8 Online Economics Internships for High School Students
If you're a high schooler interested in economics, online economics internships are a good option to consider. These internships can deepen your understanding of economics, give you practical insights, and demonstrate your dedication to the subject in your college applications and resume.
Online economics internships can boost your college applications by showcasing your commitment to academic excellence and practical knowledge in the field. Admission committees value candidates who exhibit a passion for their chosen discipline.
Here are 8 top online economics internships you can consider!
Location: Remote
Eligibility: High school students who can work for 5-15 hours per week for 8-16 weeks
Application Deadline: Multiple deadlines throughout the year
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including summer, fall, winter, and spring
Cost: Starting at $2,490
Financial Aid: Full and partial need-based financial aid is available.
Ladder Internships is an entirely virtual, fairly selective internship program founded by Harvard alumni. The program offers high school students the opportunity to intern at startups and nonprofits across the world, to work on real-world projects. With over 600 applications, 100 interns are selected and paired with companies like JuneBrain, Billion Dollar Startup Idea, IPMD, Fair Opportunity Project, and Softenmind, among others.
Economics students can consider applying to internship areas like finance, business, marketing, growth, consulting, and nonprofits. Once the selection and matching process takes place, interns will work with their company mentor and Ladder coach to develop their project and skills, followed by a final presentation at the end. The program also includes a learning component, where students will participate in professional skill development and training sessions.
Take a look at some previous project examples here.
2. Veritas AI Internship (AI+Finance)
Location: Virtual
Eligibility: Open to high school students who have prior experience with AI/ML or have completed a Veritas AI program
Application Deadline: Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Dates: Multiple 8-week cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Cost: $2,490
The AI Internship Program by Veritas AI is founded and run by Harvard graduate students. Through the 8-week internship, students have the opportunity to work with VC-backed startups on real-world AI/ML projects. Students work directly with mentors from Harvard, Wharton, Google, Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, and more. This program is a great opportunity for students who have prior experience with AI/ML and are looking to gain real-world exposure to a career in the field. Students get a chance to network with industry professionals, work closely with company leadership, and receive a letter of completion from the company at the end of the internship. You can learn more about the program here and apply here.
3. Pentacle High School Internship Program
Location: Virtual | New York
Eligibility: High school students
Application Deadline: Applications are closed for this session. Follow Pentacle’s newsletter, blog and social media channels to stay updated on the next session’s applications.
Dates: Varies, but usually 8 weeks long
Stipend: $600
Pentacle is a nonprofit management support organization catering to the performing arts community across the country. Its high school internship program pairs students with a small business (both for– and nonprofit) that match their interests, allowing them to learn from industry experts and mentors, collaborate with their peers, and establish their hard skill sets. Interns will attend weekly professional development seminars and go through a career development curriculum.
Students will work with small businesses for 5 hours a week and attend virtual development seminars for 2.5 hours a week. Work can include tasks like data collection, analysis, management tasks, learning economic governance, and more.
4. On The Money High School Internship
Location: Virtual and in-person in Chicago, IL
Eligibility: High school students who reside in Chicago
Application Deadline: January
Dates: January – May
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified)
Founded in 2007, On the Money (OTM) is an online publication run by teenagers for teenagers. It aims to improve financial literacy and impact entrepreneurship education. The internship program, which is conducted in collaboration with DePaul University’s Writing Center, invites high school students interested in writing economic, entrepreneurial, and financial articles. You’ll get to research and contribute articles for publication in the magazine. Additionally, you’ll gain skills in resume building, public speaking, financial literacy, interviewing, and writing.
5. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) High School Business Internship
Location: Location varies with the internship position. See open positions here! Some virtual options are offered as well.
Eligibility: High school students
Application Deadline: Applications open in early February. Deadlines vary for different positions.
Dates: August-May (during the school year)
Cost/Stipend: Not specified
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, known informally as PNNL, is one of the US Department of Energy national laboratories, managed by the Department of Energy's Office of Science. PNNL offers this prestigious internship in collaboration with the work-based learning (WBL) programs available to local high school students. PNNL allows students to attend school classes for half a day, following which students will work up to 4 hours every day for 5 days a week with the laboratory.
During this internship, students will engage in educational and leadership development activities involving laboratory demonstrations, field trips, communications, and career awareness workshops. Career areas relevant to economics are Finance and Business Services, Facilities and Operations, and Communications.
6. CLA High School Internship Program
Location: Multiple locations across the U.S., with some virtual options
Eligibility: High school students who are 16 years or older
Application Deadline: January
Dates: June 17 – July 19
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified)
The CLA High School Internship Program is a four-week paid program that aims to develop the next generation of accounting and professional services talent. The program offers a deep dive into accounting, covering topics like financial analysis, tax preparation, and auditing.
During the internship, you’ll work on an interactive real-world case study while serving varied clients and industries. You will also get an opportunity to shadow professionals at different levels, observing and learning from them while they serve clients and make an impact in the community. Lastly, the program also includes team projects that offer insight into the CLA culture and community.
7. Economics for Leaders – Foundation for Teaching Economics
Location: Various U.S. universities (in-person and virtual)
Eligibility: Open to high school sophomores and juniors
Application Deadline: February 28
Dates: Multiple sessions will be available during the summer
Cost: $2,300 for residential and $800 for virtual (Scholarship assistance typically ranges from $100 to $1500 for residential programs and from $100 to $400 for virtual programs.)
Economics for Leaders (EFL) is designed to equip promising high school students with leadership skills and the ability to apply economic analysis to public policy decisions. This course introduces students to fundamental economic concepts, analytical reasoning, and leadership theory, preparing them to tackle complex public policy challenges. As the world faces increasingly intricate issues, fostering the next generation of leaders is essential for future prosperity.
While not an internship, participating in prestigious pre-college programs like EFL can make students more competitive applicants in the eyes of college admissions officers, enhancing their academic and leadership profiles.
8. Building-U High School Internship
Subject Areas: R&D, business development, marketing, media, coding, social media content and analytics, animation, and more.
Eligibility: The applicant must currently be enrolled as a K9 – K12 student. Students from all over the world, in grades 9-12, are encouraged to apply.
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: 3 months during the summer (June-August), but can be year-round if the student wishes to extend it.
Cost/Stipend: No application cost. Information about a stipend is not specified.
Building-U is an entirely remote non-profit organization that works to assist high-school students. The non-profit offers 3-month to year-round virtual internships in administrative and business roles. As an intern, you will be assigned a range of duties. Once selected, you will be part of one of their teams – these include R&D roles, student ambassador roles, Business Development roles, and other profiles, more details of which you can read about here. Each role offers a range of experiences and responsibilities and will give you the chance to contribute towards the organization’s larger goals.
Beyond specific team project skills, you will also get to build essential teamwork and communication skills. You will be invited to join in on other team meetings to contribute ideas to other projects — building knowledge integration skills as well!