11 Online Computer Science Internships for High School Students
Internships during high school offer students a chance to gain practical experience in their chosen field before entering college or the workforce. In the case of computer science, they allow you to apply theoretical knowledge from the classroom to projects and tasks. Additionally, internships help you connect with industry professionals, providing mentorship, networking opportunities, and insights into potential career paths within the tech sector.
Since the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the number and variety of virtual work and learning opportunities for students across the world. Online internships are convenient and accessible. These programs are an opportunity for you to gain firsthand experience in computer science, learn new skills, and add to your resume and college applications without having to go anywhere. Here are 11 online internships for high school students interested in computer science!
1. Ladder Internship Program
Cost: Varies depending on program type. Full financial aid available.
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort. Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program for ambitious high school students! In the program, you work with a high-growth start-up on an internship. Start-ups that offer internships range across a variety of industries, from tech/deep tech and AI/ML to health tech, marketing, journalism, consulting, and more. Ladder’s start-ups are high-growth companies on average, raising over a million dollars. Interns work closely with their manager at the startup on real-world projects and present their work to the company. The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long.
2. SHTEM: Summer Internships for High Schoolers at Stanford University
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: None
Internship Dates: June 17 - August 9
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in January.
Eligibility: Students who will be in grades 11-12 at the time of application
Hosted by Stanford University, this virtual summer internship offers valuable insight into a number of fields. The 8-week internship aims to provide students with early exposure to research beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. As an intern, you will be engaged in projects and collaborative work, which will provide hands-on experiences and give you technical skills. Stanford's faculty and industry experts will be your guides as you deepen your understanding of technology. The emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration mirrors scenarios in the tech industry, fostering adaptability. Themes will span and combine the science of information and communication, engineering, the arts, linguistics, psychology, biology, neuroscience, computer science, technology, philosophy, and design, among other areas.
3. NASA Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) Internships
Location: NASA centers across the country. Virtual options are offered as well.
Cost/Stipend: No cost. A stipend will be awarded based on academic level and session duration.
Internship Dates: Spring session (Mid-January to Early May), Summer session (Late May to August), Fall session (Late August to Mid-December).
Application Deadline: May 26 (Fall), August 30 (Spring), October 20 (Summer).
Eligibility: Applicants must be U.S. citizens, have a cumulative 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale), be full-time students, and be at least 16 years of age at the time of application
NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) offers paid internships to high school and college-level students based in its various sites across the country. These internship programs are tailored to provide experiences in tech fields, allowing you to engage with technologies used in space exploration, satellite communication, and aerospace engineering. They also offer you an opportunity to gain practical work experience while working side-by-side with mentors who are NASA’s top research scientists, engineers, and individuals from many other professions. Internships may be full-time or part-time; they may be in-person at a NASA center or remote. You can check out a complete list of positions here - you may have to use the “Filter” option to see remote opportunities open to high school students.
4. ASPIRE by Johns Hopkins
Location: Both in-person and virtual options are available.
Cost/Stipend: None
Internship Dates: June 25 - August 22
Application Deadline: February 15
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors who are at least 15 years old and have a minimum 2.8 GPA can apply. The applicants should have permanent residency in the Washington-Baltimore Metro area.
The ASPIRE program is offered by Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in both in-person and virtual formats. It’s perfect for high schoolers interested in exploring STEM careers before committing to a field of study in college. The program’s general acceptance rate is 15-20%. In your application, you must choose your field of interest from a diverse list of areas, from Computer Science and Engineering to Physics and Information Technology & Cybersecurity. As an ASPIRE intern, you will be paired with APL staff mentors to complete projects, solve problems, and learn and apply crucial technical and interpersonal skills in a hands-on, professional environment. You will be expected to work on ASPIRE tasks for 40 hours per week. The program will end with all students submitting digital posters of ASPIRE projects.
5. George Mason University Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)
Location: Fairfax, VA. Fully remote, fully in-person, or hybrid options are available.
Stipend: None, but the application costs $25 (which may be waived based on financial needs).
Internship Dates: June 18 - August 9
Application Deadline: The application period typically ends in February.
Eligibility: Anyone who is at least 15 years old at the start of the program can apply.
George Mason University’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP) is an 8-week internship where participants work with faculty researchers and gain hands-on research experience. During the program, interns use cutting-edge equipment and technologies, hone their scientific writing and communication skills, and explore STEM careers. Among the various interdisciplinary areas available, the domains in computer science include computer simulations, computer modeling, machine learning, cybersecurity, data mining, data science for social good, and more. Students are expected to work for 30 hours per week. The program ends with the annual ASSIP Research Symposium and Celebration. You can check previous ASSIP research here.
6. Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine & Imaging Summer Research Internship
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: None
Internship Dates: June 17 - June 28
Application Deadline: March 31
Eligibility: High school students in the U.S. who are over the age of 14 can apply.
Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging (AIMI) Summer Research Internship is meant for students interested in exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and healthcare. The program typically has a cohort of around 20 high school interns. In the course of two weeks, the program offers introductory and technical lectures on the fundamentals of AI in healthcare, mentoring activities with Stanford student leads and researchers, and group work sessions on research projects. As an intern, you will also be expected to participate in social activities virtually and career sessions with guest speakers from academia, industry, non-profit, and government. An extended independent research internship opportunity could be offered to interested participants. You will be given a certificate of completion once the program ends.
7. Girls Who Code (GWC) Summer Program
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: No cost, $300 need-based grant provided (for eligible students in the U.S.)
Internship Dates: 2 weeks, typically in July, but may vary depending on the program.
Application Deadline: Late March
Eligibility: Female and non-binary high school students from all over the world are eligible.
Girls Who Code addresses the gender gap in technology through their summer program, offering hands-on projects and networking opportunities with women in tech. There are two available options for interested students. The first is a two-week Immersion Program introducing beginners to intermediate CS concepts, the iterative design process, the basics of UX design, and an overview of the tech industry. The second is a six-week self-paced program that allows high school students to explore web development using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript or delve into intermediate Python applications, focusing on cybersecurity or new data science courses.
8. Spark Summer Internship Program (Spark SIP)
Location: Various locations across the country, depending on the internship. Some may be remote.
Stipend: $500
Internship Dates: June to August (6-8 weeks)
Application Deadline: May 1
Eligibility: High school students who can work for 40 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Must be U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents.
With an acceptance rate of less than 5%, Spark SIP is a prestigious internship opportunity for aspiring computer science majors in college. A program open to all high schoolers interested in CS and related disciplines, the Spark SIP program allows students to explore research opportunities in the field, interact and learn from scholars and leaders, and gain real-world experience through full-time summer internships. The program allows you to work on applications of concepts in machine learning, computer programming, computer vision, and neural networks. Moreover, SPARK provides opportunities and resources that can be used during and after college applications!
9. Microsoft TEALS Virtual Volunteer
Location: Both in-person and virtual opportunities are available.
Cost/Stipend: None
Internship Dates: Vary based on the role selected.
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Must be pursuing a CS degree or an equivalent professional certificate to volunteer for a teaching assistant role. High school students are eligible to be teacher assistant volunteers.
TEALS, a Microsoft Philanthropies initiative, establishes sustainable computer science (CS) programs in high schools, prioritizing students underrepresented in CS education due to race, gender, or geography. This program facilitates CS learning by pairing teachers with industry volunteers and proven curricula. To overcome the lack of local CS professionals in underrepresented communities, TEALS volunteers can teach remotely. High school students may be eligible to be teacher assistant volunteers at Microsoft who support the class bi-weekly, working on assignments, providing resources, and assisting either the teacher or another volunteer during lessons. You can register for volunteer info sessions here before applying to volunteer with TEALS!
10. Colorado School of Mines: CS@Mines Internship
Location: Both in-person and remote opportunities are available.
Cost/Stipend: None
Internship Dates: TBD
Application Deadline: February 15
Eligibility: High school students with an interest in computer science are eligible to apply.
Colorado School of Mines’ Computer Science unit –CS@Mines offers summer internships for high school and community college students. CS@Mines has approximately 2–4 openings for academically talented individuals interested in participating in summer research projects related to computer science. This program offers remote options; interns can expect to commit 5–20 hours per week (averaging about 10 hours). Over the 6-week duration of the internship, you will collaborate in small teams led by a Mines Computer Science undergraduate student.
11. Google Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI)
Location: Typically, a residential program, virtual options are available too.
Cost/Stipend: None
Internship Dates: Usually runs from June to August.
Application Deadline: March
Eligibility: High school seniors planning to attend a 4-year institution in the US or Canada with a passion for computer science and intending to pursue a degree in it or a related department are eligible to participate.
Google's Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) is a three-week introduction to computer science (CS) for graduating high school seniors with a passion for technology — especially students from historically underrepresented groups in the field. This highly prestigious and competitive program is designed to be intensive, interactive, and hands-on, providing participants with an understanding of programming fundamentals directly from Google engineers. As a part of CSSI, you will gain valuable insights into Google’s internship programs and technical career opportunities. You will engage in classes taught by Google engineers, dive into its distinctive office culture, gain valuable mentorship from employees, and forge new friendships with fellow students, interns, and engineers.
Image Source - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Logo