Free Business Programs for High School Students

Every program on this page costs $0 to attend — cost should never be the reason a strong student skips business opportunities.

Funded business programs are often more selective than paid ones precisely because someone else is paying; treat their deadlines seriously.

75 verified programs match this page; 30 of the featured listings are completely free; 10 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition — Blue Ocean Global Network: Join the world’s largest virtual pitch competition for high school students. Build entrepreneurship skills, boost your college applications, and showc
• Yale Entrepreneurial Society High School Fellowship — Yale Entrepreneurial Society: Master entrepreneurship skills in this free 8-week virtual fellowship for high school students. Build startups, strengthen college applications, and l
• Forbes 30 Under 30 Recognition — Forbes Magazine: Gain national recognition as a high school entrepreneur with Forbes 30 Under 30. Boost college applications and showcase your achievements in business
• Knowledge Matters Virtual Business Challenge — Knowledge Matters: Join this free virtual business competition for high schoolers to manage retail, sports, or restaurant simulations. Build entrepreneurial skills and b
• 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
• Thiel Fellowship (Under 20) — Thiel Foundation: Prestigious $100,000 fellowship for young entrepreneurs under 22 to skip or leave college and pursue startup ideas with two years of funding, mentorsh
• 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
• LifeSmarts National Championship — National Consumers League: Free national consumer knowledge and personal finance competition for high school teams, testing real-world skills in health, technology, the environm
• DECA Scholarship Program — DECA Inc.: DECA awards over $5 million in scholarships annually to its members, with awards ranging from $1,000 to $50,000. Scholarships reward excellence in bus
• FBLA Scholarship Program — Future Business Leaders of America: FBLA-PBL offers multiple scholarships for active FBLA members pursuing business-related degrees. Awards recognize academic excellence, community servi
• Thiel Fellowship Under 20 — Thiel Foundation: $100,000 grant over 2 years to skip college and build a startup. Past fellows have founded companies worth billions. Extremely prestigious for entrepr
• Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) National Competition — YEA!: National pitch competition for YEA! entrepreneurs. Students compete with businesses launched through YEA! program.
• Yale Bulldogs Investment Fund — Yale University: Student-managed investment fund experience at Yale. Learn portfolio management from Yale finance community.
• SXSW Pitch Competition — SXSW: Pitch startup at South by Southwest. Student category.
• National Economics Challenge (NEC) Nationals — Council for Economic Education: National economics competition with quiz bowl format. Teams advance through state and regional rounds to nationals.
• Beta Alpha Psi High School Competition — Beta Alpha Psi: Financial literacy and accounting case competition. Regional and national levels.
• Harvard Business School Summer Venture in Management Program — Harvard Business School: Free HBS program for underrepresented students interested in business. Week-long case method experience at Harvard.
• TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield — TechCrunch: Startup competition at major tech conference. Present to investors.
• St. Gallen Symposium Wings of Excellence — University of St. Gallen: Top 100 essayists meet global business and political leaders in Switzerland. One of the most selective business/leadership opportunities globally.
• Jane Street INSIGHT Program — Jane Street: Highly selective program at elite quantitative trading firm for students from underrepresented backgrounds. Fully funded exposure to quantitative trad
• American Enterprise Institute High School Economics Writing Competition — American Enterprise Institute: Economics essay competition from AEI. Analyze economic policy issues for prizes.
• Virtual Enterprise International Business Plan Competition — Virtual Enterprises International: Business plan competition culminating at international finals. Students run simulated companies and pitch to real business judges.
• SIFMA Foundation Stock Market Game National Winner — SIFMA Foundation: National champion of Stock Market Game simulation. Virtual trading competition with real market data.
• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge — NFTE: National pitch competition. Winners receive seed funding and mentorship.
• Future Founders Launchpad — Future Founders: Premier youth entrepreneurship program with accelerator, pitch competitions, and $10K startup grants.
• 1517 Fund Fellowship — 1517 Fund: Venture capital for young founders. Skip college and build startups.
• Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) — Entrepreneurs' Organization: World's premier competition for student entrepreneurs. Regional, national, and global rounds. Cash prizes and mentorship. Validates real business achi
• Citadel Data Open Competition — Citadel LLC: Data science competition hosted by leading hedge fund. Demonstrates quantitative skills to elite finance industry employers.
• Diamond Challenge National Finalist — University of Delaware: Global HS entrepreneurship competition. Business concept and social venture tracks. $100k+ in prizes.

Frequently asked questions