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14 Computer Science Programs for High School Students in California

If you’re a high school student in California interested in computer science, you should consider applying for a program! California offers a number of computer science programs for high school students, providing valuable opportunities to explore technology, coding, AI, and more. These programs can not only help you develop critical skills in a rapidly growing field but also boost your college applications by showcasing your commitment to your academic and extracurricular pursuits. 

These programs allow students to dive into their interests, discover potential career paths, and even get a clearer sense of what they might want to pursue in college. For students eager to stand out and build a strong foundation in computer science, here are 14 programs you can consider! 


1. Lumiere Research Scholar Program

Location: Remote — you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!
Cost: Starting $2990. Financial aid is offered.

Application Deadline: Varying deadlines based on cohort. The deadline for the upcoming winter cohort is November 24, 2024.

Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including summer, fall, winter, and spring. The upcoming winter cohort starts on December 16, 2024.

Eligibility:

  • You must be currently enrolled in high school

  • Students must demonstrate a high level of academic achievement. (Note. students have an unweighted GPA of 3.3 out of 4)

  • No previous knowledge of your field of interest is required!

The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program offers extensive 1-on-1 research opportunities for high school students across a broad range of subject areas that you can explore as a high schooler. 

The program pairs high-school students with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll have developed an independent research paper! You can choose research topics from subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. You can find more details about the application here.

2. Veritas AI

Location: Virtual

Cost: 

  • $2,290 for the 10-week AI Scholars program

  • $5,400 for the 15-week AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase

  • $6,900for both

  • Need-based financial aid is available for AI Scholars. You can apply here

Application deadline: On a rolling basis. Winter cohort deadline - December 1, 2024

Dates: Various according to the cohort

Eligibility: Ambitious high school students located anywhere in the world. AI Fellowship applicants should either have completed the AI Scholars program or exhibit experience with AI concepts or Python.

Veritas AI, founded and run by Harvard graduate students, offers programs tailored for high school students who are passionate about artificial intelligence. Students looking to get started with AI, ML, and data science would benefit from the AI Scholars program. Through this 10-session boot camp, students are introduced to the fundamentals of AI & data science and get a chance to work on real-world projects. 

Another option for more advanced students is the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase. Through this program, students can work 1:1 with mentors from top universities on a unique, individual project. A bonus of this program is that students have access to the in-house publication team to help them secure publications in high school research journals. The fellowship encourages students to explore interdisciplinary approaches, enabling them to merge AI with various fields such as finance, medicine, sports, environmental science, and more! You can also check out some examples of past projects here

3. Horizon Academic Research Program (HARP)

Location: Virtual 

Cost: Varies. 

Application Date: May 21, 2024, for the summer cohort and September 25, 2024, for the fall cohort 

Program Dates: 

  • Summer seminar - June 24, 2024 - September 2, 2024

  • Fall seminar - October 23, 2024 - February 19, 2025

  • Lab dates are flexible, but you must apply 4 weeks in advance.

Eligibility: High school students with good academic standing (>3.67/4.0 GPA) can apply. Most accepted students are 10th/11th graders! Only a couple of tracks require formal prerequisites, more details of which can be found here.


Horizon offers trimester-long research programs for high school students across subject areas such as data science, machine learning, political theory, biology, chemistry, neuroscience, psychology, and more! Horizon is one of the few research programs for high school students that offers you the choice to engage in either quantitative or qualitative research. 


Once you select a particular subject track and the type of research you wish to carry out, Horizon pairs you with a professor/PhD scholar from a reputed university who acts as a mentor throughout your research journey. As a participant, you will be expected to develop a 20-page research paper that you can send to prestigious journals for publication as a high school student. 


This program is a solid opportunity for you to pursue a research program in highly specialized fields under the guidance of a top scholar. The program also provides a letter of recommendation for each student and detailed project feedback that you can use to work on future projects. 


4. AIMI Summer Health AI Bootcamp by Stanford University

Location: Virtual

Cost: $850 participation fee + $40 application fee

Application Deadline: February 28, 2025

Dates: June 16-27, 2025 (Tentative, based on 2024 program dates)

Eligibility: High school students entering grades 9-12 in Fall 2025, over the age of 14 by the start of the program.


