15 Free Online STEM Programs for High School Students
As a high school student, participating in STEM programs offers an excellent opportunity to explore various STEM fields and potential career pathways. These programs typically offer the chance to develop practical skills, gain exposure to the applications of STEM, and establish connections with peers and professionals. You may also have opportunities for practical learning, collaborative project work, and mentorship.
Several colleges and institutions across the U.S. offer STEM programs for high school students. These programs encompass fields such as coding, artificial intelligence, engineering, robotics, and interdisciplinary science. The programs on this list are available virtually and at no cost. Some programs also provide stipends. Below are 15 free online STEM programs for high school students that have been carefully selected for their rigor, accessibility, and lasting educational value.
15 Free Online STEM Programs for High School Students
1. MIT Women's Technology Program: Mechanical Engineering (WTP-ME)
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free for applicants with family income less than $120,000
Cohort Size: Approx. 20 students per cohort
Dates: June 27 – July 25
Application Deadline: October 17 – December 15
Eligibility: U.S. high school rising seniors; More details here
The MIT Women’s Technology Program – Mechanical Engineering (WTP‑ME) is a four-week summer program designed to introduce high school students, particularly young women, to mechanical engineering through hands-on labs, coursework, and collaborative projects. The curriculum covers core topics, including fluid mechanics, materials science, statics, thermodynamics, and engineering design. You will engage in active learning through problem-solving, computer-aided design, and open-ended projects that simulate real-world engineering challenges. You’ll also complete two major group projects: a poster session exploring individual interests under mentorship and a culminating design-and-build challenge, where you’ll create a multi-stage mechanical contraption. You’ll receive mentorship from MIT faculty and students, as well as guidance on technical skills, research approaches, and academic pathways.
2. Ladder Internships
Location: Virtual
Cost: 100% financial aid available
Acceptance Rate: Competitive
Dates: Multiple cohorts in a year
Application Deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: High school students
Ladder Internships is a highly selective eight-week internship program designed for ambitious high school students interested in startup environments. As a participant, you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate with high-growth startups through a structured internship experience. The startups involved operate across a diverse range of industries, including STEM, technology, AI/ML, health tech, journalism, consulting, and more. On average, these startups are scaling rapidly, raising over a million dollars in funding. As an intern, you’ll work closely with your managers on real-world projects and have the opportunity to present your work to the company.
3. MITES Semester
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance Rate: Selective
Dates: June – December
Application Deadline: November – Early February
Eligibility: U.S. high school juniors with a strong interest and achievement in STEM; Priority for underrepresented and underserved students
MITES Semester is a six-month virtual enrichment program designed to give you access to rigorous STEM coursework and comprehensive college preparation. The program starts with an intensive summer session, during which you will complete two online courses: one project-based STEM elective and one core academic class, such as calculus, physics, or computer science. You’ll also work closely with MIT instructors, graduate teaching assistants, and undergraduate mentors. From August through December, you’ll engage in weekly college and career readiness sessions covering topics like essay writing, interviews, financial aid, and STEM career exploration. This phase also includes mentorship, peer networking, and structured workshops to help you navigate the college application process with confidence.
4. Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate: Competitive
Dates: Multiple 12-week cohorts throughout the year
Application Deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: High school students with a high level of academic achievement
Lumiere Foundation's Breakthrough Scholar Program enables high-potential students facing financial hardships to receive in-depth STEM research mentorship from PhDs and top academics. Over 12 weeks, you’ll navigate all phases of academic research—from topic selection and literature review to designing experiments and writing up findings—resulting in a substantive research report. Guidance is highly individualized, with mentors meeting you one-on-one to discuss research design, data analysis, and the ethics of scientific inquiry. The program is designed to support skill development in both STEM subjects and critical thinking, enabling you to draw clear, evidence-based conclusions.
5. GeneLab for High Schools (GL4HS)
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: None
Cohort Size: Approximately 800 students per year
Dates: June 2 – August 29
Application Deadline: April 9; Rolling
Eligibility: U.S. rising high school juniors or seniors with a minimum 3.0 GPA; Must have taken at least one high school biology course
GeneLab for High Schools (GL4HS) is NASA's asynchronous program that provides a 12-week training opportunity in space biology, omics-based research, bioinformatics, and OSDR data analysis. As a participant, you will engage in approximately 20 hours per week of self-paced lectures and have access to Jupyter notebooks, quizzes, and optional office hours. The Basic Level offers a certificate upon completion, while the optional Capstone Project involves teams of four developing hypothesis-driven proposals for a September symposium. All participants will receive certificates, with the top eight proposals advancing to a written runoff, and the three best proposals earning an all-expenses-paid trip to the ASGSR conference.
6. Girls Who Code: Summer Pathways Program
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: 6-7 weeks in the summer
Application Deadline: February 26 or April 11 (based on the previous year)
Eligibility: Girls and non-binary students in grades 9-12
Girls Who Code offers the Pathways program for high school students looking to develop their skills in computer science and problem-solving, and provides comprehensive instruction in web development, design thinking, and project-based coding. As a participant, you can choose to participate in tracks like game design, data science, AI, cybersecurity, or web development. You will acquire foundational knowledge in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and user-experience design while working on a hands-on project. The curriculum includes mentoring, community engagement events, guest lectures, and exploration of career opportunities within the technology sector. Through this program, you will develop technical proficiency, enhanced confidence, and a professional network of peers and women leaders in technology.
7. Coding For Cancer
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Free; $1,000 completion award
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: July 28 – August 22
Application Deadline: March 30 (tentative)
Eligibility: Rising 11th-12th graders residing in Washington state
Coding for Cancer provides training in computational biology for cancer research, introducing R programming from foundational concepts to applied projects. The initial portion of the program focuses on coding fundamentals and cancer biology through small-group activities. In the latter half, you will work on individual research projects under the guidance of Fred Hutch postdoctoral researchers Mackenzie Johnson and Matthew Chan. Upon completion, you will receive a $1,000 stipend and earn a Credly digital badge, supported by NCI grants.
