15 Best Entrepreneurship Summer Programs for High School Students
Do you want to launch your own startup? High school is the perfect time to take those first steps, and summer programs can give you the skills and confidence to do it. Many of the best entrepreneurship summer programs for high school students combine hands-on projects, mentorship, and exposure to real-world business challenges, giving you an experience of what it’s like to turn an idea into a venture. It helps you build industry connections and teamwork experience.
For students curious about business, innovation, or even social entrepreneurship, these programs present growth opportunities that extend beyond the traditional classroom. From workshops at top universities to virtual labs and startup incubators, the best entrepreneurship summer programs for high school students are designed to sharpen your creativity and problem-solving skills while preparing you for the future. We have compiled a list of the 15 best entrepreneurship summer programs for high school students that you can explore.
15 Best Entrepreneurship Summer Programs for High School Students
1. NYU’s Innovation, Entrepreneurship and the Science of Smart Cities
Location: NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive
Dates: July 7 – August 8
Application deadline: May 15
Eligibility: Current 9th to graduating 12th-grade students who are at least 15 years of age and are residents of NYC and Nassau County
At NYU’s Innovation, Entrepreneurship and the Science of Smart Cities program, you’ll explore technology, business, and urban development combined. The curriculum combines coding, circuit design, and sensor integration with an understanding of how these tools can be applied to future smart cities. Along with technical aspects, you’ll learn entrepreneurship by learning how to develop, brand, and present a product or service. Workshops on communication and pitching help you refine your ability to present business ideas effectively, while sessions on economics and intellectual property give you insights into the practical side of launching a venture. This program concludes with a practical opportunity to design and prototype your own innovation for smart cities.
2. Ladder Internship Program
Location: Remote
Cost/Stipend: None; Varies depending on the program type (financial aid available)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Moderately selective
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter; Fall cohort: September 14
Application deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort; Fall cohort: August 24
Eligibility: High school students, undergraduates, and gap year students who can work 8-12 weeks for 10-20 hours/week
If you are interested in experiencing the challenges of entrepreneurship in a start-up culture, the Ladder Internship Program provides you with the right environment. Over the course of eight weeks, you’ll work remotely with an early-stage start-up that could be focused on artificial intelligence to health technology, or media. These startups are typically fast-moving and recently funded, allowing you to see the challenges and opportunities of scaling an early business. You’ll collaborate closely with both a Mentor at the company and a Ladder coach, balancing independent work with detailed feedback. The virtual internship program includes weekly milestones and a final presentation, ensuring you build tangible skills in research, problem-solving, and communication.
3. Business 101 Academy: Global Entrepreneurship – UT Austin
Location: University of Texas, Austin
Cost/Stipend: $5,200–$6,200
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 29–July 18
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Open to high school students
At the University of Texas at Austin’s Global Entrepreneurship program, you’ll engage in an intensive three-week program focused on business creation and handling international markets. The course introduces you to design thinking, market research, financial planning, and the process of building a pitch deck for investors. Beyond the classroom sessions, you’ll visit a start-up incubator and hear directly from entrepreneurs and venture capitalists about their own journey. Team-based projects form a core part of the experience, allowing you to collaborate, solve problems, and develop a business concept from ideation to pitch. You’ll examine the differences between operating in domestic and global contexts, preparing you to think critically about scalability and cross-cultural business challenges. You’ll have a certificate of completion at the end of the program and will gain recognition for your work.
4. Young Founders Lab
Location: 100% remote with live interactive workshops
Cost: Varies depending on the program type
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including summer, fall, winter, and spring
Application deadline: Varies depending on the cohort
Eligibility: Open to all high school students
The Young Founders Lab introduces you to the process of building a real start-up, under the guidance of Harvard entrepreneurs and industry mentors. For several weeks, you’ll collaborate with peers online to identify a problem, design a solution, and create a business model that can generate revenue. The program includes live classes on topics such as market research, product development, and fundraising, allowing you to learn customer discovery and MVP development. Professionals from companies such as Google and Microsoft provide mentorship, offering insights into both the technical and business challenges of entrepreneurship. The final goal is to present your venture in a formal pitch.
5. Wharton Global Youth Program: Essentials of Entrepreneurship
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Cost: $7,899 plus $100 as an application fee
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive
Dates: June 8 – 21 (session 1), June 22 – July 4 (session 2), July 13 – 26 (session 3), or July 27 – August 9 (session 4)
Application deadline: April 2
Eligibility: High school students currently enrolled in grades 9 to 11
Wharton’s Essentials of Entrepreneurship is a two-week program designed to introduce you to the process of building and evaluating new ventures. Using lectures, recitations, and group projects, you’ll study key concepts such as idea generation, customer discovery, business models, and early-stage financing. Collaboration is the key as you’ll work in teams to design a startup concept and present it as a formal pitch by the end of the program. Academic sessions are combined with evening activities and access to Wharton’s Global Youth Speaker Series, where you’ll hear from faculty on a wide range of business topics. Successful completion of the program earns you a certificate along with the experience of living and learning on Penn’s campus in Philadelphia.
