45+ Computer Science Programs for High School Students in 2026

TL;DR

Computer Science programs for high school students range from free online courses you can start today to fully funded summer programs at Carnegie Mellon and research programs at Stanford, MIT and national labs. More than 15 of the programs below are free, and several research internships pay. Many programs only take students from one state or region, so read the Eligibility line first. Ladder Internships is fully remote, so you can build a software or AI project with a startup wherever you live.

Computer science programs for high school students fall into four groups: paid summer camps at universities, research programs with a mentor, free summer programs and online courses. Each entry lists the cost, the current dates and deadlines, and who can apply, so you can quickly see which programs you qualify for and what each one would teach you about working in tech.

How Do Computer Science Skills Impact Future Career Options?

Computer science skills lead directly into software engineering, data science, cybersecurity and IT, and they make you more useful in fields like medicine, science and finance that now run on data.

Tech jobs: Software developers, data scientists and information security analysts all start from programming, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' profile of software developers shows what the work, pay and training look like.

Jobs outside tech: Programs like Stanford AIMI's research internship and Clayton State's AISEE academy show how computer science drives work in medicine and Earth science, so a computer science program can help even if you don't plan to major in computer science.

Proof you can build things: Most programs end in a project, such as a machine learning model, a web app or a research poster, which gives you concrete work to describe when you apply for an internship or a first job.

How Do High School Students Get Started With Computer Science?

Start with a free beginner course in Python or a similar language, then move to a program where you build a project with mentors and other students.

Take a free course first: Harvard's CS50x and MIT's introduction to programming in Python are free and self-paced, and if your school offers AP Computer Science Principles, it covers the same basics with class time built in.

Build something: Once you can write simple programs, a summer program like Kode With Klossy or Carnegie Mellon's Computer Science Scholars has you build a working app or model with a team.

Keep practicing during the school year: Contests like the USA Computing Olympiad and year-long programs like Tech Flex Leaders keep your skills growing between summers and let you test yourself against other students.

Are Online or In-Person Computer Science Classes Better for High Schoolers?

Online computer science classes are cheaper and open to anyone, while in-person programs cost more but give you labs, mentors and a cohort to build with every day.

Factor	Online computer science classes	In-person computer science programs
Cost	Free to about $6,000	Free to $13,281
Schedule	Self-paced or live for a few hours a day	Full days for one to six weeks
Who can join	Usually anyone with internet access	Often limited by grade, location or citizenship
What you leave with	A certificate and course projects	A team project, mentors and a peer network

Choose online if you're starting out or on a budget: Free courses like CS50x let you learn the basics before you spend money on a program.

Choose in person if you want a team and mentors: Programs like MIT Beaver Works and NYU Tandon's CS4CS put you in a lab with instructors and other students for weeks at a time.

What Skills Do Students Gain From Computer Science Programs?

Computer science programs teach you to write and debug code in languages like Python, Java and C++, and the best ones also teach you to work on a team, test your ideas and present results.

Technical skills: Camps and online courses cover programming, data structures, machine learning and security, while research programs like MIT PRIMES and Veritas AI add reading papers and running experiments.

Working skills: Lab internships at Sandia, Argonne and Oak Ridge put you on a team with deadlines, code reviews and a final presentation, and Ladder Internships places you on a remote startup project in any season. The Department of Labor's rules for internships explain when that kind of work has to be paid.

How We Selected These Programs

Every program below is open to high school students on its own official website and has a current or upcoming cycle, or runs year-round.

Computing at the center: Each program teaches computer science, computer science, AI, data science or cybersecurity, or places you in computing research. Programs that mix computing with another field are marked as a blend in their entry.

Prestige and depth: We favored programs run by top universities, national labs and selective research programs, with mentors and a final project you can show.

Current and open to you: We checked each program's own eligibility rules and dates, and the Eligibility line notes residency, citizenship, grade and income limits so you can rule programs in or out quickly. For paid work experience, see our guide to computer science internships for high school students.

Section	Top programs	Cost	Best for
Computer Science Summer Camps	Stanford AI4ALL, Harvard Secondary School Program, Berkeley Summer Computer Science Academy	About $3,000 to $13,281	Students who want a university summer program in CS or AI
Computer Science Research Opportunities	MIT PRIMES, Veritas AI, Stanford AIMI	Free to a few thousand dollars, and lab internships pay	Students who want to do original research with a mentor
Free Computer Science Summer Programs	Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Scholars, Carnegie Mellon AI Scholars, MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute	Free	Students who want a selective campus program at no cost
Online computer science Programs	Harvard CS50x, Stanford Introduction to Machine Learning, UCLA Computer Science Summer Institute	Free to about $6,000	Students who want to learn from home on their own schedule

Computer Science Summer Camps

Computer science summer camps at universities like Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon cost about $3,000 to more than $13,000, and most run one to six weeks on campus. Need-based aid is common, so apply for it when you apply to the program.

1. Stanford AI4ALL

Location: Stanford, CA (residential) or online
Cost/Stipend: $9,800 for the residential program or $4,120 online; need-based financial aid is available to domestic and international students
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 15 to 26, 2026 online and July 19 to 31, 2026 residential; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: February 6, 2026 for the 2026 cycle, with financial aid applications due February 13, 2026; the 2027 deadline isn't posted yet
Eligibility: Current 9th graders who are 14 to 16 during the program

Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies runs AI4ALL, a program of about two weeks for current ninth graders, offered online or on campus. Students attend lectures and live demos with AI companies, work on team research projects, and take career workshops. AI practitioners mentor them on topics like computer vision, medical AI, natural language processing and robotics. Meeting people who build AI for a living gives an early picture of what machine learning engineers and AI researchers do. It is open only to current 9th graders, so freshmen should apply in the one year they qualify.

Who it's best for: A current ninth grader who wants AI mentorship from practitioners and can choose between the $4,120 online version and the $9,800 residential stay at Stanford.

2. Harvard Summer School Secondary School Program

Location: Cambridge, MA (residential or commuting) or online
Cost/Stipend: $4,180 for four weeks online or commuting, or $9,260 residential; seven weeks costs $4,180 for 4 credits or $8,160 for 8 credits online or commuting, or $15,980 residential, plus a $75 application fee
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2027 runs June 14 to July 8, 2027 and July 12 to August 5, 2027 (four-week sessions), or June 21 to August 6, 2027 (seven-week session)
Application deadline: Early deadline January 13, 2027; regular deadline February 10, 2027; late deadline March 31, 2027
Eligibility: Students graduating high school in 2027, 2028 or 2029 who are 16 by June 13, 2027 and under 19 before July 31, 2027

Harvard Summer School's Secondary School Program lets high school students take college-level courses for credit. Four-week sessions offer one course from about 20 options, while the seven-week session offers one or two courses from more than 200, including computer science courses. Students choose a residential, commuting or online format, though online choices are limited in the four-week sessions. Courses earn 4 or 8 college credit hours, and a graded college-level CS course shows a student whether the pace of computer science, and later a software career, suits them. Check which computer science courses run in your session before applying.

Who it's best for: A student 16 or older who wants Harvard college credit in a computer science course and will pick the seven-week session for the widest course choice.

