Top 15 Summer Psychology Internships for High School Students
If you’re interested in psychology, an internship can give you a deeper look into the field beyond what you learn in school. There are many different ways to explore psychology. You could work in a research lab, assist with behavioral studies, or shadow professionals in mental health settings.
If you’re interested in exploring psychology careers, working on real projects and engaging with professionals is the best way to gain firsthand experience. A psychology internship is a great way to do this. Completing an internship in high school is also valuable for college applications and future jobs. Some of the summer internships on this list are paid, making them a more affordable way to explore your interests.
Here are the top 15 psychology summer internships for high schoolers:
1. APA Internal Internship Program (IIP)
Location: Virtual
Cost: The application is free; paid and academic credit internships are available.
Timeline: Year-round
Deadline: Rolling basis
Eligibility: High school students under 18 who have a D.C. work permit and live in one of the states where APA is already registered as an employer.
The American Psychological Association internships allow you to explore psychology beyond the classroom and see how it applies in the real world. This program enables you to participate in clinical work, focusing on research, policy development, education, publishing, and communication. During the program, you’ll work at a nonprofit organization where you’ll apply psychological principles to real-life projects. You will work with a team and receive guidance from a mentor.
Location: Remote
Cost: Starting at $2,490 (financial aid available)
Program dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Duration: 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks
Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort; Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September) and Winter (November).
Eligibility: High school students, undergraduates, and gap year students
Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program for ambitious high school students! In the program, you work with a high-growth start-up on an internship. Start-ups that offer internships range across a variety of industries, from tech/deep tech and AI/ML to health tech, marketing, journalism, consulting, and more. You can explore all the options here on their application form. Ladder’s start-ups are high-growth companies on average raising over a million dollars. In the program, interns work closely with their managers and a Ladder Coach on real-world projects and present their work to the company. Here is the application form.
3. Summer Neuroscience Program
Location: The Rockefeller University, New York
Cost: Free
Program Dates: August 4 - 15
Deadline: March 15
Eligibility: Students who will be at least 16 years of age by the program's start and are enrolled in a New York City public school.
Although it is not a traditional internship, this program gives you research experience, which is valuable for understanding psychology. The Summer Neuroscience Program (SNP) is a great opportunity for high school students in NYC who are curious about how the brain works. Over two weeks, you'll explore neuroscience through interactive lessons and activities. You'll work alongside Rockefeller graduate students on research projects and conduct your own neuroscience experiments. You will read scientific articles, present your findings, and participate in brain dissection sessions. You’ll also get behind-the-scenes access to research facilities and meet Rockefeller scientists to learn more about their work.
4. USC Pre-College Program Psychological Science & Society
Location: University of Southern California campus, Los Angeles, California
Cost: $11,347 for residential participants and $7,812 for commuters
Program dates: June 15 – July 12
Deadline: March 14 (international students) and May 2 (domestic students)
Eligibility: High school students
In the University of Southern California’s pre-college psychology program, you’ll conduct your own research while exploring key psychology concepts. Throughout the program, you’ll learn about topics like the history of psychology, cognition and learning, the mind-body connection, narcotics, social media and mental health, and relationships. You’ll discover different career paths in psychology, from research and clinical practice to social sciences, and learn how to pursue them. This isn’t a traditional internship, but the program offers helpful insight into psychology careers.
5. Brain Seminar for Teens and Opportunities for Research Mentorship (BrainSTORM)
Location: Columbia University, New York City (NYC), New York; Virtual or hybrid options available
Cost: No information available
Program dates: June - May
Duration: Monthly lectures; Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m. EST
Deadline: January 1
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9-12
Through the BrainSTORM program, up to 25 students work on a guided research project with a mentor annually. You and your mentor will decide on a project together, and the mentorship can be in-person, virtual, or hybrid. If you're in grades 9-12 and looking for research experience—whether for a school project, an internship, or just out of curiosity—this program is worth considering. This program offers two key opportunities: a research mentorship and a monthly seminar series. You’ll showcase your work at a final research symposium, where you’ll present your findings in a poster session.
6. Mary S. Easton Center UCLA Neuroscience High School Scholars Program
Location: University of California, Los Angeles, California | Online
Cost: Free
Deadline: March 3
Program Duration: June 16 - July 24
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors (ages 16–18)
This is a six-week program for high school juniors and seniors interested in Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementia (ADRD). We’ve included this program because it offers many of the same benefits as an internship, including neuroscience experience through brain dissections, research projects, and community outreach. This program also provides a virtual option, and both formats encourage students to start Alzheimer’s Awareness Clubs at their schools. You will also gain access to virtual seminars with neuroscience experts year-round.
7. University of Texas Southwestern Inspiring Careers in Mental Health Internship
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Program dates: Typically in June
Duration: 2 weeks
Deadline: Typically close in early February
Eligibility: Rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors
The University of Texas Southwestern Inspiring Careers in Mental Health Internship is a two-week summer program for high school students curious about careers in mental health. During the program, you'll learn from psychology professionals like social workers, neuropsychologists, physician assistants, and psychiatrists. Before each session, you’ll get reading materials from different sources, such as scientific journals and the media. This internship introduces you to different career paths within mental health, like psychotherapy, neuropsychological testing, neuroscience, interventional psychiatry, and community psychiatry.
8. Summer Springboard’s Psychology & Neuroscience at Yale
Location: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Cost: $6,298 (Residential) | $3,498 (Commuter)
Program Dates: Session 1: June 15 – June 27 | Session 2: June 29 – July 11 | Session 3: July 13 – July 25
Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Eligibility: High school students must have completed 8th grade and have a 3.0 Grade Point Average (or local equivalent) to apply.
