly from theory to code. You apply what you learn to machine learning style problems, focusing on how models behave rather than treating them as black boxes. The program ends with a team project where you analyze a dataset and explain your findings clearly, using evidence instead of buzzwords.

10. Columbia University NYC Residential Summer Program (Statistics Course Option)

Location: Columbia University, New York, NY

Cost: $12,764 per 3-week session + $80 application fee (course-specific fees may apply)

Dates: Session A: June 29 – July 17; Session B: July 21– August 7

Application Deadline: Rolling 

Eligibility: High school students aged 15+ (must turn 16 by December 31 of the program year)

At Columbia, you choose a statistics course from a large academic catalog and spend three weeks working through problem sets, discussions, and applied analysis. The classes focus on quantitative reasoning, hypothesis testing, and interpreting data. Instruction follows a college-style format, with faculty-led sessions and clear academic expectations. Outside class, you live on campus, attend academic workshops, and interact with students from different backgrounds, combining structured coursework with a full residential experience.

11. Columbia University College Edge: Summer Program (Statistics Course Option)

Location: Columbia University, New York, NY

Cost: $2,574 per point (1 course = 3 points = approx. $7,722) + $1,000 deposit + $80 application fee

Dates: Session A: May 25 – July 3; Session B: July 6 – August 14

Application Deadline: Rolling

Eligibility: Students entering grades 11–12; international students welcome

Columbia University’s College Edge lets you take an actual undergraduate statistics course while you’re still in high school. You sit in a real Columbia class and work through the same material as enrolled college students. The focus is on statistical reasoning using real datasets, including hypothesis testing, regression, and data interpretation. You complete readings, problem sets, and graded assignments that follow the pace and expectations of a freshman or sophomore course. Alongside the class, you have access to campus resources, advising, and structured sessions that explain how college academics work.

12. Computer Science Internship Program – Colorado School of Mines

Location: Virtual and in person

Cost: $100 (scholarships available)

Dates: 6 weeks in summer

Application Deadline: April 18

Eligibility: High school students interested in computer science and mathematics

This internship introduces you to data-driven problem solving through guided projects that mix math, statistics, and basic programming. You will work through structured tasks that show how algorithms and computation are used to analyze data and solve technical problems. Whether you participate online or in person, the emphasis is on learning by doing rather than lectures. The program is designed for beginners, so you focus on building foundations that make later coursework in statistics, computer science, or engineering easier to handle.

13. Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies: Introduction to Data Science

Location: Online (Live sessions + asynchronous work)

Cost: $3,200

Dates: Session One: June 15– June 26; Session Two: July 6– July 17

Application Deadline: Not specified 

Eligibility: Students in grades 9–11

In this program, you learn how data science actually works by writing code in R and analyzing real datasets. The class focuses on how statistical and machine learning models are built, compared, and evaluated. You spend time understanding trade-offs between methods and interpreting results carefully. Live sessions are paired with independent coding work, so you are expected to keep up with assignments and experiments throughout the two weeks.

14. Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth: Data Science and Statistics

Location: Johns Hopkins University, Maryland

Cost: Varies as per programs 

Program Dates: Session 1: June 28 – July 17 and Session 2: July 19 – August 7

Application Deadline: Rolling admissions

Eligibility: Grades 7-12 (advanced students)

The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) offers a rigorous data science and statistics program for academically advanced high school students. You will study statistical analysis, data visualization, and predictive modeling through a mix of lectures, projects, and discussions led by expert instructors. The program emphasizes working with real-world datasets, where you will form hypotheses, analyze data, and draw evidence-based conclusions using tools like Python and R.  Throughout the experience, you will strengthen your quantitative reasoning and critical thinking skills while learning approaches used in academic research and industry. 

15. Quinnipiac University – Data Sciences Lab

Location: Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT

Cost: $3,360 (residential); $2,400 (commuter)

Dates: July 7 – July 18

Application Deadline: Rolling admissions

Eligibility: Current high school students, typically ages 15–18

At Quinnipiac’s Data Sciences Lab, you spend two weeks learning how data science works by actually doing it. You work with real datasets and see how statistics, math, and basic programming fit together to answer practical questions. The focus is on statistical reasoning, from spotting patterns in data to making predictions and supporting decisions. Each day includes hands-on analysis, team problem-solving, and guided sessions with faculty who walk you through the logic behind the methods. By the end, you have a clearer picture of how data science is used in fields like healthcare, business, and public policy, and what skills matter most in this kind of work.

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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