3. Berkeley Summer Computer Science Academy

Location: UC Berkeley campus, Berkeley, CA (residential, Bowles Hall)
Cost/Stipend: $5,197 plus a $25 application fee for summer 2026; an NSHSS scholarship covers tuition, room and board
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 21 to July 3, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: Applications for 2026 were accepted February 2 to March 17, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Eligibility: Students who have completed 10th or 11th grade with a 3.0 average and are 16 by June 21, 2026

UC Berkeley Pre-College Scholars runs this two-week residential computer science program, with students living in Bowles Hall on campus. Daily computer science challenges in Snap!, based on Berkeley's BJC (CS10) curriculum, cover abstraction, Boolean logic, algorithms, higher-order functions and recursion. New for 2026, an introduction to AI covers supervised learning, reinforcement learning, generative AI and AI ethics. Each student designs and builds a programming project and presents it at the final Code Celebration, much like a software engineer demoing a finished feature. Applicants need a 3.0 average, and an NSHSS scholarship can cover tuition, room and board.

Who it's best for: A student with a 3.0 average who has finished 10th or 11th grade and wants two weeks at Berkeley learning core CS ideas in Snap! plus an AI introduction.

4. Penn Engineering Summer Academy Computer Science

Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (students live on campus)
Cost/Stipend: Tuition isn't published; there is a $90 non-refundable application fee
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2027 runs July 11 to 30, 2027
Application deadline: February 17, 2027; applications open December 1, 2026
Eligibility: Rising sophomores through rising seniors, age 15 or older, with at least a 3.0 GPA; the CS course expects programming at the AP CS A level

Penn Engineering's Summer Academy is an intensive three-week program where high school students live on Penn's campus and take one engineering course. The Computer Science course explores several CS topics through a mix of lectures and lab time with teaching assistant support. Work is mostly in Python, with a quick primer at the start, and advanced students can take on optional extensions to the assignments. Working through lab problems with TA help is close to how junior software engineers learn on the job. Students should already know programming at the AP CS A level, so this is not a first course.

Who it's best for: A rising sophomore to senior with a 3.0 GPA who already codes at the AP CS A level and wants three weeks of Python labs on Penn's campus.

5. Columbia University Pre-College Programs

Location: Columbia University, New York, NY (commuter or residential) or online
Cost/Stipend: $12,454 for a three-week NYC residential session, including housing and dining, plus a nonrefundable application fee; commuter and online options cost less, and financial aid is offered only for those
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2027 residential sessions run June 28 to July 16 and July 20 to August 6, 2027; commuter sessions run June 21 to 25, June 28 to July 16, July 20 to August 6 and August 2 to 6, 2027; online sessions run June 21 to 25, July 12 to 23 and July 26 to August 6, 2027
Application deadline: Early registration February 1, 2027; general deadline March 1, 2027 for residential and April 1, 2027 for commuter and online
Eligibility: Rising 9th graders through current 12th graders, domestic and international; residential students must be at least 15 and turn 16 by December 31, 2027

Columbia University's School of Professional Studies runs pre-college programs with more than 100 courses, offered as commuter, residential and online summer sessions plus academic-year classes. Computing courses include Computer Programming for Beginners (Python and Java), Introduction to Programming in C, Programming with Python 2, Introduction to Programming with Rust, and Data Science and Machine Learning 1 and 2. Data Science and Machine Learning 1 teaches introductory Python computer science and popular machine learning algorithms to students with little or no computer science experience. The range of languages, from Python to C and Rust, lets a student try the tools used in data science and systems programming jobs. Financial aid covers only commuter and online programs, so price out the residential option carefully.

Who it's best for: A student in New York City or online who wants to pick a specific language course like Rust or C, with formats from a one-week commuter session to three weeks in residence.

6. Carnegie Mellon National High School Game Academy

Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (residential only)
Cost/Stipend: $13,281 for the six-week residential program in 2026, plus a $75 application fee and $800 deposit; 2027 pricing posts in November 2026, and full need-based scholarships for U.S. students cover tuition, housing and dining
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application with rolling decisions; most admitted students are juniors, and cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2027 runs June 26 to August 7, 2027
Application deadline: March 1, 2027, or February 1, 2027 for scholarship applicants; decisions are rolling
Eligibility: Current high school sophomores or juniors who are 16 by June 26, 2027

Carnegie Mellon's Game Academy is a six-week residential program in Pittsburgh. In weeks one and two, students take daily lectures and workshops in Unity programming, 2D and 3D art, game design, animation and sound design, and about 20 homework assignments are used to place them into team roles. In weeks three through six, teams of five or six work with a student producer, first on a one-week Lightning Round game and then on an original game chosen from three pitched ideas. Teams present publicly after each round, and the finished games become portfolio pieces, which is how game developers show what they can build. U.S. students who apply by February 1, 2027 can get full need-based scholarships covering tuition, housing and dining.

Who it's best for: A sophomore or junior who wants to build an original Unity game on a team over six weeks, and who will apply by February 1 if they need a full scholarship.

7. Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth

Location: Online, plus day and residential sites; headquartered in Baltimore, MD
Cost/Stipend: Tuition varies by course and length and is listed in each course's catalog description; limited need-based financial aid is available each term
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Students qualify through CTY testing; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Online courses start January 24 and March 21, 2027; Summer 2027 sessions are planned for June 27 to July 16 and July 18 to August 6, 2027
Application deadline: December 8, 2026 and February 16, 2027, depending on the term
Eligibility: Advanced learners in grades 2 to 12 who qualify through testing in the CTY family portal

Johns Hopkins CTY offers online, day and residential courses for advanced learners from grade 2 through 12. Its Robotics and Technology subject area features project courses that combine design, computer science and problem solving. Summer 2027 has two three-week sessions for residential and day students, and online courses start in January and March. Pairing code with physical design is the daily work of robotics and embedded systems engineers. Students must qualify through CTY testing first, and specific course names and prices appear only in the catalog, so browse it before applying.

Who it's best for: An advanced learner who has qualified through CTY testing and wants a computer science or robotics course either online during the school year or at a three-week summer site.

8. NYU Tandon Machine Learning Summer Program

Location: NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY
Cost/Stipend: $3,180 total, including $2,880 tuition; optional housing with a meal plan is $654 extra
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 sessions ran June 15 to 27, July 6 to 17 and July 20 to 31, 2026, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: April 17, 2026 for Session 1 and May 1, 2026 for Sessions 2 and 3, with rolling review; 2027 deadlines aren't posted yet
Eligibility: Current 9th to 12th graders, U.S. and international, with precalculus and programming experience

NYU Tandon's K-12 STEM office runs this two-week machine learning program in Brooklyn, offered in three sessions with full days Monday to Friday. Students write ML code, learn data analysis techniques and model validation, and study the basics of neural networks and how ML is applied in practice. Precalculus and prior programming are required, so this is not a beginner course. Validating models and analyzing data are core tasks for data scientists and ML engineers. Optional housing is available for students 15 and older.

Who it's best for: A student with precalculus and some computer science behind them who wants a focused two-week ML course in New York City for about $3,180.

