Virtual & Online STEM Programs for High School Students

These stem programs are fully online, so students in any town — not just near a major university — can participate.

Virtual programs remove geography from the equation; selectivity and follow-through are all that separate you from applicants in Boston or the Bay Area.

166 verified programs match this page; 27 of the featured listings are completely free.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• Presidential AI Challenge — White House Office of Science and Technology Policy: National K-12 AI competition where students build real-world AI solutions for community challenges, with finals at the White House.
• The Knowledge Society — TKS: Join a 10-month online STEM accelerator for high schoolers in grades 9-11. Build AI, biotech, and quantum computing projects to boost college apps and
• Meta Hacker Cup — Meta: Global programming competition for high school students to master algorithms and coding. Build problem-solving skills and boost college applications.
• Mandelbrot Competition — Mandelbrot Competition: Join a dynamic online math competition for grades 6-12 featuring individual and team rounds. Build problem-solving skills, enhance teamwork, and boost
• Kaggle Data Science Competitions — Kaggle/Google: Join exciting online data science competitions for high school students! Build Python coding skills, explore AI, and strengthen your college applicati
• James Dyson Award — James Dyson Foundation: International STEM competition challenging high school innovators in Grades 11-12 to design groundbreaking solutions. Win $40k and boost college appli
• Davidson Fellows — Davidson Institute: Win $50k, $25k, or $10k scholarships in this elite STEM competition for high-achieving high school students. Boost college applications with hands-on
• Caltech Signature Award for Innovation — California Institute of Technology: Earn recognition for your groundbreaking ideas in science with this free high school research award. Boost your college applications and showcase your
• Mathematical Olympiad for Girls — Mathematical Olympiad Foundation: Elite math competition for high school girls to tackle USAMO-level problems. Boosts problem-solving skills, stands out on college applications, and in
• International Youth Math Challenge — IYMC: Join a global math competition for high schoolers to enhance problem-solving skills, boost college applications, and compete for $40k+ in prizes. Free
• Hertz Foundation Fellowship Application Prep — Hertz Foundation: Prepare for the elite Hertz Foundation Fellowship and boost STEM skills. Perfect for high school seniors aiming for competitive grad school applicatio
• Microsoft AI for Good Challenge — Microsoft: Empower global impact by joining this free AI competition for high schoolers. Develop machine learning skills, boost college applications, and tackle
• MIT Global AI Hackathon — MIT RAISE & App Inventor Foundation: Join a free virtual AI hackathon for high schoolers to develop apps tackling global challenges. Gain hands-on STEM experience and boost your college a
• World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY) — Ready AI: Join a global AI competition for grades 6-12 to solve real-world problems using artificial intelligence. Build STEM skills, boost college applications
• Drone Racing League Simulator Championship — Drone Racing League: Compete in an online FPV drone racing competition for high schoolers! Build STEM skills, boost college applications, and gain hands-on experience in e
• Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize — Australian Museum: A national Australian short science film competition for school students, encouraging creative communication of scientific ideas.
• GitHub Open Source Contributor — GitHub / Open Source Projects: Contribute to real-world open-source projects online! High school students gain programming skills, collaboration experience, and boost college applic
• Intel oneAPI Developer Challenge — Intel Corporation: Global coding challenge using Intel's oneAPI toolkit; cash prizes
• American Astronomical Society Scholarships — American Astronomical Society: Explore astronomy scholarships for high school seniors pursuing astrophysics. Boost college applications, gain STEM recognition, and take the next ste
• NASA App Development Challenge — NASA: Build apps for NASA missions. Winners present at NASA center.
• ExploraVision Science Competition — Toshiba & NSTA: Imagine future technologies in this free virtual STEM competition for grades 9-12. Build science communication skills and boost college applications w
• Technovation Families — Technovation: Learn coding and app development with Technovation Families' free virtual workshops. Perfect for grades 8-18 to build STEM skills and boost college ap
• Udall Scholarship — Udall Foundation: Earn a prestigious scholarship for excelling in environmental studies or Native American policy. Boost college applications and gain recognition for y
• Lemelson-MIT High School Invention Prize — MIT / Lemelson Foundation: Individual/team inventions. $10,000 prize. Focus on real-world problem solving.
• CryptoHack Cybersecurity Challenges — CryptoHack Community: Master cryptography and cybersecurity with self-paced online challenges. Perfect for high school STEM enthusiasts to boost skills and stand out on col
• PicoCTF Cybersecurity Competition — Carnegie Mellon University: Largest cybersecurity CTF for high schoolers. Challenges in cryptography, forensics, etc.
• Google Generation Scholarship — Google: Empowering high school seniors with a $10,000 scholarship for aspiring computer scientists from underrepresented groups. Boost college applications an
• CodeCombat Championship — CodeCombat: Compete in a free online coding competition for grades 6-12. Build game AI, enhance programming skills, and boost your college applications with hands
• Summit STEM Fellowship (SSF) — Summit Education: The Summit STEM Fellowship (SSF) is a virtual summer program for top STEM students around the world. Students learn from mentors at Harvard, Stanford,
• Marine Technology Society High School Scholarship — Marine Technology Society: Explore marine science with this virtual high school scholarship opportunity. Build STEM skills, enhance college applications, and dive into ocean tec

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