15 Summer Programs for High School Students Interested in Linguistics Research
- Stephen Turban
- 37 minutes ago
- 10 min read
If you are a high school student interested in how sounds, words, and meanings are structured, linguistics research programs offer a way to explore that curiosity. These programs help you develop research skills that will be useful in college, such as close analysis, critical thinking, and clear argumentation. They can clarify whether linguistics or related fields are a good fit for you.
What will I do as a participant?
Through linguistics research programs, you can work with language data, study how languages differ, and examine how social, cultural, or cognitive factors influence communication. You may learn basic research methods, data analysis, or computational approaches to language. This experience helps you see language as a system that can be studied and tested. Participating in a linguistics research program can also make your college applications stand out by showing interest and ability in the subject.
With that, here are 15 summer programs for high school students interested in linguistics research to consider!
Location: Remote
Cost: Varies depending on program type; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Small cohorts; selective admissions
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application Deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: High school students with strong academic records; 3.3+ GPA recommended
Lumiere Research Scholar Program pairs you with a PhD mentor to work on an independent research project over several weeks. You choose a topic that genuinely interests you, then spend the program reading academic papers, refining a research question, and learning how real research is planned and written. Most of the work happens through regular mentor meetings and independent study, where you get direct feedback on your ideas, drafts, and methods. By the end, you produce a full research paper, giving you a clear, concrete sense of what academic research actually involves beyond textbooks or classroom assignments. You can find more details about the application here, and check out students’ reviews of the program here and here.
Location: Multiple international locations
Cost: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; acceptance rate not publicly available
Dates: Mid – late June (Summer Program); August – September (Academic year program)
Application Deadline: November 12
Eligibility: U.S. citizens in grades 9 to 12, ages 15 to 18, with at least a 2.5 GPA, living in the U.S. at the time of application.
National Security Language Initiative for Youth is a fully funded language immersion program where you live abroad and spend weeks using a new language as part of everyday life. You stay with a host family or in student housing, attend daily language classes, and then spend the rest of your time using the language in settings like markets, schools, community events, and cultural activities. You’re expected to speak, listen, make mistakes, and adapt quickly as the language becomes part of how you navigate daily routines. While it isn’t research-focused, the experience gives you a deep, lived understanding of how language works inside culture, relationships, and social norms, which can be especially powerful if you’re interested in linguistics, international studies, or cross-cultural communication.
Location: Registered university sites or approved high school sites (varies by location)
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Non-selective
Dates: Open Round: January 29; Invitational Round: March 1
Application Deadline: Site registration: January 22; Student registration: January 26
Eligibility: Never enrolled as a full-time college student; under 20 years old on the first day of the IOL; U.S. or Canadian citizen, or enrolled in a U.S. or Canadian secondary school
NACLO is a problem-solving competition where you work through linguistic challenges using logic rather than memorized facts. Problems are created by professionals in linguistics and computational linguistics and often reflect issues studied in language technology. The Open Round is designed to introduce students to the field and identify top performers. Students who score highly advance to the Invitational Round, which is more challenging. Top performers may qualify to represent their country at the International Linguistics Olympiad if eligibility requirements are met.
Location: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL (virtual and in-person)
Cost: Tuition per credit hour + $50 program fee
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June – August
Application Deadline: May 11
Eligibility: High school students with demonstrated academic readiness, written approval from a guidance counselor or school administrator, an official high school transcript, and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale (3.0 for University Laboratory High School students).
Summer Institute for Languages of the Muslim World lets you study Arabic in a way that goes beyond memorizing words or drilling grammar rules. You will work intensively with the language and think about how Arabic is used in social, cultural, and religious contexts across the Muslim world. A required course on cultural experiences pushes you to reflect on how language shapes identity, communication, and everyday interactions, not just how sentences are formed. Because the program is for college credit, the workload is real, with readings, written reflections, and analytical assignments that ask you to connect language learning to lived experience.