8. Microsoft Learn Student Hub
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: Year‑round
Application Deadline: Not mentioned
Eligibility: High school students
Microsoft Learn offers several learning modules, learning paths, and resources across a wide array of technical areas, including cloud computing (Azure), data science, programming, app development, cybersecurity, DevOps, and more. Through interactive modules, documentation, labs, and sandbox environments, you will get to build practical skills at your own pace. You can also study foundational concepts, work through hands-on exercises, and optionally attempt certification exams (though exam fees may apply). Many of the learning paths are aligned with industry-recognized credentials and certification tracks.
9. SPINWIP (Stanford Program for Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Physics)
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate: Selective
Dates: July 7 – 25
Eligibility: 9th-11th graders; First‑generation students and students from underrepresented backgrounds encouraged
SPINWIP is a virtual summer outreach program designed to spark high-schoolers’ interest in physics by offering an immersive, beginner‑friendly introduction to modern physics. Over three weeks, you’ll attend online lectures by Stanford professors and researchers covering advanced physics topics, including quantum physics, astrophysics, cosmology, and quantum computing. Alongside theory, you’ll learn basic coding in Python and apply programming skills to physics‑based projects. Small‑group work led by Stanford undergraduate mentors encourages collaboration and peer learning, even in a remote format. The program also features college‑planning and career‑development workshops, offering guidance on pursuing physics or STEM in higher education.
10. Introduction to Statistical Physics (MITES Summer)
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free (full scholarship including room/board)
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: 3 sessions per week
Application Deadline: Not mentioned
Eligibility: High school students with experience in algebra, trigonometry, and basic differentiation and integration, as well as physics concepts like Newton’s laws of motion, 1D kinematics, and conservation of energy
This course, part of the MITES Summer program, introduces foundational concepts in statistical physics, including entropy definitions, thermodynamic laws, and the Boltzmann distribution for finite-temperature systems. As a participant, you will build skills in mathematical methods for physical sciences, programming simulations of random events, and articulating physics concepts through lectures, problem sets, and hands-on activities. Some topics you’ll cover include the laws of thermodynamics, calculus, probability, and combinatorics, non-equilibrium statistical physics, and more.
11. Kode with Klossy: Summer Camps
Location: Virtual + in-person options
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: 2 weeks in the summer
Application Deadline: March 31 (tentative)
Eligibility: Girls, gender nonconforming, and trans youth ages 13-18
Kode with Klossy provides intensive two-week coding bootcamps designed to empower underrepresented youth in the technology sector. As a participant, you can take part in one of four tracks: web development, mobile applications (Swift/SwiftUI), data science (SQL/Python), and AI or machine learning. As a participant, you will engage in projects such as developing iOS applications or creating data visualizations. The program concludes with a demonstration day, featuring instruction from trained instructors and alumni mentors.
12. Harvard Free Online Courses
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: Varies by course; Self-paced
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school students; Prerequisites vary by course
Harvard’s Online Learning / Professional & Lifelong Learning (PLL) platform provides hundreds of free, online courses across a broad range of disciplines, including computer science, data science, mathematics, humanities, health & medicine, social sciences, programming, and more. Many courses are introductory and suitable for beginners, while others are intermediate or advanced, allowing for deeper learning as your skills grow. Courses are generally open for free “audit,” meaning you get access to a lecture video.
13. AI4ALL @ University of Washington
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: 20 weeks; September 8 – January 26
Application Deadline: July 31
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors, seniors, or college freshmen from underrepresented groups
AI4ALL at the University of Washington, hosted by the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology at the Paul G. Allen School, offers a free 20-week remote introductory workshop in data science and artificial intelligence. As a participant, you will learn how to understand, analyze, interpret, and discuss applications of data science and machine learning. The program places focus on non-ableist data science practices through a disability studies lens, addressing bias and fairness. The small-group format emphasizes geographical information science for equity in urban spaces, hands-on practice, and informed technology decision-making.
14. George Mason University: Aspiring Scientists Summer Research Program (ASSIP)
Location: Virtual options available
Cost/Stipend: $25 application fee (can be waived based on financial need); None
Acceptance Rate: Competitive
Dates: June 18 – August 12
Application Deadline: December 8 – February 15
Eligibility: High school students (15+) for the remote internships
ASSIP offers high school students and undergraduates the chance to participate in research opportunities across various STEM fields. The program is offered in-person and virtual formats, making it accessible to more students across the country. As a participant, you will get to work 1-on-1 with faculty members and researchers from George Mason University on a research project. You can choose from a wide variety of subject areas, including chemistry, biology, medicine, neuroscience, bioengineering, and so much more. The program gives you the chance to work with sophisticated equipment and technologies and develop the necessary skills in research and scientific writing. You will also have the opportunity to participate in discussions and meetings focused on the diverse STEM career paths available to you, as well as earn three college credits through George Mason University.
15. CS50: Introduction to Computer Science
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free (paid certificate available)
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: 12 weeks; Self-paced
Application Deadline: Not mentioned
Eligibility: High school students
CS50 is a widely recognized introductory computer science course that offers a comprehensive foundation in programming, algorithms, data structures, web development, and computer science principles. Through lecture videos, problem sets, coding assignments, and weekly challenges, you will learn languages like C, Python, and JavaScript. You’ll also be exposed to tools like SQL, HTML/CSS, and frameworks. The course emphasizes real-world problem-solving, from developing games to building web apps and exploring data. It also includes detailed video lectures by Harvard professors, supportive community discussion boards, and a global peer network.
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