6. Berkeley Business Academy for Youth: High School Entrepreneurship
Location: Berkeley, CA
Cost: $6,292 (California Resident) or $7,332 (Out of State Resident)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive, about 50 students
Dates: Session 1: July 5 – July 19; Session 2: July 19 – August 2
Application deadline: March 1
Eligibility: High school students
At Berkeley’s Business Academy for Youth, you’ll spend two weeks on campus working in teams to turn an idea into a detailed business plan. The program brings together about 50 students from around the world, giving you the opportunity to learn directly from Haas School of Business professors as well as industry speakers. Your schedule is a combination of lectures with independent research, lab assignments, and group projects that help you prepare for a final presentation of your business plan. You’ll also develop skills in teamwork, communication, and leadership while experiencing daily life at UC Berkeley. Activities such as campus tours, panels with undergraduates, and sessions with admissions advisors help you experience college life and the application process at a top university. A certificate of completion marks your participation in this program.
7. Brown’s Leadership in Changing Business: Social Entrepreneurship
Location: Providence, RI (in-person and remote options available)
Cost: $5,534 (residential), $4,286 (commuter), or $5,314 (virtual)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive
Dates: June 23 – July 18 (virtual) or June 30 – July 11 (on-campus)
Application deadline: May 9
Eligibility: Students completing grades 9 – 12 who will be 14 to 18 years of age by June 15
This two-week course at Brown University focuses on the role of social entrepreneurship in addressing challenges in areas such as health, education, and the environment. You’ll explore how nonprofits, hybrid models, and social enterprises operate and learn to evaluate the effectiveness of different organizational structures. Guest speakers and case studies introduce you to leaders who have combined mission-driven values with sustainable business practices. Throughout the course, you’ll build your own concept for a nonprofit or for-profit social enterprise, developing both a comprehensive business plan and an elevator pitch. The program focuses on leadership, social justice, and community responsibility, helping you understand the broader impact of entrepreneurship.
8. Startup UCLA: Social Entrepreneurship Summer Institute
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Cost: $3,921 (on-campus) or $1,850 (virtual)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not applicable
Dates: June 23 – July 4 (Session A: Virtual), July 6 – 19 (Session B: Residential), July 20 – August 2 (Session C: Residential), or August 4 – 15 (Session D: Virtual)
Application deadline: June 13 (Session A), June 5 (Sessions B and C), or July 25 (Session D)
Eligibility: 10th – 12th grade students in Spring
If you are interested in learning how to build an organization focused on social impact, UCLA’s Social Entrepreneurship Summer Institute guides you through the entire process from developing an idea to delivering a pitch. The program begins with guidance on how to research problems and shape mission-driven ventures, and then transitions to hands-on work where you’ll design your own nonprofit or social enterprise. Working in teams, you’ll move from concept to business model and conclude by pitching your organization to a panel of entrepreneurs and investors. While most of the program is about academic and project work, residential students also take part in planned evening and weekend activities with peers.
9. USC Exploring Entrepreneurship
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Cost: $11,347 (residential) or $7,812 (commuter)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not Applicable
Dates: June 15 – July 12
Application deadline: May 2
Eligibility: Students who have completed at least 10th grade by June 15
The University of Southern California’s Exploring Entrepreneurship course combines classroom sessions with real-world immersive experience in the Los Angeles business environment. You’ll earn college credit while studying topics such as finance, marketing, human resources, and business ethics. Guest lectures and site visits give you an opportunity to see different aspects of entrepreneurship in real-time, with past trips including tours to Silicon Beach start-ups, manufacturing facilities, and local food businesses. The classroom sessions allow you to practice teamwork and presentation skills by creating and developing your own business idea. By the end of the program, you must have completed a project that helps you to understand the challenges of building a company from the ground up.
10. Snider Enterprise and Leadership Fellows (SELF) Experience
Location: University of Maryland (in-person or remote)
Cost: $1,365
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective
Dates: July 14–August 1
Application deadline: June 1
Eligibility: Open to rising students in grade 10 to graduating from grade 12
The SELF program at the University of Maryland takes entrepreneurship by combining business skills with personal leadership. For three weeks, you’ll take part in a college-level class called Enterprising Leader through the Terp Young Scholars program, earning credits while examining strategy, marketing, economics, and personal finance. You’ll work in groups to develop a venture pitch that addresses real-world problems with guidance from UMD faculty and industry mentors. The program allows you to choose between in-person and remote options, but both options focus on collaboration, creativity, and applying business principles to leadership challenges. Activities include interactive workshops, networking opportunities, and structured feedback on your ideas. By the end of the program, you’ll understand how entrepreneurial thinking can be used not only to build companies but also to help you grow personally as well as professionally.