Location: Frisco Landing, Frisco, TX
Cost: $350 (meals not included)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: There is no information available
Dates: June 10 – 14 (tentative, based on previous year dates)
Application Deadline: June 7 (tentative, based on previous year dates)
Eligibility: Rising 9th graders through high school seniors
This is a five-day, in-person summer camp designed to introduce high school students to computational linguistics, even if you have no prior coding experience. Each day focuses on a different topic, starting with Python basics and moving into areas like natural language processing, machine learning, and neural networks. You learn directly from the University of North Texas research faculty and PhD students who work in this field. The structure combines short lectures with hands-on activities to help you understand how language and computation connect. Breaks and lunch are built into the day, but meals are not provided. The camp is best suited if you are curious about language, technology, or both, and want a short, intensive introduction.
Location: Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Cost: $4,341
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; exact figures not available
Dates: June 23 – August 17 (Tentative)
Application Deadline: Early Decision deadline December 15; Regular Decision deadline January 20; Late Application deadline March 2 (Tentative)
Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, or seniors aged 16–19
Stanford University’s Summer Session course on Greek and Latin Roots of English places you in a real college classroom alongside undergraduates, where you study how English vocabulary developed from classical languages. You will break down words to see how meaning is built and how it shifts over time, especially in fields like medicine, law, science, and academia. The focus is analytical rather than memorization, helping you understand why words mean what they do and how language history still shapes modern usage.
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY
Cost: $2,880 per session + additional fees
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective
Dates: August 3 - August 7
Application Deadline: Early Registrations: February 2; General Applications: April 2
Eligibility: Students entering grades 9–12
Columbia University’s Pre-College course Exploring Topics in Linguistics treats language as something you can study, test, and question rather than just use. You will look closely at how sounds are organized, how words and sentences are built, and how meaning changes depending on context, culture, and time. A big part of the course focuses on variation, like dialects, accents, slang, and how people judge language in everyday life, including online spaces. You also touch on how the brain processes language, how human communication differs from animal systems, and how technology reshapes what we think of as “correct” English. You analyze examples through texts, videos, short fieldwork-style activities, and guided discussion, learning to think the way linguists do when they study language in the real world.
Location: Brown University, Providence, RI
Cost: $3,096 to $10,858
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June 23 – July 11
Application Deadline: May 8
Eligibility: Students finishing grades 9–12, aged 14-18
Brown University’s Summer@Brown course, Language and Social Justice, looks at how the way people speak, write, and are heard can shape power and access in everyday life. You spend time discussing cases where language affects who gets medical care, fair treatment in schools, or equal footing in legal systems, and you unpack how accents, dialects, and word choice influence perception and opportunity. The course is built around conversation, examples, and reflection rather than tests, so you’re encouraged to think carefully about how language operates in the real world and where it creates barriers.
Location: Ohio State University, Main Campus, Columbus, OH
Cost/Stipend: $425; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: There is no information available
Dates: July 14 – 18
Application Deadline: May 31
Eligibility: Students entering grades 10, 11, or 12 (students completing 9th grade may apply)
This is a week-long, fully in-person summer institute focused on big questions at the intersection of the humanities and cognitive sciences. You spend mornings attending lectures led by OSU faculty and researchers, followed by afternoon discussions, workshops, and hands-on activities. The program explores how disciplines like philosophy, neuroscience, linguistics, psychology, and artificial intelligence work together to explain how humans think and create. Instruction is designed to resemble a university learning environment, giving you a glimpse into college-level academic life. You also engage closely with peers who share similar intellectual interests. Housing and transportation are not provided, so you must stay within driving distance of campus.
Location: Virtual and in-person options available at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Cost: $830–$6,800 + fees
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Small cohorts
Dates: Varies based on language
Application Deadline: January 30 (general); May 7 (BCS, Czech, Polish); May 21 (final).