9. The Cooper Union Summer STEM Program

Location: Cooper Union School of Engineering, 41 Cooper Square, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: $3,150 for a three-week course or $5,150 for a six-week course; financial aid is available, with priority for NYC residents
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran July 6 to August 13, 2026, Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Session I July 6 to 23 and Session II July 27 to August 13; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: 2027 applications open December 11, 2026; the deadline isn't posted yet
Eligibility: High school students who have completed 9th, 10th or 11th grade; international students are welcome, but no housing is provided

The Cooper Union's Albert Nerken School of Engineering runs this summer program, where each student takes one three-week or six-week course, Monday to Thursday. computer science options include App Lab, where students build an original iOS app in Swift, and Algorithms of the Future, which covers HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python and React and ends with a mini-hackathon. Python for Engineers uses NYC open data for scientific computing, and the Arduino and ESP32 Innovation Lab teaches C++ on microcontrollers. Each course points toward a job: iOS developer, web developer, data analyst or embedded engineer. There is no housing provided, so it works best for students who can commute to Manhattan.

Who it's best for: A New York City student who can commute to Cooper Square and wants one focused computer science course, such as Swift app building or React, for three or six weeks.

10. CS@SC Summer Camps at USC

Location: USC campus, Los Angeles, CA, or virtual via Zoom
Cost/Stipend: Prices appear at checkout in the registration store; limited scholarships are available by emailing cscamps@usc.edu, and 2026 scholarship requests closed May 13, 2026
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Registration is open until sessions fill; classes have one instructor for 6 to 8 students online or 6 to 10 in person
Dates: Each camp has 10 sessions, Monday to Friday, meeting 9 to 10:30 a.m. or 2 to 3:30 p.m. online, or 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in person; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: No single registration deadline is posted; register through the online store before your session fills, and request scholarships early (the summer 2026 scholarship deadline was May 13, 2026)
Eligibility: Kindergarten through 12th grade

CS@SC runs computer science summer camps at USC for students from kindergarten through 12th grade, on the Los Angeles campus or over Zoom. Each camp has 10 sessions, with virtual camps meeting 90 minutes a day and in-person camps running full days, Monday to Friday. Classes stay small, with one instructor per 6 to 10 students, so a high schooler gets steady feedback on their code. That kind of regular feedback mirrors how software engineers improve through code review. Specific course topics and prices sit on separate class pages and at checkout, so compare options to find one pitched at high school level before registering.

Who it's best for: A Los Angeles student, or anyone who prefers a 90-minute daily Zoom class, who wants a small-group CS camp and will check listings for a high school level course.

11. AFA CyberCamps

Location: Hosted by approved organizations and institutions nationwide; host locations are published in early May
Cost/Stipend: Set by each local host camp; ask your host site about its fee
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Sign-up is through each host site; camp sizes aren't published
Dates: 2026 camps ran in five-day, 20-hour weeks from June 1 to 5, 2026 through August 10 to 14, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: Student sign-up deadlines are set by each host; host organizations registered for the 2026 season between January 5 and May 1, 2026, and camp locations post in early May
Eligibility: High school and middle school students; beginners and experienced students welcome

The Air Force Association's CyberPatriot program runs AFA CyberCamps through approved host organizations, with each camp lasting five days and 20 hours. Standard camps cover cybersecurity basics, cyber ethics, online safety, virtual machines, cyber threats, and Windows 10 and Linux Mint security with command line use. Advanced camps cover Windows 11 and Linux Mint modules on the command line, init systems and processes, plus Cisco NetAcad networking modules 1 to 3. Both versions end with a CyberPatriot-style competition on Friday. Securing Windows and Linux machines is daily work for IT support staff and security analysts, so check the host list in May to find a camp near you.

Who it's best for: A middle or high school student anywhere in the country who wants a one-week, competition-style start in Windows and Linux security at a local host site.

Computer Science Research Opportunities

Computer science research opportunities pair you with a mentor at a university, national lab or research program to work on an open question in AI, data science or computing. Most national lab internships pay, while university and online research programs range from free to a few thousand dollars.

12. MIT PRIMES

Location: MIT, Cambridge, MA, for Greater Boston students; PRIMES-USA serves students elsewhere in the U.S. remotely
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application, and MIT says only a small number of candidates are admitted
Dates: Usually year long, January to December, with research running from spring through summer and a final phase from September to December
Application deadline: The deadline is on the separate PRIMES How to Apply page; check there for the current cycle
Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors in Greater Boston; students elsewhere in the U.S. apply through PRIMES-USA

The MIT Department of Mathematics runs PRIMES as a free, year-long after-school research program. Students are matched with a mentor in January, do advanced reading, then work on original research from spring through summer at 10 or more hours per week. Most projects are in mathematics, but the computing side includes computational biology, bioinformatics and applied problems in theoretical computer science. Students present at a mid-October conference and submit a final research paper by the end of the year. Reasoning carefully about algorithms and proofs is the kind of thinking a research scientist or quantitative software engineer uses every day.

Who it's best for: A strong math student who wants a blend of mathematics and computer science, such as theoretical CS or computational biology, and can commit to a full year of research.

13. Veritas AI

Location: Online, live on Zoom
Cost/Stipend: Tuition isn't published; need-based financial aid covers up to 100% of the cost
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application with rolling review; mentoring is one-on-one in the Fellowship
Dates: Usually rolling cohorts through the year: AI Scholars runs about 10 weeks and the AI Fellowship about 12 to 15 weeks, plus up to four months of publication support
Application deadline: Usually rolling; applications are reviewed as they arrive
Eligibility: Students in grades 9 to 12; the AI Fellowship requires Python basics or completing AI Scholars first

Veritas AI was founded and is run by Harvard graduates, and it teaches high school students artificial intelligence in two steps. AI Scholars covers the foundations of AI and machine learning in small live classes, and the AI Fellowship pairs you one-on-one with a PhD researcher or industry practitioner to build an original AI model in a field you choose. Fellows then get sessions with a publication expert and a submission to a research journal, competition or showcase. Veritas reports that 79% of student papers it submits to peer-reviewed journals are accepted. Building and testing a model from start to finish is the core loop of a machine learning engineer's job, and completers can be eligible for UC San Diego Extended Studies credit. If you're interested in learning more, check out our deep-dive here!

Who it's best for: A student who already knows some Python and wants a mentor to help them build and publish an AI research project, from anywhere.

14. Stanford AIMI Summer Research Internship

Location: Stanford AIMI Center, 1701 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA; ask the program whether your placement is in person or virtual
Cost/Stipend: Cost or pay isn't published; email aimi-hs-programs@stanford.edu or attend the free online info session on November 10, 2026
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2027; exact dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: February 1, 2027; applications open November 10, 2026
Eligibility: High school students; the page doesn't list grade or age limits

Stanford's Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Imaging runs this summer research internship for high schoolers at the meeting point of AI and medicine. Students do mentored research that builds technical skills while working with actual health data, and they take part in the wider Stanford AIMI community. The computing work centers on applying artificial intelligence to medical problems, which is the daily work of a machine learning engineer or data scientist in health tech. Cost, format and grade rules aren't published, so join the free online info session on November 10, 2026 before you apply.

Who it's best for: A student who wants a blend of computer science and medicine, specifically AI applied to health data, and can apply by February 1, 2027.

