Updated November 2026
TL;DR
The JA Company Program is Junior Achievement's entrepreneurship program for high school students in grades 9 to 12: your team builds a real student-run company, sells to real customers and then closes it down. Join it if you've never run a business; skip it if you already have one with paying customers, because the program is built to end with liquidation. There's no national sign-up: you join through your school or an after-school cohort run by your local JA office, which you can find with Junior Achievement's Find a JA locator.
If you want to run a business, you can either join a structured program or start something on your own. What sets the JA Company Program apart is that it hands you the three things most teen founders lack: a team you didn't have to recruit, volunteer mentors from the local business community and a schedule with real deadlines. What it can't give you is a business that still exists next year, and that one trade-off decides who should join.
Looking for wider options? See our roundups of entrepreneurship internships and business and entrepreneurship summer programs for high school students.
Who can join the JA Company Program, and how much does it cost?
Junior Achievement USA recommends the JA Company Program for high school students in grades 9 to 12, and it's delivered in classrooms, after school or live online. The national curriculum has 9 sessions, but local offices set their own schedules, dates and formats, so your area office is the authority on what's running near you.
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Detail |
What you need to know |
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Who can join |
High school students, grades 9 to 12 (Junior Achievement USA) |
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How you join |
Through your school or a local JA after-school cohort; no national application |
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Formats |
In-class, after-school or remote live, depending on your JA office |
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Length |
National curriculum: 9 sessions. Local cohorts run longer, e.g. about 16 weeks of two-hour meetings in Southeastern PA |
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Cost |
Set locally. JA says many of its programs are free to schools and others carry a nominal fee |
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What you build |
A student-run company that raises capital, sells a product or service, then liquidates |
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Competition |
Top teams can compete for JA Company of the Year nationally |
On cost, ask your local office directly. Junior Achievement says many programs cost schools nothing and others have a nominal fee, and your company raises its startup money by selling shares, which members usually buy into.
What do you actually do in the JA Company Program?
You run a small company from start to finish: pick a problem, form the company, raise capital, sell to customers and then wind it down. Junior Achievement USA says students "fill a need or solve a problem in their community" through a student-led startup, with volunteers and mentors advising. Early meetings go to choosing what to sell and electing officers, so someone becomes CEO and someone runs finance. Then you sell shares to raise money, make or source the product, price it, find customers and track the money.
Near the end, you sell off your stock, close the books and liquidate the company, returning what's left to shareholders. The scale is small but the problems are real: one 2023 national finalist from Ohio, Battery Drop, built its business around battery recycling. Students who go far often say the biggest lesson was about the team. Eli, a 2023 finalist, wrote that the experience "humbled me quite a bit," and taught him the value of a team with different strengths, according to JA of North Central Ohio.
How much time does the JA Company Program take?
Plan on more time than the 9 national sessions suggest, because local cohorts run for months. JA Southeastern PA's 2026-27 after-school cohort meets for two hours a week from November 3, 2026, to March 20, 2027, at local businesses. JA New England lists 13 two-hour or 26 one-hour meetings across a semester or a full school year.
The work between meetings is what catches people off guard. Someone has to chase a supplier, update the finance sheet or sell at the weekend, especially around launch and the final sell-off. Because the program runs through the school year rather than over a summer, think about your sports season and course load before you commit.
What competitions does the JA Company Program feed into?
The top prize is JA Company of the Year, Junior Achievement USA's national competition, held at the JA National Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. In 2023, 15 teams were chosen from more than 100 JA Areas nationwide. Finalists are scored on a commercial for their product, a live presentation to business leaders, their booth at an expo on Capitol Hill, their financial results and their team members' growth. There are side awards too, such as the Delta Social Impact Award.
Be realistic about the odds: most local cohorts end at a regional pitch event or trade show. Treat the competition as a reason to take the program seriously, not the reason to join, since most participants never compete nationally and still get the valuable part of the year.
What does the JA Company Program do well?
Its biggest strength is that it removes the three things that kill most teen businesses before they start.
A team: one is formed for you, so you don't have to recruit co-founders.
Mentors: volunteers from the local business community are built into the program.
Deadlines: the cohort meets on a schedule, so the idea can't quietly drift.
Its second strength is coverage: you touch finance and operations, not just the fun front end. Most self-started teen businesses are marketing with a product attached, and the bookkeeping gets learned badly or not at all. Closing a company properly and returning money to shareholders is unusual experience for a high schooler, and it's what holds up when someone asks what you actually learned.
Where does the JA Company Program fall short?
Your experience depends heavily on your local JA office. The national curriculum is 9 sessions, while local cohorts range from 13 meetings to about 16 weeks, and mentors vary from seasoned operators to newer volunteers. Ask your office who mentors the cohort and what last year's teams built. Teams can also be large enough that it's possible to coast, or to find that someone else makes the decisions.
The bigger limit is structural: the JA Company Program is designed to liquidate the company at the end. That's sound teaching, since closing a business teaches real things, but it means you aren't building something that lasts. If you already have a business with revenue, spending a school year building and dismantling a different one is a poor trade.
So, is the JA Company Program worth joining?
Join the JA Company Program if you've never run a business; start your own instead if you already have customers and revenue. You get a team, mentors, deadlines and a full cycle through finance and operations, and you find out whether you like building a company before risking your own money. It fits best if you're in grades 9 to 11, unsure whether business is for you, or have tried something alone and watched it stall. If you have an idea but no team, join and treat the cohort as your co-founder search.
What the program can't show you is how an established company runs, because yours is months old and run entirely by students. Ladder Internships places high school students in remote, eight-week start-up internships, where they work on a real project with a company coach, with full financial aid available, so you see how a real start-up operates from the inside.
How do you join the JA Company Program for 2026-27?
Go straight to your local JA area office rather than waiting for your school. Use the Find a JA locator, email the office covering your area and ask whether it runs an after-school cohort open to individual students this year. Some offices, like JA Southeastern PA, take applications online and draw students from several schools.
If your area has no cohort, ask a teacher to request the program for your school. It's slower, but it opens the program to everyone in your year. Cohorts run on an annual school-year cycle, so ask when the next one starts.
Common questions about the JA Company Program
Does the JA Company Program cost money?
It depends on your local office. Junior Achievement says many of its programs are free to schools and others have a nominal fee. Your team also raises startup capital by selling shares, so ask your office what members usually invest.
Do students keep the money their JA company makes?
Partly. The company liquidates at the end and pays out what's left to shareholders, so if you bought shares and the company made a profit, you get a return. Many student companies break even, which is a normal outcome.
What happens in the first few weeks of the JA Company Program?
You decide what to sell, form the company and elect officers such as CEO and finance lead. Then you raise startup money by selling shares, before moving into making and selling your product.
Is there a remote alternative to the JA Company Program?
JA offers remote live delivery in some areas, so ask your local office first. If you'd rather work inside an existing start-up, Ladder Internships runs remote, eight-week internships for high school students worldwide, at 5 to 10 hours a week, with a company coach and full financial aid available. The next deadline is November 15, 2026, for the Winter I cohort starting December 7, 2026.
Contact us at contact@ladderinternships.com if you have any questions!