CS Internships for High School Students 2026

Internships let high schoolers test-drive a field, build professional skills, and earn references long before college. Even a few weeks of real work experience helps clarify your interests and strengthens an application narrative. Aspiring CS majors stand out by building things and competing — shipping projects on GitHub, contributing to open source, and climbing the USACO ladder.

Opportunities range from NIH and NASA programs to local startups, hospitals, law offices, and research labs; many are summer-based, and a growing number are remote. Look for AI/ML research mentorships, university CS labs, hackathons, and programs such as MIT PRIMES and Stanford AI4ALL.

Hands-on experience signals maturity and direction, and an internship often becomes the seed of an essay, a recommendation letter, or a long-term mentor relationship.

How to get started with internships

1. Get concrete about the field and the kind of work you want — 'help a bio lab run assays' beats 'an internship somewhere.'
2. Map your network first: teachers, family friends, alumni, and local businesses are the most reachable entry points.
3. Apply early to structured summer programs (NIH, NASA, university labs) as your backbone while you email locally.
4. Send a short, tailored pitch: who you are, one specific reason you want their work, and exactly how you'd help.
5. Say yes to small, unglamorous tasks — reliability early turns a two-week trial into a real reference and mentor.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• NIH Summer Internship Program — National Institutes of Health: Eight-week paid research internship at National Institutes of Health. Work alongside NIH scientists on biomedical research projects.
• Girls Who Invest Summer Intensive Program — Girls Who Invest: Highly selective free 4-week summer program placing high school girls and nonbinary students at top investment management firms for training in financ
• Goldman Sachs Possibilities Summit — Goldman Sachs: Selective multi-day career exploration program at Goldman Sachs headquarters for high school juniors from underrepresented groups interested in financ
• Science Internship Program (SIP) at UC Santa Cruz — UC Santa Cruz: 8-week summer research internship. Students work in UCSC research labs. Competitive admission.
• Mount Sinai High School Research Program — Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Competitive summer research program at top NYC medical school. Students work in biomedical labs on real research projects. Strong pathway for medical/
• AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellows — American Association for the Advancement of Science: Science communication internships at major media outlets.
• Fred Hutch Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP) — Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: Paid laboratory internships in cancer and biomedical research.
• Garcia Summer Scholars Program — Stony Brook University: Residential research program at Stony Brook University.
• American University Washington Semester for High School — American University: DC-based government and policy summer program at American University. Internships and coursework in the nation's capital.
• Mikva Challenge Summer Fellows — Mikva Challenge: Gain hands-on experience in government and civic leadership with this paid summer internship for grades 10-12. Build skills and strengthen your colleg
• White House Internship Program — The White House: Gain hands-on leadership experience with this prestigious White House internship. Perfect for building government skills and boosting college applicat
• Palantir Women in Technology Scholarship — Palantir Technologies: Empower your future in computer science with this free scholarship and mentorship opportunity for high school women. Boost skills, gain experience, an
• WCS High School Internship Program — Wildlife Conservation Society: Explore a paid summer internship at the Bronx Zoo or New York Aquarium! Gain hands-on biology and conservation experience to boost skills and strength
• Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Internships — Smithsonian Institution: Explore hands-on high school research internships in environmental science at the Smithsonian. Build skills in ecology, boost college applications, an
• State Department Student Programs — U.S. Department of State: Explore leadership and government through free State Department internships and exchange programs. Gain hands-on diplomacy experience to boost college
• Microsoft Discovery Program (High School Internship) — Microsoft: Paid summer internship offering hands-on computer science experience for high school juniors and seniors. Boost college applications while developing
• NASA Internships - High School — NASA: Gain hands-on STEM experience through a paid NASA internship. Perfect for high school students in grades 10-12 to boost college applications and build
• CodeDay Labs Internship Program — CodeDay: Build real open-source software in this free virtual internship for high schoolers. Gain hands-on coding experience, boost college apps, and learn fro
• AFRL Scholars Program (High School) — U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory / USRA: Explore a paid high school research internship in STEM with hands-on aerospace and defense projects. Boost college applications and gain real-world ex
• BioBuilder Apprenticeship Challenge — BioBuilder Educational Foundation: Selective biotech internship and training for high school students in grades 10-12. Build real-world synthetic biology skills and boost college applic
• AIMI Summer Research Internship — Stanford Center for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine & Imaging: Two-week fully virtual Stanford AIMI internship where high schoolers do mentored, small-team AI-in-healthcare research with lectures from Stanford exp
• TurnUp Pre-College Program — TurnUp: Pre-college program at TurnUp for high school students focusing on youth activism remote internship.
• Ladder Internships — Ladder Internships: Virtual internship program connecting high school students with startup and organizational work experiences.
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Internship — The Ronald Reagan Foundation: Internship at the Reagan Presidential Library focused on leadership, communication, and civic engagement.
• Washington State Legislature Page Program — Washington State Legislature: Paid one-week page service in the Washington State House or Senate for students aged 14-16: floor duties, daily Page School on state government, and $
• Virginia House of Delegates Page Program — Virginia General Assembly: Full-session paid page service in the Virginia House of Delegates for 13- and 14-year-olds: capitol duties in Richmond, nightly study hall, and a Page
• UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Academy — UPMC Hillman Cancer Center / University of Pittsburgh: Free 7-week summer research internship in Pittsburgh pairing high school students (15+) with University of Pittsburgh mentors for 30-35 hours a week o
• Young Ambassadors Program — Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino: Fully funded Smithsonian program for graduating high school seniors: a week-long training seminar in Washington, DC followed by a four-week paid pract
• Saturday Academy ASE Internships — Saturday Academy: Eight-week, full-time summer STEM research internships placing ~70 Oregon and SW Washington high schoolers with mentors at universities, research inst
• Ted R. Lilley CURE Program — OHSU Knight Cancer Institute: Paid 8-week summer research internship ($4,000 stipend) at OHSU's Knight Cancer Institute for Oregon sophomores-seniors (16+) from disadvantaged backg

Frequently asked questions