MIT Programs for High School Students

No university runs more serious pipelines for high school students than MIT: fully funded research summers (RSI), the MITES family for students from underrepresented backgrounds, Beaver Works engineering projects, and student-taught weekend academies through ESP.

Almost everything MIT offers high schoolers is free or funded — selection is on trajectory and evidence of drive, not on what your family can pay.

32 verified MIT programs, 27 free — every listing includes cost, eligibility, deadline, and the official application link.

Featured programs

Browse 32+ curated programs for high school students:

• MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition — MIT: Compete in a premier entrepreneurship competition for high schoolers. Develop business skills, launch innovative ventures, and boost college applicati
• Women's Technology Program at MIT — MIT: Empower your STEM journey with a free four-week summer program for high school women at MIT. Gain hands-on engineering skills and boost your college a
• Beaver Works Summer Institute — MIT: Elite summer program for high schoolers in Grades 10-11 focused on STEM fields like drones and cybersecurity. Gain hands-on experience and boost colle
• 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
• Harvard-MIT Chemistry Olympiad (HMChO) — Harvard-MIT Partnership: Join a free online chemistry competition for high school students (Grades 9-12) to boost STEM skills, enhance college applications, and tackle challen
• MIT Lincoln Laboratory Radar Introduction for Student Engineers (LLRISE) — MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Build radar systems in this free, hands-on summer program for rising seniors. Develop STEM skills, boost college applications, and explore electrical
• MITES Semester — MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs: Explore advanced STEM topics in this free virtual semester program for high school students. Build skills, gain mentorship, and boost your college app
• MIT Battlecode — MIT: Develop coding, AI, and problem-solving skills in this free hybrid competition for high school students. Boost college applications with hands-on prog
• MIT Sloan Business Analytics Program — MIT Sloan: Master data analytics and strategy in this hands-on summer program for high school students. Develop Python skills and boost college applications with
• MIT Solve Youth Innovation Challenge — MIT Solve: Join a global innovation competition for high school students (Grades 9-12) to solve real-world challenges. Build skills, boost college apps, and make
• MIT Splash — MIT Educational Studies Program: Explore hundreds of unique, student-taught classes at MIT Splash. High schoolers in grades 9-12 develop skills, explore passions, and enhance college
• Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams — Lemelson-MIT: Invent real-world solutions in this hands-on STEM competition for high school students. Build engineering skills, earn grants, and boost college appli
• MIT Educational Studies Program — MIT: Explore diverse hybrid programs led by MIT students that foster critical thinking, skill-building, and academic exploration—perfect for enhancing coll
• MITES Saturdays — MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs: Explore free in-person STEM courses for 9th-10th graders at MIT. Build advanced math, science, and engineering skills to strengthen college applicatio
• Cambridge Science Festival Student Research Showcase — MIT: Students present research projects to the public at the Cambridge Science Festival. Recognition for excellence in science communication and research.
• MIT THINK Scholars Program — MIT TechX: Empower your STEM journey with this free high school research program. Get grants, mentorship, and hands-on experience to elevate college applications
• MIT MathRoots — Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Transform your math skills in this free, proof-based summer program for high schoolers. Build STEM expertise and boost college applications at MIT Mat
• MIT Integration Bee — MIT: Test calculus skills in a fast-paced integration competition for grades 11-12. Build problem-solving expertise, boost college applications, and compet
• MITES Summer — MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs: Six-week, residential MIT program for underrepresented rising seniors in STEM.
• Broad Institute Scientific Internship Program — Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard: Research internship at world-leading genomics research institute.
• MIT PRIMES-USA Math Research Program — Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT's online math research program for students outside Boston. Year-long mentorship conducting original mathematics research.
• Zero Robotics Competition (MIT/NASA) — MIT / NASA: Program satellites that run on International Space Station. Finals broadcast from ISS.
• Ceres Connection Student Naming Program — MIT Lincoln Laboratory: A recognition program that names asteroids after top U.S. math and science students and teachers.
• MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs — MIT: Explore free in-person engineering programs for high school students at MIT. Build hands-on STEM skills, enhance college applications, and join a dive
• MIT Solve Indigenous Communities Fellowship — MIT Solve: Empower indigenous communities through this free virtual fellowship for high schoolers. Build leadership skills, tackle real-world issues, and boost y
• MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) Youth Program — MIT: Program engaging youth in climate research and innovation
• MIT Launch Summer Program — MIT: 4-week summer entrepreneurship program at MIT. Students develop real startups with mentorship from MIT entrepreneurs and VCs. Highly selective.
• MIT INSPIRE — MIT: National research competition for high schoolers in humanities, arts, and social sciences. Build research skills, boost college applications, and comp
• MITMUNC (MIT Model United Nations Conference) — MIT: Join a rigorous Model UN conference blending science, tech, and diplomacy. Perfect for high school leaders to boost college apps, debate skills, and g
• MIT Sloan High School Case Competition — MIT Sloan School of Management: Compete in a virtual business case competition for high schoolers (Grades 9-12). Build analytical skills, boost your college application, and gain han
• MIT PRIMES Research Program — Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Free year-long research program for high school students in mathematics, computer science, and computational biology. Students work with MIT researche
• LLCipher — MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Free one-week summer cryptography workshop from MIT Lincoln Laboratory at Beaver Works in Cambridge, MA, introducing high schoolers to the abstract al

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