11. Wake Forest University Summer Immersion Program - Entrepreneurship Institute
Location: NC – Wake Forest University Reynolda campus, Winston-Salem
Cost: $3,200
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Moderately selective
Dates: Week of June 15 – June 20 and Week of June 22 – June 27
Application deadline: Rolling (applications open every year on November 1)
Eligibility: Open to current high school students in grades 9–12
At Wake Forest’s Entrepreneurship Institute, you’ll spend a week learning how to evolve an idea from concept to launch. You'll learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurial thinking, covering ideation, marketing, financial modeling, and strategy. You’ll also meet with founders and industry leaders, tour accelerators and incubators, and take part in interactive workshops that highlight both the creative and practical sides of building a business. A key part of the experience is developing a pitch deck and presenting your start-up idea in a team competition, where you’ll apply what you’ve learned in the real-world experience. The schedule also includes a Pivot Panel where you’ll hear directly about resilience and adapting to setbacks, which is an important part of the entrepreneurial journey.
12. Columbia’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation: Changing the World via Venture Creation
Location: New York, NY
Cost: $12,764 (residential) or $6,310 (commuter)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: N/A
Dates: June 30 – July 18 (Summer A) or July 22 – August 8 (Summer B)
Application deadline: April 20
Eligibility: High school students who will be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the fall and students currently enrolled in grade 12. The NYC Residential Summer program is open to students who are 15 years of age or above
This Columbia University program guides you step by step through the venture creation process from brainstorming ideas to preparing a plan that could be ready for launch. You’ll work in teams to evaluate opportunities, study markets, and test product–market fit while also evaluating how branding, customer discovery, financing, and legal issues play a role in building a business. At each stage, you’ll refine your venture idea through feedback from instructors and classmates, gaining practice with professional skills such as negotiation, project management, and financial analysis. By the end of the program, you and your team will have built a detailed business model supported by planning documents, an investor pitch, and digital products such as a website or crowdfunding video.
13. Babson Summer Study
Location: New England Innovation Academy (NEIA) in Marlborough, MA(in-person or remote)
Cost: $6,295 + $95 application fee (scholarships available)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: July 7– July 28
Application deadline: Early Bird: February 14; Standard: March 14
Eligibility: Open to rising high school juniors and seniors
If you are interested in connecting business with real-world problem solving, Babson College’s Summer Study offers a three-week program where you’ll earn four college credits while working on projects related to the United Nations Global Goals. The course introduces you to entrepreneurship using Babson’s Entrepreneurial Thought & Action approach, encouraging you to explore economic, social, and environmental challenges with a problem-solving mindset. You’ll be a part of the Introduction to the Entrepreneurial Experience class that combines teamwork, business fundamentals, and innovation. Along with classroom learning, you’ll engage with guest speakers, mentors, and peers from around the world, giving you both global perspectives and personal guidance.
14. McIntire Business Institute Program – University of Virginia
Location: Fairfax, VA
Cost: $4,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: NA
Dates: June 16–27 | July 7-18
Application deadline: No information available. Check the program website for details.
Eligibility: Open to rising 10th-12th graders
At the University of Virginia, the McIntire Business Institute offers a two-week immersive experience in core business topics such as strategy, marketing, finance, and accounting. You’ll learn directly from faculty at the McIntire School of Commerce and apply your knowledge in team projects that require creative problem-solving and structured analysis. Field trips to local companies bring concepts to life, while case studies and group assignments conducted in the classroom improve your ability to think strategically. Collaboration is an essential part of the program, and you’ll also gain experience presenting your ideas and responding to feedback from both peers and instructors. By the end of the program, you’ll leave with solid experience of working in a team to develop and communicate entrepreneurial solutions.
15. Georgetown University: Entrepreneur Academy
Location: Georgetown University campus, Washington, D.C
Cost: $5,950 (Approx); Limited number of scholarships
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Moderately selective
Dates: June 15 – June 27
Application deadline: April 15; Rolling
Eligibility: Students in grades 8-12 during the academic year prior to the summer program with a GPA of 2.0
Georgetown’s Entrepreneur Academy is a two-week program designed to help you understand what it takes to start and manage a venture, from initial brainstorming to testing ideas using research and prototyping. The curriculum helps you understand design thinking, market analysis, and global perspectives on entrepreneurship, while highlighting the ethical and social dimensions of running a business. You’ll hear from entrepreneurs across different industries, giving you a broad perspective on the realities of building and sustaining a venture. Teamwork is a key element to the experience, and you’ll collaborate on a business plan that you will present in a final pitch competition. Along the way, you’ll also strengthen your communication, networking, and leadership skills through discussions, case studies, and hands-on activities. A certificate of participation marks the completion of the program.
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