15. SDSC Research Experience for High School Students (REHS)

Location: San Diego Supercomputer Center, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Cost/Stipend: Free to apply; $2,000 registration fee, with full and partial scholarships; no stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; 774 students from 77 high schools have taken part over 17 years
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 8 to July 31, 2026, at 10 to 20 hours a week; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: March 15, 2026 for summer 2026; applications usually run February 15 to March 15
Eligibility: Southern California residents in grades 10 to 12 who are 16 or older by June 15, have a 3.0 unweighted GPA and plan to attend college

The San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego runs REHS as an eight-week volunteer research program at 10 to 20 hours a week. Students work in pairs or small groups with a mentor and a graduate student team on established research projects, learning to form hypotheses and run computational experiments. They sit in on lab meetings and present a scientific poster at a final session. Seeing how a research computing team plans, tests and reports its work is good preparation for a career as a data scientist or research software engineer. Check the 3.0 unweighted GPA and Southern California residency rules before applying.

Who it's best for: A Southern California rising sophomore, junior or senior with at least a 3.0 GPA who wants to do computational research at a supercomputer center and can cover or get a scholarship for the $2,000 fee.

16. NASA Goddard Space Club Scholars Program

Location: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, or Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia
Cost/Stipend: Pay isn't listed on the program's page
Acceptance rate/cohort size: About 19 projects were listed for Summer 2026; students apply to each project separately
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 29 to August 7, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: The 2026 cycle closed April 17, 2026; the 2027 deadline isn't posted yet
Eligibility: Grades 10 to 12, 16 by the start date, U.S. citizens living within 50 miles of Greenbelt, MD, or Wallops Island, VA, with a 3.0 unweighted GPA

NASA Goddard runs this six-week in-person summer program with the National Space Club at Goddard and Wallops. Students work on assigned NASA projects on site five days a week. Summer 2026 projects included software development, sensor calibration and aerosol data analysis, so a student can pick the computer science or data projects and see how engineers and data scientists support a space mission. Students apply through NASA's Gateway system for each project that interests them, so read the project list closely. You must live within 50 miles of one of the two sites.

Who it's best for: A U.S. citizen within 50 miles of Greenbelt or Wallops Island who wants a blend of computer science and space science through a specific NASA software or data project.

17. Sandia National Laboratories Internships

Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Livermore, California; and other Sandia sites
Cost/Stipend: Paid hourly by job classification; rates are on Sandia's pay chart
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Hiring is by individual posting; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Usually, summer internships run May to the last Thursday in August; year-round high school interns work up to 25 hours a week during the school year
Application deadline: Rolling; each posting lists its own closing date
Eligibility: Age 16 or older, enrolled full time in high school, 3.0 GPA for research and technical roles (2.5 for clerical and laborer roles); U.S. citizenship required for roles that need a clearance

Sandia National Laboratories hires paid interns from the final years of high school through PhD at its New Mexico and California sites. High school interns need a 3.0 GPA for technical roles, and year-round interns work up to 25 hours a week during school and 40 during breaks. Computing postings include TITANS Cyber and TITANS Software, and Sandia also runs a Center for Cyber Defenders. These roles show a student how software engineers and security analysts work on national security problems at a federal lab. Postings open and close on a rolling basis, so search Sandia's job site for openings marked for high school students.

Who it's best for: A student age 16 or older near Albuquerque or Livermore with a 3.0 GPA who wants paid cyber or software work at a national lab, possibly year round.

18. Argonne Bridge Into Internships Program

Location: Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois; on site Monday to Thursday, virtual on Fridays
Cost/Stipend: Paid a taxable stipend; the amount isn't listed on the program's page
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application with two teacher references; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 15 to July 31, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: Summer 2026 applications closed February 19, 2026; check the program site for the 2027 deadline
Eligibility: Graduating seniors from Chicagoland high schools who are 18 by the start date and enrolled in college for the fall; U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; two science or math teacher references

Argonne National Laboratory runs this seven-week summer internship for graduating Chicagoland seniors who are headed to college. Each intern completes a research project with an Argonne scientist or engineer as mentor. Interns also attend career development seminars and lab tours and build skills in technical reading, data analysis and communication, which are core skills for a data scientist or research engineer. The program isn't computer science specific, so the amount of computer science depends on your mentor's project. Note that you must be 18 by the start date and already enrolled in college for the fall.

Who it's best for: A Chicagoland senior who is 18 by mid-June and wants a blend of computer science and lab science research, with a data analysis focus, before starting college.

19. ORNL Next Generation STEM Internship Program

Location: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee; Fall 2026 appointments are virtual
Cost/Stipend: $125 per week stipend for part-time work
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application through ORISE; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Fall 2026 runs August 24 to mid-December 2026; terms also run in spring and summer
Application deadline: Fall 2026 applications closed June 9, 2026; check the ORISE listing for spring and summer deadlines
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors in 2026-27, or graduates from the 2024-25 or 2025-26 school years, from listed Tennessee counties around Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge National Laboratory runs NGSI through ORISE for high school juniors, seniors and recent graduates from Tennessee counties near the lab. Interns work part time on STEM projects alongside ORNL researchers and professional staff and receive a $125 weekly stipend. Terms last 16 to 17 weeks, and the Fall 2026 term is fully virtual, which builds the remote work habits common in tech jobs. Projects span STEM fields broadly rather than computing alone, so read the listing for project areas before applying. Check that your county is on the eligible list before you start an application.

Who it's best for: A student in the counties around Oak Ridge who wants a blend of computing and general STEM research through a paid, part-time term that fits around school.

20. Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program (ASDRP)

Location: 46249 to 46309 Warm Springs Blvd, Fremont, CA
Cost/Stipend: $1,070 per program; free for students who meet financial need criteria, with partial and full scholarships
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Autumn 2026 runs September 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027; Spring 2027 runs January 15 to May 30, 2027; Summer 2027 runs June 1 to August 30, 2027
Application deadline: Spring 2027: priority November 15, 2026, final December 15, 2026; Summer 2027: rounds on February 1, March 1 and April 15, 2027
Eligibility: Current 9th to 12th graders in the Bay Area

ASDRP is a Fremont nonprofit research institute where Bay Area high schoolers do original research with mentors who have academic or industry experience. Its Computer Science and Engineering department sits alongside biology, chemistry and physics, so students who want computing work can choose it directly. Research mostly happens on evenings and weekends, and students write papers, go through mock peer review, publish in ASDRP Communications and present posters at an end-of-summer expo. Specialty courses such as machine learning and MATLAB come at no extra cost. Taking a project from question to published paper teaches the workflow of a machine learning engineer or research scientist.

Who it's best for: A Bay Area 9th to 12th grader who wants to do computer science research across the school year on evenings and weekends, with three start dates to choose from.

21. Three-Month Internship: NASA Data Science Analysis and Scholarly Research Paper Writing

Location: Hybrid, mostly virtual, with in-person options at George Mason University's Fairfax, VA campus
Cost/Stipend: Application and program fees aren't posted; email execed@gmu.edu for them. Need-based scholarships are available, and top researchers can win awards of up to $2,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 50 students per summer, admitted first come, first served
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 13 to August 29, 2026, with an optional site visit and conference July 31 to August 1, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: No fixed deadline; seats fill first come, first served, so apply early
Eligibility: High school students; no grade limits are published

George Mason University's Schar School runs this summer internship through its Young Scholars Research Program. Students analyze NASA data with Python, Jupyter notebooks and GitHub, along with AstroImageJ and FITS files, focusing on TESS exoplanet candidates and James Webb Space Telescope data. Each student helps statistically validate a unique exoplanet candidate and writes an individual scholarly paper. The work is mostly virtual, with an optional in-person site visit and conference, and completers earn a GMU Certificate of Completion. Cleaning, analyzing and documenting a dataset in Python is the core routine of a data scientist, and the cohort is capped at 50, so apply early.

