Internships for High School Seniors 2026 | Gap Year & Pre-College

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. Senior year is about finishing strong and telling your story. Capitalize on prior work, sustain leadership, and consider gap-year or pre-college options for after graduation.

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.

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:

  • 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
  • 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
  • Scripps Research High School Internship Program — Scripps Research: Gain hands-on biomedical research experience in this free high school internship for grades 11-12. Build STEM skills and boost college applications th
  • Science Internship Program (SIP) at UC Santa Cruz — UC Santa Cruz: 8-week summer research internship. Students work in UCSC research labs. Competitive admission.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • NIH High School Summer Internship Program (HS-SIP) — National Institutes of Health (OITE): Explore biomedical research through a paid summer internship at NIH labs. Gain hands-on STEM experience, boost college applications, and work with top
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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
  • Student Urban Nature (SUN) High School Internship — Natural Areas Conservancy: Paid summer urban-ecology internship for NYC rising juniors and seniors in Queens and Staten Island: field data collection, forest and wetland ecology
  • Mass General Brigham Youth Program — Mass General Brigham: Multi-year healthcare pipeline for 75 sophomores a year from Boston, Revere, and Chelsea: paid hospital internships during the school year and summer,
  • Secondary School Field Research Program (SSFRP) — Columbia University Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory: Free six-week summer program with stipends at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory: NYC-area high school students join tiered research teams do
  • Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Sciences (JHIBS) — Johns Hopkins University Department of Neurology: Johns Hopkins neuroscience internship for high school juniors and seniors: an 8-week in-person summer research experience for Baltimore City students,
  • Genesys Works — Genesys Works: Free program that trains high school juniors for eight weeks in the summer, then places them in a paid year-long corporate internship during senior ye
  • Forage Virtual Job Simulations — Forage: Free, self-paced virtual job simulations built with 125+ real employers - JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BCG, Pfizer, KPMG - including high-school editions;
  • Science for Success Teen Internship — Cleveland Museum of Natural History: Paid multi-year museum internship for Cleveland-area students starting as rising 9th graders: earn $11/hour with the Cleveland Museum of Natural Histo
  • Youthcast Media Group Journalism Boot Camps and Workshops — Youthcast Media Group: Virtual journalism boot camps and reporting workshops where high schoolers nationwide cover health and safety issues with veteran-journalist mentors;

Frequently asked questions

Is it too late for seniors to add activities?

It is not too late to deepen what you have started or take on a capstone, but admissions officers value sustained commitment over last-minute additions.

Can high school students really get internships?

Yes, though many formal corporate internships have age limits. Smaller organizations, university labs, nonprofits, and structured summer programs are the most accessible entry points.

Are high school internships paid?

Some are (NIH and certain government and corporate programs), many are unpaid, and some are part of a paid summer program. Filter by cost below.

How do I find an internship with no experience?

Lead with curiosity: email local professionals, use school and family networks, and apply early to structured programs. Our internships guide walks through the process.