10 Free Summer Programs for High School Students in California

Participating in a summer program offers high schoolers a chance to develop their skills, build their confidence, and gain an academic edge in a field they’re interested in. These programs, which are typically conducted during school breaks, also help prevent the ‘summer slide’ – a loss of academic skills and knowledge due to a lack of practice during long breaks.

One of the drawbacks of summer programs is their cost, which can be a deterrent for some students. However, a number of STEM, humanities, and social science summer programs are completely free to attend and, in some cases, students need not even reside nearby. 

Here are 10 free summer programs for high school students in California!

1. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR)

Subject Areas: Immunology, neurobiology, cancer biology, bioengineering, stem cell and regenerative medicine, cardiovascular biology, bioinformatics, genetics, and genomics.

Deadline: Dates TBA for 2025. Applications typically close in February.

Dates: Typically 8 weeks from June to August. The 2024 program will run from June 10 to August 1.

Eligibility: Applicants must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident

• Be 16 years or older at the start of the program

• Be juniors or seniors at the time of application

SIMR is a prestigious 8-week guidance-focused summer program for high school juniors and seniors. Students can expect hands-on research overseen by a mentor at a top-class lab at Stanford. Participants can choose from 8 research areas including stem cell and regenerative medicine, neurobiology, cardiovascular biology, cancer biology, immunology, bioinformatics, genetics, and bioengineering. 

Throughout the summer, participants will combine lab work with summer lectures totaling about 40 hours on campus, topping off the program with a presentation of their research poster. 

2. Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab (BAIR) High School Summer Program

Subject Areas: AI, machine learning, programming, robotics.

Deadline: Dates TBA for 2025. Applications typically close in April.

Dates: The 2024 program will run from July 8 to July 12.

Eligibility: Bay Area high school youth entering grades 10–12 can apply.

In this free program, students entering grades 10–12 will explore cutting-edge AI technologies, concepts, and ethics as they learn about ongoing artificial intelligence research from Berkeley scientists and experts. You’ll get to work with UC Berkeley researchers across the areas of computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing, planning, control, and robotics.

The entire program will take place on campus at BAIR Lab, where students participate in daily guest lectures and activities guided by BAIR Lab researchers, and select visits to research labs. Participants experience life on a college campus, including lunch provided daily at UC Berkeley dining halls and a campus tour. You can access the application here.

3. Veritas AI  - AI Scholars Program

Subject Areas: AI, ML, Computer Science

Deadline: June 23, 2024

Dates: 10 weeks from June to August.

Eligibility: All high school students are eligible to apply!

Veritas AI, founded and run by Harvard graduate students, offers programs geared toward high school students who want to build their foundations in computer science and AI. In the program, students learn various concepts in data science and artificial intelligence like neural networks, image classification, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, coding using Python, and more. 

Veritas AI offers up to 100% financial aid for the 10-week AI Scholars program. Through the program, students build real-world, hands-on projects in groups of 3-5 students to showcase their interests and skills. Here is the program brochure for more details!

4. USC’s Annenberg Youth Academy for Media and Civic Engagement

Subject Areas: Media and Communication

Deadline: Dates TBD for 2025. Applications typically close in November of the previous year.

Dates: Typically 4 weeks from June to July. The 2024 program will run from June 17 to July 19.

Eligibility: Students must reside and attend high school in Los Angeles County.

This free program offers high school students the conceptual understanding and practice of college media communication and journalism courses. The goal is to determine the role of media and journalism in fashioning civic-minded thought leaders and innovators while strengthening speech and debate, writing, and critical thought skills. 

Each year, the program accepts 26 students residing across Los Angeles County to attend. In addition to coursework, the program equips students with tips on writing college essays and other advice related to college. The students will also be introduced to USC Annenberg’s undergraduate programs and services and possible careers in media and journalism.

5. The Lumiere Research Foundation Breakthrough Scholar Program

Subject Areas: STEM, Humanities, Social Sciences

Deadline: June 2, 2024. You can find the application form here.

Dates: Multiple 12-week cohorts throughout the year.

Eligibility: Open to 9–12 grade students!

The Lumiere Research Foundation makes college-level research accessible to high school students on the topic of their choosing with complete financial aid through its range of programs. The Lumiere Breakthrough Scholar Program is a 1-1 research opportunity run by the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation. 

During the program, talented high-school students are paired with world-class PhD mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll learn about the cutting edge of your field and develop an independent research paper. 

