Free Summer Programs for High School Students
Cost is often the real filter on whether a summer program is possible, not interest or qualifications. "Free" on Pathfind means no tuition or program fee — some free programs still expect you to cover travel or housing, so check each program's own site for exactly what is and isn't included before you assume it's fully free.
Free doesn't mean lower quality. Several of the most selective research and STEM programs in the country don't charge tuition at all, specifically so cost isn't what decides who gets to attend.
The list below pulls every verified summer program in our database marked free, so you can compare real options instead of guessing which ones might waive fees.
We found 67 verified matches below. Want the full list instead? See all Free Programs.
MIT THINK Scholars Program
Propose a STEM research or engineering project you haven't built yet; finalists get up to $1,000 in funding, weekly MIT mentorship, and an all-expenses-paid trip to MIT. Free to apply, solo or in pairs.
JCamp
Week-long multicultural journalism training camp where students report, write and produce alongside working journalists. Open to sophomores and juniors of any background — you do not need to be Asian American to apply.
CMU CS Scholars
Fully funded four-week residential computer science program at Carnegie Mellon for 10th graders. Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and documentation of financial need is required to apply.
CMU AI Scholars
Fully funded four-week residential AI program at Carnegie Mellon for 11th graders, with research projects and faculty lectures. Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and documentation of financial need is required to apply.
Princeton Summer Journalism Program
Free year-long journalism and college-preparation programme for juniors from limited-income backgrounds, built around a summer intensive that ends in a ten-day residency on campus and a student-produced newspaper. Admitted students also work with a college adviser through senior year.
National Youth Science Camp
Three-week residential science camp in the Monongahela National Forest for graduating seniors, with two delegates selected per state. Lectures and field studies run alongside outdoor expeditions; phone service on site is limited.
California Boys & Girls State
Week-long government simulation at CSU Sacramento where delegates run for office, draft legislation, and argue cases. There's no direct application — your school nominates you and a local Legion post sponsors the fee.
PITCH Health Careers Program
Three-week summer program at UCSF exploring health and medical science careers through mentored investigations and college-readiness workshops. Prioritizes first-generation and low-income students; 2.5 GPA minimum.
Kode With Klossy Summer Camp
Free two-week coding camp for girls and gender-expansive teens, covering web development, machine learning, or mobile app design. No experience required.
LINC Summer High School Program
Free summer conservation and leadership program with an environmental-justice community-science track and an outdoor-leadership track including camping and kayaking. Participants receive a completion stipend.
SAGE Summer Camp
Free one-week residential camp at the SLAC and Stanford campuses with job shadowing, hands-on projects, and career sessions led by lab scientists. Ages 14-17 in a set list of Northern and Central California counties.
Stanford Medical Youth Science Program
Tuition-free five-week science, medicine, and public health program admitting a small cohort of juniors. Limited to low-income and/or first-generation students in Northern and Central California.
Youth Task Force
County advisory body of students who bring youth voice to government and community-organization policy, meeting monthly in San Jose. Open only to Santa Clara County students.
Mosaic Journalism Workshop
Free two-week summer newsroom intensive at SJSU where about 20 mostly Bay Area students report, write, shoot, and produce work that gets published. Requires work samples and full attendance.
Pathways
Free, self-paced seven-week virtual program for girls and non-binary students exploring AI, cybersecurity, data science, game design, or web development, with mentor check-ins along the way. Replaced the flagship Summer Immersion Program, which ended after its 2025 cohort.
Summer Environmental Interns
Five-day wetland science service internship at Tule Ponds in Fremont, with water sampling, plant surveys, and microbe studies. It is free, and 10 to 15 students are chosen. Applications for 2027 are due April 15.
San Francisco Youth Commission
A 17-member commission that is the official youth voice in City Hall, advising the Mayor and Board of Supervisors on youth budget and policy over a year-long term. Open to San Francisco residents ages 12-23.
INSIGHT
All-expenses-paid, multi-day program at Jane Street's New York office introducing women, transgender, and gender-expansive juniors and seniors to quantitative trading and software engineering. No finance background required.
Urban Journalism Workshop
Summer reporting workshop at NYU where students cover New York neighbourhoods and produce published work. The programme is free for admitted students.
