10 Summer Programs in Houston for Middle School Students
- Stephen Turban
- Jul 7
- 6 min read
If you are a middle school student in Houston looking for a way to challenge yourself this summer, summer programs in the city can be a great (and accessible) place to start.
Many of these programs are low-cost or fully funded and offered by respected institutions in the Houston area, making them accessible and affordable ways to explore new interests before high school. Some even simulate real-world career paths, providing you with early insights into fields such as engineering, medicine, or environmental science.
Summer programs are also a great way to meet like-minded peers, build confidence, and engage in rigorous academics in a supportive environment.
Here, we have narrowed it down to 10 summer programs in Houston for middle schoolers (grades 6–8). Each option stands out for its selectivity, academic rigor, mentorship opportunities, and reputable host institutions or organizations.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $2,990; need-based financial assistance is available
Dates: The program runs multiple cohorts throughout the year, including summer sessions that begin in June/July
Application deadline: Deadlines vary for each cohort. June 23 for the upcoming summer cohort.
Eligibility: Middle school students
The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program is a virtual eight-week experience for middle schoolers. If selected, you will be paired with a mentor to explore academic interests and develop a meaningful project. Mentors are typically accomplished scholars from top-tier institutions like Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Duke, and LSE. During the program, you will progress through structured phases. In the first four weeks, you will explore four unique topics within your chosen track. Weeks five and six build upon this exploration, allowing you to focus deeply on a single area of interest. The final two weeks are dedicated to project creation, where you will work closely with your mentor to bring your ideas to life.
Location: Online
Cost: $1,990; need-based financial aid is available
Application deadline: The Summer cohort’s application window closes on June 22
Dates: Two weeks in the summer; a commitment of 25 hours on weekdays
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 to 8
The AI Trailblazers program offered by Veritas AI is a virtual program that helps middle school students explore the fundamentals of machine learning and artificial intelligence. During the program, you will learn the basics of the programming language Python as well as explore topics like image classification, data analysis, regression, AI ethics, and neural networks. You will explore these topics through lectures and group sessions conducted with a 5:1 student-to-mentor ratio. By the end of the session, you will have a complete hands-on project in a subject of your choice! Previous projects undertaken by students include building a machine-learning model to classify music genres and developing a machine-learning algorithm to generate a customized list of educational resources based on specified criteria.
Location: Rice University, Houston, TX
Cost: $2,500
Dates: July 6 – 11 | July 13 – 18 | July 20 – 25 | July 27 – August 1
Application deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students in grades 7–12
Rice University offers 6-day/5-night summer camps to middle and high school students. At the residential camp hosted by Rice University, you will collaborate with peers on applied STEM challenges rooted in real-world issues, like designing carbon storage systems or simulating college admissions algorithms. The curriculum, developed by Rice faculty and taught by university students, focuses on helping you develop teamwork, critical thinking, and public speaking skills. You will work in a team on your project and end the session by presenting your project findings to the camp community. Outside the classroom, you will visit nearby scientific and cultural institutions, such as the NASA Johnson Space Center. This camp offers hands-on learning opportunities in an academically rigorous setting.
Location: University of Houston’s main campus, Houston, TX
Cost: $375; scholarships of up to $350 available
Dates: July 14 – 18
Application deadline: July 7
Eligibility: Students entering grades 3 –8
University of Houston offers K-12 students various STEM-based camps, of which the Mars Rover Explorers is a hands-on learn experience for those interested in engineering, technology, and space science. Here, you will primarily work on designing and developing a mock-up/model of a Mars Rover or a Mars-based habitat/community. You will conduct basic research on Mars to determine the objectives and features of your colony. This experience can help you meet like-minded peers and learn about planetary science and space engineering. At the end of camp, you will get to present your mock designs to the programming team and other participants.
Location: Pro-Vision Academy, Houston, TX
Cost: $350 per session
Dates: June 9 – 13
Application deadline: May 23
Eligibility: Students identifying as girls in grades 6 to 8
Girlstart offers week-long summer camps that are designed to help girls build a strong STEM foundation. Each session combines hands-on projects, interactive lessons, and individual guidance to help you develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills. At camp, you may get to explore topics like neuroscience basics, coding, programming, illustration, and chemistry through hands-on activities. The curriculum is designed to boost confidence in STEM and increase awareness of career paths in science, tech, engineering, and math. Camps are led by trained educators and use a mix of formal instruction and exploratory learning.
Location: Rice University campus, Houston, TX
Cost: $499; a limited number of scholarships are available
Dates: July 14 – 18
Application deadline: April 18
Eligibility: Middle school students
The Computer Engineering Design (CED) Academy, conducted at Rice University, is a week-long program for middle schoolers interested in programming, 3D printing, and design. Here, you will get to work on design projects and explore topics and techniques like manufacturing through rapid prototyping and computer-aided design programming. You will also work with microelectronics and robots to learn programming. You will get to come up with designs and products, and even get to take your projects home. The experience can offer you insights into the real-world applications of concepts in STEM, especially engineering and computer science.
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Dates: July 7– 25, with weekly online after-school meetings in the fall
Application deadline: March 20
Eligibility: U.S.-based low-income students currently in grades 6 and 7
The Stanford Middle School Scholars Program offers an academic experience that starts with a three-week online summer course and continues with weekly sessions into the fall. The program is entirely free and designed to support students from low-income backgrounds. During the program, you will get to build skills in writing and math and work on high school readiness while engaging in live classes with expert instructors—65% of whom hold PhDs. Sessions are capped at around 12 students, allowing for personalized feedback and close interaction with peers and mentors. During the summer session, you will be enrolled in a course covering a specific topic in social sciences or math. Through this program, you will gain confidence in your academic skills and be better equipped for future opportunities in STEM and beyond.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Dates: June 22 – July 27; weekly sessions conducted over six weeks
Application deadline: May 21
Eligibility: Students in grades 6–11
The interdisciplinary Summer Research Institute is an opportunity for middle and high school students to explore STEM topics and research. Over six weeks, you will meet weekly with program instructors, who are often university faculty or graduate students, and learn about topics in math, neuroscience, and machine learning. For instance, the course on computational neuroscience covers topics like neural adaptation models, neuroethics, and EEG data visualization using Python. Sessions will also focus on research, introduce advanced concepts, and offer support to conduct your own project. At the end of the program, mentors will review your work and help you pursue next steps, such as publication or continued research. This program is a flexible but rigorous introduction to real-world inquiry.
Location: Rice University campus, Houston, TX
Cost: $499; a limited number of scholarships are available
Dates: June 9 – 13
Application deadline: April 18
Eligibility: Middle school students
The iRIDE Academy is a one-week introduction to engineering and engineering design. Here, you will learn about engineering as a profession, the engineering design process, and engineering fields through hands-on challenges and projects. You will also get to tour the Rice University campus and engineering research laboratories. During the program, you will primarily work on a capstone engineering project that addresses real-world issues directly affecting you and/or your community. You will also get opportunities to interact with engineers and engineering students during the program.
Location: Online
Cost: $500; need-based financial aid available
Dates: July 27 – August 1
Application deadline: May 1
Eligibility: Middle school students who identify as girls
The Wolfram Middle School Summer Camp offers an introduction to computational thinking through a week of interactive coding workshops. Designed specifically for middle school girls, the camp combines foundational programming lessons with creative problem-solving challenges that utilize Wolfram technologies. Here, you will get hands-on experience in writing code, exploring algorithms, and thinking logically through guided projects. You will also learn how to code using the Wolfram programming language. Lectures covering topics like natural language processing, computational poetry, machine learning, and computational farming are also part of the experience.
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 where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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