Eligibility: Varies based on language
Indiana University’s Summer Language Workshop is built like a full immersion, where you compress an entire academic year of language study into one demanding summer. You will spend about twenty hours a week in class, plus daily preparation and practice, using the language as much as possible. Programs are offered in languages like Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and others, and the pace forces you to understand how the language actually works, not just memorize phrases. The summer ends with an official Oral Proficiency Interview, a widely recognized assessment that shows what you can truly do in the language.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $550–$1,100 + $25 deposit; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive
Dates: SLIYS 1 (required): June 8 – June 12 or July 6 – July 10; SLIYS 2 (optional): June 22 – June 26 or July 20 – July 24
Application Deadline: Rolling from February 1
Eligibility: High school students entering grades 9–12 (typically ages 13–18)
The Ohio State University’s Summer Linguistic Institute for Youth Scholars treats linguistics as a science, not a language class. You will study how speech sounds are produced, how sentences are structured, and how languages are documented and analyzed, working through examples. Classes are live and discussion-based, so you can ask questions and unpack difficult ideas as they come up. If you complete the first session, you can opt into an advanced module that goes deeper into analysis and research-style thinking. The courses are taught by PhD students who actively work in linguistics research, which keeps the content grounded and serious.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $8,550
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 15 – July 24
Application Deadline: Priority: February 11; Regular: March 12
Eligibility: Students in classes 11 and 12
University of Chicago’s Pre-College Summer Intensive Intermediate Ancient Greek is built for students who already know the basics and want to push much further. You will read real Classical texts and work closely with grammar and syntax, paying attention to how meaning is constructed line by line. The pace is fast, and the workload is heavy, closer to what Classics majors experience in college than a typical summer class. Because the course carries substantial academic credit, you’re expected to keep up with demanding translations and analysis.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $6,195–$30,970; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective admissions
Dates: Usually August – June (Tentative)
Application Deadline: January 8
Eligibility: Students in grades 7–12
Stanford Online High School’s Spanish: Literature, Film, and Culture looks at Spanish through how it’s actually used in stories, images, and public life across different regions. You will read literary texts, watch and analyze films, and study art to understand how language reflects culture, history, and identity. Classes meet several times a week and expect steady participation, discussion, and written analysis, so the workload feels closer to advanced high school or early college coursework.
Location: University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
Cost: $3,150–$3,475 (Residential); $900–$1,200 (Commuter)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive
Dates: June 26 – July 25
Application Deadline: March 15 (Priority); April 1 (final)
Eligibility: High school students enrolled in public, charter, private, or home school with a minimum 3.0 GPA and good academic and disciplinary standing
The University of Mississippi’s Summer Language Institute centers on learning Arabic or Chinese through active use rather than textbook drills. You will spend the program attending language instruction and cultural activities that push you to listen, speak, and interpret meaning in real contexts. The pace is steady and organized, so you’re challenged without being overwhelmed, and the focus stays on building practical competence you can actually use.
Location: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Cost: $484 per credit hour (VA residents) or $1,787 per credit hour (non-residents), plus a $60 institute fee and a $493 (VA) or $553 (non-VA) comprehensive fee; non-resident flat rates are $2,904 (half program) or $5,808 (full program)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not publicly available
Dates: June 15 - August 7: 8-week program - Full Program; June 15 - July 11: 4-week program - First Half; July 13 - August 7: 4-week program - Second Half
Application Deadline: March 27
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors
University of Virginia’s Summer Language Institute is built around full immersion, with long days that keep you working in the language from morning to late afternoon. You will spend up to seven and a half hours a day in classes, drills, conversation practice, and guided use of the language, with options ranging from Arabic and Chinese to Latin, Russian, and Spanish. The pace is serious and consistent, so progress comes from repetition and sustained exposure rather than shortcuts. Cultural activities and tutoring are woven in to support what you’re learning in class, helping you understand not just how the language works, but how it’s used.
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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