Who it's best for: A student who wants a blend of data science and astronomy, computer science in Python on NASA telescope data from home with an optional campus visit.

22. UC San Diego SDSC Mentor Assistance Program (MAP)

Location: UC San Diego and the San Diego Supercomputer Center, La Jolla, CA
Cost/Stipend: Free to apply; the research project option costs $1,000, waived for students on free or reduced lunch, with other financial help available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; the number of mentorships isn't published
Dates: The 2025 to 2026 cycle ran October 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026; dates for the fall 2026 to spring 2027 cycle aren't posted yet
Application deadline: May 31, 2026 for the 2026 to 2027 cycle (applications opened April 15, 2026)
Eligibility: Grades 10 to 12 at a high school in San Diego County

The Mentor Assistance Program at the San Diego Supercomputer Center pairs San Diego County high schoolers with UC San Diego faculty and postdoctoral mentors across many disciplines. Mentorships last eight months, from fall to spring, with 2 to 4 hours per week recommended. Students can get guidance on a class project or go deeper into a research project, and mentors may assign readings, lead discussions and host students in their lab. A student aiming at software or data work should ask for a mentor whose research involves computing, since the subject depends on who you are matched with. Working one on one with a researcher shows you how scientists and engineers plan and manage long projects.

Who it's best for: A San Diego County student who wants a blend of computer science and another research field, with a low weekly time commitment spread across the school year.

23. UMD Geographical Sciences High School Internship Program (HIP)

Location: Remote, run by the University of Maryland, College Park
Cost/Stipend: $900 stipend for about 10 hours a week over 6 weeks
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; the first cohort in 2023 had 15 students
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 15 to July 24, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: The exact date isn't posted yet; summer 2027 applications open in early 2027, and selection results come out in early April
Eligibility: High school students in the DC, Maryland and Virginia region, aimed at juniors and seniors, who are authorized to work in the U.S.

The University of Maryland's Department of Geographical Sciences runs this remote six-week summer internship for high schoolers from the DC, Maryland and Virginia region. Each intern works with a faculty mentor on research such as climate change and geospatial analysis, building computer science and geospatial skills along the way. Interns put in about 10 hours a week, present a poster at the end and earn a $900 stipend. Turning map and climate data into analysis with code is the daily work of a GIS analyst or geospatial data scientist. Check that you live in the DC, Maryland or Virginia area and can legally work in the U.S. before applying.

Who it's best for: A DC, Maryland or Virginia junior or senior who wants a blend of computer science and geography and a paid, part-time remote summer role.

Free Computer Science Summer Programs

Free computer science summer programs cover your tuition, and the most generous ones, like Carnegie Mellon's two scholars programs and UT Austin's Academy for All, also cover housing and meals. Most take rising juniors and seniors, and several only accept students from one state or region.

24. Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Scholars

Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (residential)
Cost/Stipend: Free; tuition, housing, meals and select field trips are covered, with limited travel assistance
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is merit-based by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2027 runs June 26 to July 24, 2027
Application deadline: February 1, 2027, with decisions on April 1, 2027
Eligibility: Current 10th graders (rising juniors) who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and will be 16 by June 26, 2027

Carnegie Mellon Pre-College runs CS Scholars, a four-week residential program for rising juniors that is fully funded including housing. Scholars take college-level courses in Python programming and mathematics, along with weekly college prep seminars. They work on group research projects with mentorship from faculty and graduate students, visit tech companies, and present their work at a final symposium. That mix of computer science coursework, team research and company visits shows what daily work looks like for a software engineer or computing researcher. Students who want to keep going may be invited back the next summer for CMU's AI Scholars program.

Who it's best for: A rising junior who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and wants a free month of Python and math at CMU, with a possible path into AI Scholars the following summer.

25. Carnegie Mellon AI Scholars

Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (residential)
Cost/Stipend: Free; tuition, housing, meals and select field trips are covered, with limited travel assistance
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2027 runs June 26 to July 24, 2027, after a month-long virtual Python course
Application deadline: February 1, 2027, with decisions on April 1, 2027
Eligibility: Current 11th graders (rising seniors) who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, will be 16 by June 26, 2027, and can document financial need or a lack of computer science access at school

AI Scholars is a fully funded four-week residential program from Carnegie Mellon Pre-College in Pittsburgh. It starts with a month-long virtual Python course that needs no prior computer science, then moves to a core AI curriculum taught by CMU faculty, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Students get research exposure with faculty and graduate students, build group projects for a capstone symposium, and visit tech companies. The long, structured days give a realistic sense of the pace of AI and machine learning work. Applicants must document financial need or limited CS access, so check that you qualify before applying.

Who it's best for: A rising senior with little computer science background and limited computer science access at school who wants a free, full-day AI curriculum taught by CMU faculty.

26. MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute

Location: MIT campus, Cambridge, MA (in-person courses, no housing) or virtual on Zoom
Cost/Stipend: Free for families with income and assets under $200,000; $3,000 otherwise, and housing isn't included
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission follows an online prerequisite course and an application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Usually four weeks in July, after an online prerequisite course that opens February 1; summer 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: Usually nominations close March 31 and recommendations are due April 2; check the apply page for 2027 dates
Eligibility: Rising seniors who live in or attend high school in the U.S.

MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute is a four-week program of project-based, workshop-style STEM courses for rising seniors. Students first complete an online prerequisite course that opens February 1, then apply for the summer. The 14 courses include Autonomous RACECAR Grand Prix, Embedded Security and Hardware Hacking, Cyber Operations, CogWorks (AI), Quantum Software and Serious Games Development with AI. Picking a course is a way to test a specific career track, from autonomous systems engineer to security analyst. It is free under $200,000 family income, but some courses meet in person at MIT without housing, so plan where you would stay.

Who it's best for: A rising senior in the U.S. who wants to choose a specific track like autonomous racing, cyber operations or quantum software and can keep up with a spring prerequisite course.

27. UT Austin Computer Science Academy for All

Location: UT Austin campus (Gates Dell Complex), Austin, TX, with students in campus residence halls
Cost/Stipend: Free, including housing and meals; travel scholarships up to $500 are available for students with need
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Students work in groups of about 10 with a counselor; total cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 7 to 13, 2026 (Standard Edition) and June 14 to 19, 2026 (Machine Learning Edition); 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: 2026 applications have closed; 2027 applications open in February 2027
Eligibility: U.S.-based students entering 11th or 12th grade; no programming experience required

The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Computer Science runs free one-week residential academies for rising juniors and seniors. In the Standard Edition, students program Arduino microcontrollers in C++ to create an LED light show and learn about project management and tech careers. The Machine Learning Edition teaches Python and core ML concepts, and each student trains a model of their own while discussing the social impact of these systems. Students live in campus dorms and meet professors and industry representatives, which gives an early look at software and ML jobs. Admission needs no prior programming experience, and other academies cover game development, iOS, robotics and data science.

Who it's best for: A rising junior or senior in the U.S. with no computer science background who wants a free week in UT Austin dorms choosing between Arduino C++ and machine learning.