Summer Springboard’s Psychology & Neuroscience Program allows students to explore the connection between the brain and human behavior through simulations and workshops. Whether you’re interested in how the brain and nervous system function or how people think and behave, you’ll learn from professionals with backgrounds in psychology and neuroscience. You’ll study classic psychology experiments to understand how people work and how psychologists study them. For your capstone project, you’ll create your own psychology theory, design and run an experiment to test it, and present your findings. You’ll also visit Yale’s Cushing Center and connect with clinical psychologists, neurologists, and researchers.
9. Child Mind Institute Youth Mental Health Academy
Location: Virtual
Cost: Paid. Stipend provided.
Program dates: 1st Summer: June 23 – July 24 | Academic Year: August – May | 2nd Summer: July & August
Deadline: March 31
Eligibility: High school students can apply
The Child Mind Institute Youth Mental Health Academy (YMHA) is a 14-month program for high school students interested in career development and community involvement in mental health. It runs for a year and starts and ends during the summer. Although not strictly a summer program, it gives a holistic overview of psychology through project-based research. In the first summer, students participate in a paid, project-based learning experience and work on a final group presentation with mentorship. In the second summer, students complete a paid internship in areas like brain and mental health research, clinical practice, or mental health media and communications.
10. Barrow Neurological Institute Summer High School Internship Program
Location: Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona
Cost: Free
Deadline: February 14
Dates: May 30 – July 3
Eligibility: High school students who are 16 years or older
The Barrow Neurological Institute’s Summer High School Internship Program offers a research experience for students interested in neuroscience. You will work in diverse fields, including cerebrovascular research, neuro-oncology, and neuropsychology. Through mentorship and exposure to advanced technology, you will develop scientific projects, analyze research literature, and refine your investigative skills. This program focuses on neuroscience, closely related to psychology but not strictly confined to it. However, gaining knowledge in both fields can provide a deeper understanding of the biological processes that shape the human mind, making this internship worth considering for psychology students.
11. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research (SIMR) Program
Location: Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, California
Cost/Stipend: Minimum $500 stipend for all participants at a minimum
Deadline: February 22
Dates: June 9 - July 31
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors who are at least 16 years old and U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
If you're a high school junior or senior looking for research experience, the Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR) could be a good fit. Over eight weeks, you'll work under the mentorship of a researcher in one of eight research areas. The Neuroscience track will allow you to explore the nuances of psychology. It will expose you to the technology used to study the brain's biological processes. The program bridges the gap between neuroscience and psychology, helping you understand the human brain and mind.
12. Clinical Neuroscience Immersion Experience (CNI-X) at Stanford University
Location: Virtual & In-person at Stanford University, Stanford, California
Deadline: March 1
Cost/Stipend: CNV-X : $1,595: CNI-X Session 1: $$2,895 and CNI-X Session 2: $2,895
Dates: CNV-X (Virtual via Zoom) June 16 – June 27 | CNI-X Session 1 (In-person on campus) July 7 – July 18 | CNI-X Session 2 (In-person on campus): July 21 – August 1
Eligibility: Open to high school students aged 14–18
CNI-X at Stanford University is not a traditional internship but offers many of the same benefits. This program explores neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology through the lens of research from the Stanford Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Through seminars and lectures led by Stanford faculty and researchers, you’ll learn about clinical neuropsychiatry, psychiatric epidemiology, neuroscience research, and social and behavioral sciences. You’ll collaborate on a capstone project designed to tackle real-world challenges at the intersection of neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry. The program culminates in a final presentation where you’ll showcase your findings.
13. NIH's Summer Internship Program
Location: National Institute of Health
Cost: No cost; stipend provided
Program Duration: Typically starts in May and goes on for 8 weeks
Application Deadline: March 1
Eligibility: High school seniors (ages 18)
The SIP program aims to help students understand the basics of neuroscience. You will work at least eight weeks between May and September and receive training in research procedures. You will conduct research in selected investigation areas under a mentor's guidance. The program offers the opportunity to research biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences. If you are interested in biology, engineering, epidemiology, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, physics, computer science, bioinformatics, and other health-related fields, you should consider applying.
Location: Washington D.C
Cost: Not specified
Program Length: No information available
Application Deadline: No information available
Eligibility: High school students
Note: For more information, email kdixit@jssa.org.
JSSA’s high school internship program provides students insight into working in a nonprofit setting. The program enables you to earn credit toward your student service-learning hours. You will participate in case consultations, assist with administrative tasks such as data analysis, training coordination, report writing, outreach, and distributing Continuing Education certificates, and support the development of educational presentations on topics like mental health and psychoeducation for community outreach. This internship allows you to develop professional skills while ensuring you understand psychoeducation. It is particularly beneficial if you are interested in social work, psychology, nonprofit management, and related fields.
15. UCSB's Research Mentorship Program (RMP)
Location: Santa Barbara, California
Deadline: Rolling; December 15 – March 17
Program dates: June 16 – August 1
Cost: Commuter - $5,175 | Residential - $12,474
Eligibility: High school students ages 15 - 17
The Research Mentorship Program is an intensive summer program that engages high school students with deep research interests. If you want to pursue your goals in psychology by working with researchers in the field, this program might be the best fit for you. You will work under a mentor (graduate student, postdoc, or faculty) on a research project in psychology. The subjects offered range from STEM fields to social sciences. You have to dedicate at least 35 to 50 hours a week. Although not strictly an internship, this program allows you to explore psychology.