6. Pomona College Academy for Youth Success (PAYS)

Subject Areas: Liberal Arts

Deadline: Dates TBD for 2025. Applications typically close in February.

Dates: Typically 4 weeks from June to July. The 2024 program will run from June 23 to July 19.

Eligibility: Applicants must be:

• Currently a 9th-grade student

• A resident of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, or Ventura Counties

PAYS is an intensive 4-week residential program where students engage in coursework, cultural events, workshops, field trips, and projects. However, this continues throughout the academic year for the 3 consecutive years upon acceptance. 

Participants are encouraged to apply for this program if they come from low-income families and populations that are traditionally underrepresented in college. Students will live on campus and take college courses in critical inquiry and math while receiving hands-on support from trained teaching assistants. To learn more about this PAYS, you can visit this link.

7. UC Irvine’s Math ExpLR Summer Research Program

Subject Areas: Mathematical biology

Deadline: Dates TBD for 2025. Applications typically close in April.

Dates: Typically 6 weeks from June to July. The 2024 program will run from June 17 to July 25.

Eligibility: Applicants must currently be high school students, and not be graduating in spring 2024.

This 6-week program in mathematical biology pairs students with college UC Irvine undergraduates to collaborate on a computational biology research project alongside a principal investigator. 

Participants can expect to grow their understanding and view of computational biology and how it is taught in university. Additionally, participants will be expected to attend workshops in skill-building to prepare them for mathematical research, modeling, giving presentations, and crafting a research paper. 

8. Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP)

Subject Areas: Science and medicine.

Deadline: Dates TBD for 2025. Applications typically close in March.

Dates: Typically 5 weeks from June to July. The 2024 program will run from June 24 to July 26.

Eligibility: SMYSP is specifically for current high school juniors in Northern California.

The Stanford Medical Youth Science Program is a five-week immersive enrichment program focused on science and medicine that is open to low-income, first-generation high school juniors who live in Northern California. SMYSP is a full-time weekly summer program. Students will be expected to travel to Stanford’s main campus Monday through Friday for the duration of the program.

Over five weeks, participants engage in faculty lectures, professional development workshops, Stanford Medicine networking events, and a public health disparities research project. During the program and beyond, participants are mentored by faculty, health professionals, and college students in preparing for college and navigating careers in medicine.

9. Eve and Gene Black Summer Medical Career Program

Subject Areas: Medicine

Deadline: Dates TBD for 2025. Applications typically close in February.

Dates: 2 and 4-week sessions available between June and August; dates vary for different sessions. 2-week virtual sessions are also available.

Eligibility: Current 11th and 12th grade students can apply.

Dating back to 1969, the Eve and Gene Black Summer Medical Career Program was created as a means of exposing high school students to careers in the healthcare profession. This 6 to 8-week medical mentorship enables participants to attend daily sessions, interactive lessons, and presentations hosted by professionals across a slew of medical fields. The medical fields cover a range of general pediatricians and specialists like nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, radiologists, ophthalmologists, and therapists. 

Students are also given a chance to discuss projects and make presentations at the end of the program. Additionally, there might be some in-person shadowing and meeting opportunities for students, so make sure you take note of them before applying so that you can make the necessary arrangements. You can check out the past program highlights here. 

10. CAMP CHLA - Health Care Career Exploration

Subject Areas: Healthcare

Deadline: Dates TBD for 2025. Applications typically close in January.

Dates: The program has two 5-day sessions, typically one in June and one in August. June 24 - June 28, 2024 | August 5 - August 9, 2024

Eligibility: Applicants must be:

• Currently a freshman, sophomore, or junior in high school

• Residents of Los Angeles County

This 5-day program is described as a healthcare career exploration camp offered two times in the summer for high school students in LA County. Participants learn, explore, and partake in work that the Children’s Hospital of LA team members do every day. 

Participants can expect various activities such as presentations from healthcare professionals detailing a “day-in-the-life,” hands-on skill building like CPR, first aid, and disease and injury prevention know-how, networking opportunities, and a deeper understanding of the hospital’s daily work.

If you’re looking to build unique projects in the field of AI/ML, consider applying to Veritas AI! 

Veritas AI was founded by Harvard graduate students, and through the programs, you get a chance to learn the fundamentals of AI and computer science while collaborating on real-world projects. You can also work 1-1 with mentors from universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more to create unique, personalized projects. In the past year, we had over 1000 students learn data science and AI with us. You can apply here!

Image Source - Stanford University Logo