28. NYU Tandon Computer Science for Cyber Security (CS4CS)

Location: NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY
Cost/Stipend: Free; a full scholarship supported by DTCC covers the cost
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran July 13 to August 7, 2026, Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 4 PM; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: May 15, 2026 for summer 2026 (now closed); the 2027 deadline isn't posted yet
Eligibility: Current 10th or 11th graders who live in New York City or listed nearby areas, including parts of New Jersey and Long Island; check the eligible area list

NYU Tandon's K12 STEM Education office runs CS4CS, a free four-week summer program in Brooklyn funded by DTCC. You compete in Capture The Flag events and work through challenges in security scripting, cryptography and digital forensics. You also work on research projects that may be presented at conferences, take theater-based communication workshops and build a cybersecurity portfolio. Scripting, forensics and explaining findings clearly are core parts of a security analyst's job. Eligibility depends on where you live, so check the area list before applying.

Who it's best for: A 10th or 11th grader in the New York City area who can commute to Brooklyn daily for a free month of security scripting, forensics and CTF practice.

29. Kode With Klossy Summer Camps

Location: Chicago, Dallas, New York, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Washington, DC, and London, plus virtual
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2027 runs two-week sessions between June and August 2027; exact session dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: Applications open in February 2027; the deadline isn't posted yet
Eligibility: Young women and gender-expansive people ages 13 to 18; no prior computer science experience required

Kode With Klossy is a nonprofit that runs free two-week computer science camps for young women and gender-expansive teens. Over 10 business days, each scholar follows one of three curricula, Web Development, AI/Machine Learning or Data Science, and builds a passion project. Camps run in eight U.S. cities plus London, with a virtual option, and no prior computer science experience is needed. The three tracks line up with distinct jobs: web developer, machine learning engineer and data scientist. After camp, alumni join a long-term community with ongoing career support.

Who it's best for: A young woman or gender-expansive teen, even one as young as 13, who wants to pick a web, AI or data science track at a free camp in a major city or online.

30. Changemakers in Computing

Location: University of Washington Paul G. Allen School, Seattle, WA
Cost/Stipend: Free; no stipend is mentioned
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application and not every applicant gets a spot; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 began with Welcome Day on May 16, 2026 and ran several weeks into the summer; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: April 1, 2026 for the 2026 cycle; the 2027 deadline isn't posted yet
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors at Washington state high schools

The University of Washington's Paul G. Allen School runs Changemakers in Computing, a free summer program for rising juniors and seniors. Mentees work in small groups led by UW undergraduate mentors, learning HTML, CSS and JavaScript and building projects, along with lessons on AI and tech ethics. The program adds a robotics lab visit, a trip to Microsoft's inclusive technology lab, guest speakers and college prep workshops, and it ends with final presentations. Building pages with HTML, CSS and JavaScript is the core skill set of a front-end web developer. It is open only to students at Washington state high schools, so check your school's location before applying.

Who it's best for: A Washington state rising junior or senior who wants to learn web development from UW undergraduate mentors in a small group, at no cost.

31. Appalachian STEM Academy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Location: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN (residential)
Cost/Stipend: Free; the program is fully funded, and no stipend is listed
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2027 runs July 10 to 23, 2027; the 2026 session ran July 11 to 24, 2026
Application deadline: The 2027 deadline isn't posted yet; the 2026 cycle closed December 3, 2025, so expect the next deadline in late fall
Eligibility: U.S. citizens who are 16 or older by the start date and live in or attend school in a designated Appalachian county; you must attend the full program

The Appalachian Regional Commission runs this two-week, fully funded program with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and ORAU at ORNL, a U.S. Department of Energy research facility. Students work in guided groups on science, math, computer science and technology projects alongside lab scientists. The program closes with a graduation ceremony where participants show their work. Seeing how scientists at a national lab use computing gives a feel for research software and data jobs in government labs. It is limited to students in designated Appalachian counties, so check the county list before applying.

Who it's best for: A student who wants a blend of computer science and general STEM, lives or studies in a designated Appalachian county, and wants two free weeks working beside scientists at a national lab.

32. INL STEM Scholars CyberCore Camp

Location: 1770 Science Center Drive, Idaho Falls, ID
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 high school weeks ran June 15 to 18 and June 22 to 25, 2026, 9 AM to 3:30 PM; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: For 2026, selected applicants were notified by April 24, 2026 and confirmed by May 1, 2026; registration usually opens in April
Eligibility: Grades 6 to 12, with separate high school weeks for grades 9 to 12

Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy lab, runs CyberCore as part of its free INL STEM Scholars summer camps in Idaho Falls. The camp introduces computer programming, networking and cybersecurity through guided activities and instruction. You work with industry mentors, attend demonstrations and lectures, and tour lab facilities. Working beside industry mentors on networking and security gives a direct look at those careers. Sessions are week long in June, and high school students attend separate weeks, so apply when registration opens in April.

Who it's best for: A high school student near Idaho Falls who wants a free week of programming and cybersecurity with mentors at a national lab.

33. Quantum Motor City

Location: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Cost/Stipend: Free, including campus housing and meals; students arrange their own transportation
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran July 29 to 31, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: The 2026 deadline was extended to April 25, 2026; the 2027 deadline isn't posted yet
Eligibility: Any high school student; out-of-state students may apply

Quantum Motor City is a free three-day quantum computing camp at Michigan State University, supported by the National Science Foundation and organized by MSU professor Ryan LaRose. Students write programs for a real quantum computer, tour a quantum computing lab and the MSU campus, and get college and career advice from MSU professors and IBM scientists. Housing and meals are covered, but families handle travel to East Lansing. Talking with IBM scientists gives a direct look at what a career in quantum computing involves. The camp is short, and out-of-state students are welcome to apply.

Who it's best for: A high school student anywhere in the U.S. who is curious about quantum computing and wants a free three-day taste with housing included.

34. AISEE Summer Academy

Location: Clayton State University, Morrow, GA (residential)
Cost/Stipend: Free for selected students; lodging, dining and tuition are covered
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 16 students
Dates: The 2026 camp ran eight days, May 31 to June 7, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: March 1, 2026 for the 2026 camp; the 2027 deadline isn't posted yet
Eligibility: Rising 10th to 12th graders from underserved communities who are U.S. citizens

Clayton State University's Department of Computer Science and Information Technology runs AISEE, short for Artificial Intelligence Study in Earth Exploration, as a NASA-funded project through 2028. Over an eight-day residential camp, students learn Python, artificial intelligence and data science and apply them to NASA Earth science. The days mix lectures, activities, experiments, field trips and talks from NASA and university guest speakers. With only 16 students, everyone gets close attention, and working with Earth science data shows how data scientists turn raw measurements into findings. The camp is for underserved students who are U.S. citizens, so read the eligibility details before applying.

Who it's best for: A student who wants a blend of computer science and Earth science, is a U.S. citizen from an underserved community, and would do well in a free 16-person camp in Georgia.

35. Digital Scholars Program

Location: Downtown Chicago, IL (in person)
Cost/Stipend: Free; no stipend is mentioned
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; more than 500 students from 152 high schools have taken part since 2020
Dates: Summer 2026 ran six weeks, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: No deadline is posted; apply through the online form
Eligibility: Rising 11th and 12th graders and first-year City Colleges of Chicago students; Black, Latinx, female, gender-expansive and first-generation students get priority

The University of Illinois Discovery Partners Institute launched Digital Scholars in 2020 with partners including UIC CHANCE, UIUC Grainger College of Engineering and Swift. Each student picks one of five courses, such as Data Science Discovery, Programming in Swift or iOS App Design. Daily talks from tech professionals and weekly workshops on AI, machine learning and entrepreneurship round out the schedule. Choosing between data science and iOS development lets a student test two very different tech jobs. Classes meet weekday mornings for six weeks in downtown Chicago, which leaves afternoons open for other plans.

