Finance & Investing Programs & Competitions for High School Students

Finance extracurriculars include investment competitions, fintech and banking summer programs, and financial-literacy leadership organizations.

Trading-competition results and a finance internship are the most direct evidence for business-school-track applications.

24 verified programs match this page; 15 of the featured listings are completely free; 4 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 24+ curated programs for high school students:

• Wharton Investment Competition — Wharton/UPenn: Compete in a global investing competition for high school students. Manage a $100k portfolio, gain real-world finance skills, and boost your college a
• Yale Bulldogs Investment Fund — Yale University: Student-managed investment fund experience at Yale. Learn portfolio management from Yale finance community.
• National Personal Finance Challenge — Council for Economic Education: Compete in the National Personal Finance Challenge to sharpen money management skills, build teamwork, and boost college applications through state an
• Morgan Stanley Early Insights Program — Morgan Stanley: Selective program introducing underrepresented students to investment banking. Workshops, networking, and mentorship. Strong pathway to finance career
• Young Investors Society Competitions — Young Investors Society: Develop investing skills and financial literacy in this high school competition. Gain hands-on stock market experience and boost your college applicat
• InvestWrite Essay Competition — SIFMA Foundation: Compete in a national essay competition for high school students to sharpen financial literacy and writing skills. Stand out on college applications w
• Beta Alpha Psi High School Competition — Beta Alpha Psi: Financial literacy and accounting case competition. Regional and national levels.
• NYU Stern Summer Business Program — NYU Stern School of Business: Immerse yourself in a prestigious summer program at NYU Stern to develop business, finance, and entrepreneurship skills. Boost your college applicatio
• High School Fed Challenge — Federal Reserve Bank of New York: Compete in a hybrid high school economics competition focused on monetary policy. Build research, finance, and presentation skills to boost college ap
• Wharton Leadership in the Business World (LBW) — Wharton Global Youth Program (University of Pennsylvania): Four-week business immersion with Wharton faculty, cases, and company visits.
• 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
• Wharton Global High School Investment Competition National Finalist — Wharton School: Top 10 teams present at Wharton. Build and defend investment portfolio strategy.
• SIFMA Foundation Stock Market Game National Winner — SIFMA Foundation: National champion of Stock Market Game simulation. Virtual trading competition with real market data.
• Citadel Data Open Competition — Citadel LLC: Data science competition hosted by leading hedge fund. Demonstrates quantitative skills to elite finance industry employers.
• Rotman International Trading Competition — Rotman School of Management: Prestigious simulation-based trading competition. Demonstrates financial acumen and quantitative decision-making under pressure.
• JPMorgan Chase Scholars Program — JPMorgan Chase: Earn a $10k scholarship while gaining finance and business skills through this virtual mentorship program for high school seniors. Boost your college
• 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
• Youth About Business Summer Business Camp — Youth About Business: Nonprofit-run mergers & acquisitions simulation camp hosted at Columbia Business School: high school teams play executive management on a live deal, a
• National Secondary School Academic Competition — National Consumer League (Singapore): Singapore math and general academic competition for secondary school students focusing on real-world consumer and financial literacy.
• Student Board of Directors Program — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: School-year program at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis where St. Louis-area rising seniors meet monthly with Fed economists and leaders, then ma
• Wall Street 101 — Bentley University: One-week finance immersion at Bentley University's trading room (60 workstations, 24 Bloomberg terminals) for rising juniors and seniors. Residential
• Wake Forest Summer Immersion: Business Institute — Wake Forest University: Week-long residential business bootcamp at Wake Forest ($3,500) covering finance, marketing, management, and operations, ending with a team pitch - op
• Quantitative Finance: 4-Week Virtual Summer Research Experience — Stevens Institute of Technology School of Business: Four-week live virtual quant-finance program from Stevens School of Business (July 6-31, 2026, $2,500): rising juniors and seniors earn Bloomberg Mark
• Wharton Global High School Investment Competition — Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania: Test your investment acumen in this prestigious global competition. Teams manage a $100,000 virtual portfolio and compete against schools worldwide.

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