If you’re passionate about computer science, choosing the right research program matters. Here are ten of the best computer science research programs for high schoolers, chosen for their technical rigor, reputation, and accessibility. Dates, costs, and deadlines change year to year, so confirm the current details with each program.
Advice for summer research programs
Before the list, here’s some advice to improve your chances of getting into these competitive programs. The tips Rishab Jain shares in the video below can give your application a real edge.
1. Carnegie Mellon’s CS Scholars Pre-College Program
Description: CS Scholars take a deep dive into computer science through a mix of classroom instruction, hands-on research projects, faculty lectures, and industry engagement. In the CS Scholars track, you can expect to learn algorithmic components (variables, functions, conditionals, and loops), basic data structures (lists and dictionaries), and problem-solving in Python (algorithmic thinking, top-down design, testing, and debugging). You’ll also take a math course to strengthen your computational skills.
Program length: about four weeks (mid-June to mid-July).
Applications due: around March 1.
Cost: none (fully funded).
Selectivity: Moderate.
Eligibility: students must be 16 by the program start date, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (DACA-registered students are also eligible), and a sophomore in high school at the time of application.
2. DSI Summer Lab (Data Science Institute) at UChicago
Description: the Data Science Institute Summer Lab is an immersive 8-week paid summer research program at the University of Chicago. Undergraduates (and Chicago-area high school students) are paired with a data science mentor across domains including computer science, data science, social science, climate and energy policy, public policy, materials science, and biomedical research. No prior research experience is required.
Program length: about eight weeks (June to August).
Cost: none; stipend around $5,625.
Selectivity: Highly selective (around 10%).
Eligibility: high school and undergraduate students.
3. The Anson L. Clark Scholars Program at Texas Tech University
Description: the Anson L. Clark Scholars Program is a highly selective, intensive seven-week research program for twelve rising seniors and recent high school graduates. Scholars live on campus, and receive a stipend after submitting their research project report. Accommodation, meals, and activities are covered.
Eligibility: applicants must be at least 17 by the program start date and be rising seniors or recent high school graduates. Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Program length: about seven weeks (mid-June to early August).
Cost: none; stipend of $750.
Selectivity: Highly selective (around 12%).
4. Research Experience at UCSB Summer Sessions
Description: in this six-week intensive program, students are paired with a mentor (a graduate student, postdoc, or faculty member) to work on a specific research project, and can earn university credit. CS research topics vary year to year.
Cost: application fee plus an enrollment deposit, then tuition and program fees (with an added housing and meal fee if you live on campus). Confirm current pricing on the official site, since fees change each year.
Selectivity: Highly selective (around 10-15%).
Eligibility: high school sophomores and juniors.
5. Computer Science and Informatics Summer Research Experience (CSIRE)
Description: CSIRE is a summer program that gives high school students a chance to do research and explore a career in the field. It’s run jointly by the Department of Biomedical Informatics and the Department of Computer Science at Stony Brook University. Each student works in a lab with a faculty or Ph.D. student mentor, visits labs, attends seminars, and presents their work midway through and at the end. Programming background is required.
Cost: $2,800 (financial aid available).
Program dates: late June through early August.
Selectivity: Moderate (around 25%).
Eligibility: high school students.
6. University of New Hampshire Tech Camp
Description: Tech Camp runs several sessions each summer on the Durham campus, with tracks for different age groups and experience levels:
- Session I: TechSplorers, TechVenturers, Dinah Whipple STEAM Academy.
- Session II: TechSplorers, TechVenturers, TechLeaders.
- Session III: TechVenturers, TechLeaders.
Cost: free to about $1,350 depending on the program.
Application deadline: around May 1.
7. Berkeley Summer Computer Science Academy
Description: the Berkeley Summer Computer Science Academy is a rigorous two-week experience for motivated students aged 16 to 17 who are interested in computer science and college-level student life. It’s open to all students regardless of prior coding experience, with immersion in coding, core CS concepts, collaborative programming, and problem-solving.
Eligibility (domestic students):
- Have completed 10th or 11th grade by the start of the program and plan to continue high school the following fall.
- Have an overall B average (3.0, weighted or unweighted).
- Maintain their own health insurance coverage as required.
- Live in residential housing (the program requires students to live on campus).
Eligibility (international students): the same academic requirements, plus meeting the minimum English language requirements if applicable, being 16 by the program start date, and requiring residential housing.
Cost: around $4,625.
Format: in-person.
Application deadline: around mid-March.
8. Data Science Summer Program at Harvard University
Description: in this two-week introduction to machine learning, students build a self-driving toy car. It starts with lectures on statistical learning, machine learning, and programming, then introduces various machine learning methods and their applications, including in biomedicine. You’ll learn Python and implement the concepts and classification algorithms you build. Lunches include conversations with machine learning experts.
Cost: free, and stipends are available.
Format: in-person.
Application deadline: around May 1.
Eligibility:
- High school student (rising freshman to senior).
- Students from low-income backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
- Interest in applying to college with a STEM focus.
- Basic algebra.
- Completed application and release forms.
- Resume.
9. MIT Women’s Technology Program
Description: the MIT Women’s Technology Program (WTP) is a rigorous four-week summer experience that introduces high school students to engineering through hands-on classes, labs, and team projects in the summer after 11th grade.
WTP is designed for students who are excited about learning, have excelled at math and science, and have little or no prior background in engineering, with few opportunities to explore these fields.
Cost: free.
Program dates: June to July.
Selectivity: High.
Eligibility: juniors or seniors in high school.
10. UPenn’s Coding Academy
Description: the Coding Academy is a three-week residential introduction to front-end web development. Students learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and how to combine them to build useful, attractive web pages that run on any desktop or mobile device. They also learn to use GitHub to build code collaboratively. Instructor-led demos and explanations are followed by hands-on in-class exercises that reinforce key concepts. It’s a strong foundation for a technical career and for bringing new tools to other fields (arts, history, literature, language, and more).
Fee: around $2,500 per course (varies by course).
Program dates: about three weeks in July.
Selectivity: Moderate.
Eligibility: applicants must be 13 to 18 years old. Courses have different experience levels, which you must meet.
Summer programs don’t end here
If none of these ten feel like the right fit, or you want more top-tier options, Rishab Jain has curated a list of 50+ STEM opportunities for high school students around the world. Use it to widen your search.
Happy searching, and best of luck!
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