Who it's best for: A rising junior or senior who can get to downtown Chicago each morning and wants a free six-week course in data science or Swift app development.

Online computer science Programs

Online computer science programs range from free self-paced courses like Harvard's CS50x to live university classes that cost several thousand dollars, and you can take nearly all of them from anywhere.

36. Harvard CS50x

Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: Free, including a free CS50 Certificate; an optional verified certificate can be bought through edX at the price shown there
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment; anyone can sign up and start
Dates: Self-paced, with eleven weeks of material you can start any time
Application deadline: No application deadline; finish your 2026 work by December 31, 2026, and completed work carries forward into 2027
Eligibility: Anyone, including high school students; no prior programming experience needed

CS50x is Harvard's introductory computer science course, offered free online through OpenCourseWare and edX. You start in C and move on to Python, SQL, HTML, CSS and JavaScript, learning computational thinking, abstraction, algorithms and data structures along the way. Each of the eleven weeks has a lecture, an optional section, short videos and a problem set, and the course ends with a final project of your own design. Moving across several languages and finishing a self-directed project gives a student an early picture of how a software engineer picks up new tools. It costs nothing, and the CS50 Certificate is free too; with an edX account you can also submit work for feedback.

Who it's best for: A self-motivated beginner who wants a free, college-level start in C, Python and web programming and can keep a weekly schedule without a teacher checking in.

37. MIT 6.0001 Introduction to Computer Science and Programming in Python

Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open to anyone; there's no application or class roster
Dates: Usually available year round and self-paced; the materials come from the Fall 2016 class
Application deadline: None; there's no registration, and the materials are free to use any time
Eligibility: Anyone; no programming experience needed

MIT OpenCourseWare publishes the full materials of MIT's 6.0001 for free, so you can work through a real MIT intro course on your own. The course is aimed at students with little or no programming experience and teaches how to use computation to solve problems in Python. You get lecture videos, lecture notes, problem sets and programming assignments with worked examples. Breaking problems into steps a computer can run is the core habit of any software or data job, and the problem sets give steady practice at it. Keep in mind that the materials date from 2016 and use Python 3.5, so some details may differ from current Python, and nobody grades your work.

Who it's best for: A student who learns well from lecture videos and wants a free, no-signup Python course they can start tonight and pace entirely on their own.

38. Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes: Introduction to Machine Learning

Location: Online (live)
Cost/Stipend: Tuition is posted on Stanford's Summer Institutes tuition and financial aid page, so check there for the current price
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran two-week sessions from June 15 to June 26, 2026 and July 6 to July 17, 2026, with live class 4:00 to 7:00 PM Pacific on weekdays; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: The 2026 application is closed; the 2027 deadline isn't posted yet
Eligibility: Students in grades 10 or 11 when they apply, with some exposure to a programming language and a working knowledge of statistics

Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies runs this two-week live online course as part of its Summer Institutes. You preprocess and visualize structured data, then train, test and tune machine learning models, compare how well different algorithms perform and choose a final model to present. Class meets two hours each weekday with a third hour of office hours, plus 1 to 2 hours of homework a day. That workflow of cleaning data, testing models and defending a choice is close to what a data scientist does on the job. Check the prerequisites first: the course expects prior programming exposure and statistics, and it is only open to grades 10 and 11, even though other Summer Institutes courses take younger students.

Who it's best for: A rising junior or senior who already codes a little, knows some statistics and wants a short, live, Stanford-run introduction to building and tuning ML models.

39. UCLA Computer Science Summer Institute

Location: Online (live and synchronous) for the 2026 introductory track; the main CSSI page describes on-campus sessions, so confirm the format on the track page
Cost/Stipend: $3,150 for the certificate option; about $3,821 for the course credit option for domestic students and about $4,846 for international students
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application with rolling review; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 22 to July 10, 2026; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: June 15, 2026 for summer 2026, with applications reviewed on a rolling basis
Eligibility: Grades 9 to 12 recommended; at least 15 years old by June 22, 2026; minimum 3.5 GPA; no computer science experience required

UCLA Samueli's Computer Science Summer Institute is a three-week program, and its introductory track is COM SCI 30, a 4-unit Introduction to Computer Science course supervised by Todd Millstein. You learn Python, functional decomposition, data types and control structures by designing your own programs. Days run with lectures from 9 to 12 and group discussions from 1 to 4, and the course includes homework, exams and a capstone project supervised by tutors. Taking a graded, credit-bearing UCLA course shows what a first-year software engineering class actually demands. Check the 3.5 GPA minimum and the age cutoff before applying.

Who it's best for: A student with a strong GPA and no computer science background who wants to earn real UCLA course credit in Python over three intense weeks.

40. Princeton Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose

Location: Online (Coursera)
Cost/Stipend: Free; every feature of the course is available at no cost, and no certificate is offered
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment; anyone can join on Coursera
Dates: Self-paced; about 2 months at 10 hours a week across 10 modules
Application deadline: No deadline; you can enroll any time and work at your own pace
Eligibility: Open to anyone; beginner level, no prior experience needed

Princeton professors Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne teach this introductory programming course on Coursera. You learn Java, starting with variables, conditionals, loops, arrays and input and output, then functions, recursion and modular programming, and finally object-oriented programming. The 10 modules combine videos with programming assignments and take about 2 months at 10 hours a week. Java and object-oriented design show up in many software engineering jobs and in AP Computer Science A, so this is a solid base for either. Note that it does not offer a certificate, so the value is the skill itself.

Who it's best for: A beginner who specifically wants to learn Java from Princeton faculty for free and doesn't need a certificate to show for it.

41. Brown Pre-College Online

Location: Online (Canvas)
Cost/Stipend: Tuition depends on the course length you choose and isn't shown on Brown's public cost page; some courses add materials fees
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Summer 2026 ran June 15 to July 24, 2026, in sessions of 2, 3, 4 or 6 weeks; 2027 dates aren't posted yet
Application deadline: Usually mid-May; the summer 2026 deadline was May 15, 2026
Eligibility: Students completing grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18

Brown University's Pre-College Online runs courses on Canvas in sessions of 2, 3, 4 or 6 weeks. Most courses are asynchronous with optional live sessions, while blended courses add 1 to 3 required live sessions a week. The catalog includes Computer Science and Engineering courses, so you choose a specific course rather than joining one fixed computer science curriculum. Working through a course on your own schedule builds the self-managed habits that remote software and IT jobs rely on. Read each course description for its topics and any materials fee, since tuition and content vary by course and length.

Who it's best for: A student who wants to pick a specific Brown computer science or engineering course and fit it around a summer job or other plans in a short online session.