√mathroots
Free residential summer math program at MIT for current high school students. There is no tuition or housing cost.
AFSA Opportunities for High School Students
Directory of public diplomacy, exchange, essay, and international-affairs opportunities maintained by the professional association for U.S. diplomats.
AI Foundations & CS Discoveries
Free, self-paced computer science and AI courses with no application or deadline. Code.org rebranded to CodeAI in 2026 as it shifted focus from coding toward AI literacy.
AI4ALL Open Learning
Free, self-paced online curriculum introducing artificial intelligence through projects on topics like computer vision and data bias. AI4ALL has paused all of its high school programming, so this is kept for reference only.
Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference
Five-day journalism programme in Washington, D.C. for 51 high school juniors — one from each state and the District of Columbia. Includes newsroom visits and time with national journalists.
Amazon Future Engineer
Collection of free computer science courses, virtual field trips, and career-exploration content for students and teachers, including introductory coding and cloud computing material.
American Legion Auxiliary Girls State
State-based government simulation where selected high school students form a model government, campaign for office, debate issues, and learn civic participation.
American Legion Boys State
State-based government simulation where selected high school students create and operate a model state government through elections, legislation, and civic debate.
American Youth Policy Forum Events
Public policy learning and youth voice resources connecting students and educators with discussions about education, equity, and youth policy.
Beaver Works Summer Institute
Four-week, project-based STEM summer program at MIT. Students complete an online prerequisite course, then take on an intensive team project in autonomy, robotics, AI, or quantum computing. No tuition.
Civics Unplugged
Civic leadership community and fellowship opportunities for young people developing projects that strengthen democracy and public participation.
Code in Place
Free online course that teaches the first half of Stanford's intro Python class (CS106A) to beginners. Each group of 10 students gets a volunteer teacher. Sessions run in cohorts, so check the site for the next one.
College Prep Scholars Program
Free program for high-achieving juniors from low-income backgrounds, providing a college campus visit, essay coaching, and a head start on the QuestBridge National College Match scholarship application.
CS50x: Introduction to Computer Science
Harvard's free, self-paced introduction to computer science, covering abstraction, algorithms, data structures, and web development in C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript. No formal application and no cost for the online course.
DoSomething.org Campaigns
Free national campaigns — voter registration, food drives, mental-health awareness, and more — that students can run in their own community. Some campaigns offer scholarships or prizes.
EarthEcho Youth Programs
Free environmental action programs and youth councils where students lead water-quality monitoring, coastal restoration, and advocacy projects in their own communities.
Elements of AI
Free online introduction to artificial intelligence that needs no coding experience. It covers what AI can and can't do and how to start building simple AI methods. Start any time.
Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science (GEMS)
Summer STEM camp at Army research sites. There is no fee, and students get a small stipend.
Hack Club
Free network of student-run coding clubs plus open online programs, workshops, and community events. Students can join an existing club or start their own with Hack Club's tools.
IBM SkillsBuild for High School Students
Free self-paced online courses on AI literacy, ethics of generative AI, and other tech skills for students ages 13 to 18. Start any time.
Intensive Immersion Program
Free 15-month mentorship and technical-training program in Oakland for Black male high schoolers, combining two 7-week summer sessions with year-round coding, entrepreneurship, and leadership training. No prior coding experience required.
Junior Ambassadors
Volunteer and philanthropy program for ages 14-18 supporting UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital through fundraising events, bedside activity kits, and cards for patients — not clinical shadowing.
Junior Auxiliary
Hospital volunteer program in Mountain View or Los Gatos for students 14+ who've completed 8th grade, requiring a year-long commitment. Join through an application seminar, typically announced each January.
Junior Science and Humanities Symposium
Students present original scientific research — by poster or oral presentation — at regional symposia, with selected students advancing to a national symposium. Free to enter.
MITES Summer
Six-week residential academic enrichment program at MIT for rising seniors, with rigorous coursework in engineering, science, and humanities. Free of charge, including housing and meals.