42. Cornell Precollege Studies Online

Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: $2,013 per credit for 2026 to 2027 (about $6,039 for a three-credit course), plus a nonrefundable $85 application fee; online students pay tuition only, with no enrollment deposit for winter
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Winter 2027 instruction runs January 4 to January 22, 2027; online summer sessions also run each year
Application deadline: Winter 2027 application form due November 23, 2026; materials due December 1, 2026
Eligibility: High school students entering junior or senior year

Cornell's School of Continuing Education runs Precollege Studies, which lets rising juniors and seniors take actual Cornell undergraduate classes online, taught by university faculty. You earn college credit and an official Cornell transcript, and the credits generally transfer. The winter session is a compressed three-week term in January, alongside online summer sessions. A full college course packed into three weeks is a fast test of whether you can handle the pace of a computer science major. Course offerings change by term, so check for a computer science or computer science class in the catalog before you apply, and budget for about $6,039 per three-credit course.

Who it's best for: A rising junior or senior who can afford college tuition rates and wants Cornell transcript credit from a three-week January term.

43. UC San Diego Futures: Machine Learning Algorithms for High Schoolers

Location: Online (asynchronous)
Cost/Stipend: $500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment for students who meet the prerequisite
Dates: The summer 2026 section ran June 29 to July 19, 2026; academic year sections run roughly September to June
Application deadline: No application; the summer 2026 section had no refunds after June 22, 2026, and academic year sections open for enrollment by August
Eligibility: High school students who have completed Futures: Python and Mathematics for Machine Learning for High Schoolers

UC San Diego Extended Studies offers this asynchronous online pre-college course as part of its Futures Machine Learning track, taught by Anthony Mauro. You learn the most common supervised and unsupervised algorithms, including regression, classification, clustering and dimensionality reduction, writing Python in Google Colaboratory. The track is sequenced and A-G approved, each course earns three pre-college units, and finishing three courses earns an Award of Completion. computer science these algorithms yourself in a notebook is the same daily work a junior data scientist or ML engineer does. You must first complete the Python and Mathematics prerequisite course, so plan the sequence ahead.

Who it's best for: A student who has already finished UCSD's Futures Python and math course and wants an affordable, self-paced next step into ML algorithms.

44. University of Michigan Joy of computer science

Location: Online (run from Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Cost/Stipend: $149 plus tax; need-based aid is available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: Summer 2027 runs June 1 to August 31, 2027, self-paced
Application deadline: No application; enrollment opens in February 2027
Eligibility: High school students age 13 and up who have taken Algebra; no computer science experience needed

The University of Michigan's Electrical and Computer Engineering department runs Joy of computer science as a set of self-paced online courses. Options include Intro to computer science and Computational Thinking (6 weeks), Intro to Data Visualization and AI (8 weeks) and Intro to Training, Evaluating and Fine-tuning an AI (8 weeks). You learn Python, see how the code behind apps like Snapchat and TikTok works and build your own Snapchat lenses. Training and evaluating an AI model introduces the basic tasks of a machine learning engineer. At $149 with need-based aid, you can also get individual help from U-M professors and students and earn a U-M ECE certificate.

Who it's best for: A beginner who knows Algebra and wants a low-cost, summer-long path from first Python lines to training an AI model, with university help on call.

45. Girls Who Code Pathways

Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published
Dates: Fall 2026 runs October 19 to December 4, 2026; the summer 2026 cycle ran June 29 to August 14, 2026
Application deadline: Fall 2026 early deadline was July 8, 2026, and applications closed August 26, 2026
Eligibility: High school girls and non-binary students in grades 9 to 12, including rising 9th graders and graduating seniors, anywhere in the world

Girls Who Code runs Pathways as a free, fully virtual program for high school girls and non-binary students. You pick one track, AI and Society, Data Science and AI, Cybersecurity, Game Design or Web Development, and complete course projects at your own pace over about 6 to 7 weeks. Along the way you build purpose-driven tech projects and join corporate partner events, career panels and advisor-led workshops, then earn a certificate. The career panels and partner events let you hear directly from people working in data, security and software jobs. A Discord community and alumni network stay open after the program ends.

Who it's best for: A girl or non-binary student anywhere in the world who wants a free, flexible track in a specific area like cybersecurity or web development, plus career panels with tech companies.

46. Tech Flex Leaders

Location: Hybrid; mostly on Zoom, with in-person sessions in Manhattan, Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown Miami and West Midtown Atlanta
Cost/Stipend: Free, with a stipend on completion
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Admission is by application; cohort size isn't published, and each cohort meets weekly on an assigned weekday from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Dates: The 2026-27 program runs through the school year, with Demo Day in December 2026 and graduation in May 2027
Application deadline: 2026-27 applications closed August 17, 2026, after a July 5, 2026 priority deadline; an interest form is open for next year
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors at public or charter high schools in New York City, Los Angeles County, Miami-Dade or Broward, or Atlanta

America On Tech runs Tech Flex Leaders, a free year-long hybrid program for rising juniors and seniors in four cities. Students meet weekly, mostly on Zoom, plus in-person sessions three times a semester. The first semester teaches HTML, CSS, Bootstrap and AI foundations and ends in a Demo Day competition. The second semester is a track such as web development, data science, UX design or product management, which lets a student test one tech career path in depth. Completers earn a stipend, and NYC students can go on to paid summer tech internships. If you're interested in learning more, check out our deep-dive here!

Who it's best for: A public or charter school junior or senior in NYC, LA, Miami or Atlanta who wants a free, year-long after-school path from web basics to a chosen tech track.

47. Ladder Internships

Location: Remote, fully online
Cost/Stipend: $3,190 for the basic startup internship program, paid in two installments starting with a $200 deposit; full and partial financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 10% for the Summer 2023 cohort, with 700 applicants for 70 spots
Dates: Four 8-week cohorts a year (spring, summer, fall and winter); the next winter cohort starts December 7, 2026
Application deadline: November 15, 2026 for the winter cohort
Eligibility: High school students who can commit about 5 to 10 hours a week; a separate program serves university and gap year students

Ladder Internships was founded by Harvard entrepreneurs and places high school students with startups for an 8-week remote project, in fields that include software engineering, machine learning and AI, health tech, finance and consulting. A computer science intern might build a feature for a startup's web app, clean and analyze a product dataset, or test a machine learning model the company plans to ship. You define the project with a company coach in week one, present a first deliverable in week four and present the finished work to the company in week eight. Interns leave with a letter of completion from the host company, and students from families earning $50,000 or less a year can apply for full or partial financial aid.

Who it's best for: A student who already codes a little and wants to ship work for an actual startup team, from anywhere and in any season.

Commonly Asked Questions About computer science Programs for High School Students

1. Can a 14 year old start computer science?

Yes. Free online courses like Harvard's CS50x and MIT's introduction to programming in Python are open to beginners of any age, so you can start learning before you're old enough for most summer programs.

2. What are the best computer science courses for teenagers?

For a free start, Harvard's CS50x and Princeton's Programming with a Purpose are strong choices. For live teaching, UCLA's Computer Science Summer Institute and Stanford's Introduction to Machine Learning cover university-level material online.

3. What do you need to join a computer science research program?

Most research programs expect some programming, usually Python, and a clear interest you can describe in an essay. Veritas AI's fellowship asks for Python basics, while Ladder Internships matches you with a startup project based on your interests.

4. Are there free computer science programs for high school students?

Yes. More than 15 programs above are free, including Carnegie Mellon's two scholars programs, UT Austin's Academy for All, NYU Tandon's CS4CS and Kode With Klossy, and MIT Beaver Works is free for most families.