Neuroscience High School Scholars Program
Free virtual summer neuroscience program from UCLA for rising juniors and seniors, with a focus on students at schools with limited access to neuroscience courses. Dates and the application deadline will be posted in December 2026.
Oakland Youth Advisory Commission
Commission of about 20 young people ages 13-21 representing Oakland's council districts, advising the City Council and Mayor and meeting twice monthly at City Hall. Unpaid, with dinner and transit reimbursement.
Pathways Research Explorers (High School Explorers Program)
Two-week introduction to cancer research at Fred Hutch in Seattle, with hands-on lab activities. It costs nothing to attend, students who finish get a $500 award, and applicants must live in the Seattle area. Applications for 2027 open next January.
Project Euler
Free archive of several hundred mathematics and programming problems of increasing difficulty, solved by writing code. Progress is tracked through a free account.
Reading Partners Volunteer Tutoring
One-to-one literacy tutoring for elementary students in under-resourced schools, with training and a structured curriculum provided. Many regions offer in-person and online tutoring sessions.
Red Cross Youth & Young Adult Programs
Volunteer opportunities through local Red Cross chapters, including blood drives, disaster preparedness education, and Red Cross Club leadership. Some roles carry age minimums.
Rotary Interact Club
Rotary-sponsored service club for ages 12-18 where members run at least two projects a year — one local, one international — with mentorship from a sponsoring Rotary club. Join or start a chapter through your school.
Student Press Law Center Resources
Free legal and civic education resources for student journalists, including training on press freedom, media law, and newsroom rights.
Student Reporting Labs
Free youth journalism program with lesson plans, editing support, and publication opportunities for student-produced video and audio stories on national broadcasts and the PBS NewsHour site.
Summer Academy for Math and Science
Residential summer academy at Carnegie Mellon for rising seniors from groups historically underrepresented in STEM, building calculus, physics, and programming foundations with college application support. No tuition.
Summer Engineering Seminar (SES)
Free five-day residential engineering seminar at Santa Clara University for high school sophomores and juniors, with priority for sophomores. Housing and meals cost nothing, and applicants are judged on math and science grades and financial need. The 2027 application opens in December.
Teen Volunteer Program
Year-round hospital volunteer program for ages 16+, staffing the gift shop, information desks, or administrative areas on a weekly shift. This is a volunteer role, not clinical shadowing.
The Congressional Award
Non-competitive, self-paced program where students set personal goals across voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition. Participants log hours toward Bronze, Silver, and Gold certificates and medals.
The Junior Academy
Free online program where you join an international team and work with STEM experts on real-world challenges.
U.S. Senate Youth Program
National civic education program for high school students who hold leadership roles in student government, public service, or civic organizations; selection is administered by each state.
USACO Guide
Free, community-maintained practice curriculum for competitive programming, organized by topic and difficulty with curated practice problems and an online judge for submitting and checking answers.
Volunteer Services Teen Program
Structured, non-clinical hospital volunteer program for 16-17 year-olds at select Northern California medical centers (link goes to Santa Clara; other sites list their own pages). Requires a health screening and a weekly shift commitment. Kaiser's volunteer portal listed teen applications as closed at the last check.
Women's Technology Program
Four-week summer program at MIT for rising 11th-grade students who are girls or gender-expansive, combining computer science, electrical engineering, or mechanical engineering classes with hands-on labs. No tuition.
Writing Workshops & Teen Poetry Slam
Free weekly spoken-word writing and performance workshops in San Francisco and Oakland, plus an annual Teen Poetry Slam whose finalists represent the Bay Area at Brave New Voices.
Youth Crew
Five-month, hands-on service-learning program for ages 15-18 at the Center's Sausalito hospital, working alongside staff on animal care and ocean-conservation education. Applications open in fall for the following year.
Youth Media Programs
Free Oakland-based training in journalism, audio production, and digital storytelling for ages 14-24, no experience needed. The organization paused in late 2024 and relaunched in 2026 — confirm current status before applying.
Youth Service America
Youth civic engagement and service opportunities supporting student-led community projects and participation in national service campaigns.
Youth Stewards
Free, hands-on habitat-restoration program at open space preserves in Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto, doing invasive-plant removal in seasonal cohorts. The next cycle opens in spring.