Stanford’s AIMI Summer Health AI Bootcamp is an immersive, two-week virtual experience for high school students that explores how Machine Learning is used in the field of healthcare. The program features online courses, group discussions, peer interaction, social activities, and Virtual Career Lunch and Learns with guest speakers from diverse fields like academia, industry, and government. Students will explore key concepts in Machine Learning, including evaluation metrics, strategies, challenges, and the integration of foundation models and Generative AI in healthcare settings.


5. Columbia University Academic Year Weekend Program


Location: Virtual 

Cost: $2,810 per session

Application Deadline: December 5, 2024

Dates: (Spring) January 18, 2025 – March 23, 2025 

Eligibility: High school students in grades 9–12

Columbia University’s Academic Year Weekend program is a virtual, 10-week experience tailored for high school students. Students can enroll in up to four courses, each taught in two-hour sessions over the weekend—Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. With more than 20 course options, the program offers a wide range of subjects, and classes are taught in small groups by expert instructors to allow for personalized attention.

Beyond academics, the program includes virtual clubs, peer interactions, support from a Student Life Intern, and college preparation seminars, workshops, and lectures. Technology-focused courses like Data Science and Machine Learning 1 & 2 provide hands-on experience with data science, machine learning, and Python programming. At the same time, other programming courses like Introduction to Python and Programming with Python are also available. Students who complete the program will receive a Columbia University Certification of Participation to enhance their college applications.


6. Summer@Brown Online

Location: Virtual

Cost: $3,094 - $5,998, depending on the duration of the program. 

Application Deadline: May 9, 2025

Dates: June 16, 2025 – July 25, 2025

Eligibility: Students completing grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18 by June 15, 2025

Brown University's Summer@Brown online program offers over 50 courses that deliver an enriching and challenging academic experience. Students can opt for fully asynchronous, mostly asynchronous, or blended learning formats. Throughout the program, you’ll engage in independent research, tackle advanced college-level material, and earn a Digital Certificate of Completion. Courses lasting three weeks or more also include a detailed Course Performance Report.

With over ten different subject tracks to explore, students have many opportunities to delve into areas of interest. The Engineering and Technology track offers a course on AI, Data Science, and Machine Learning, which covers analytics, business applications, and programming fundamentals. This four-week blended course allows students to gain practical experience by developing Machine Learning concepts through real-world projects. Additional technology offerings include Introduction to Statistical Programming in R and Introduction to Computational Mathematics and Big Data Visualization.


7. Stanford Pre-College Summer Institute


Location: Virtual. There are some in-person options too!

Cost: $3,050

Application Deadline: March 29, 2025 (Tentative, based on 2024 program dates)

Dates: (Tentative, based on 2024 program dates)

  • Session One: June 17, 2024 - June 28, 2025

  • Session Two: July 08, 2024 - July 19, 2025

Eligibility: Students in grades 10-11 at the time of application

Stanford’s Pre-College Summer Institute offers an enriching online experience for high school students interested in exploring advanced topics through challenging, in-depth courses. The program focuses on both expanding knowledge and enhancing skills, fostering an atmosphere of innovation and collaborative engagement.

The Computer Science track features more than 10 courses, each focusing on different facets of the field. Students can study subjects such as Game Design, Artificial Intelligence, Introduction to C++, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), gaining valuable insights into a wide range of computer science disciplines.


8. UCLA’s Computer Science Summer Institute (Introductory Track)

Location: University of California Los Angeles, CA 

Cost: $3,197 (This is a commuter program)

Application Deadline: Applications typically close in June.

Dates: June – July.

Eligibility: High school students in grades 9-12 can apply. All participants must be at least 15 years of age by the first day of Summer Sessions 2025 on June 24.


The Computer Science Introductory Track offers a combination of coding and lab touring experiences, as well as UCLA coursework designed for high school students interested in computer science and related majors. During the program, you will tour UCLA’s state-of-the-art laboratories while also completing UCLA coursework designed for high school students interested in computer science and related majors. 


You will learn how to use computers as tools for problem-solving, creativity, and exploration through UCLA’s computer programs that cover data types, including integers, strings, and lists; control structures, including conditionals and loops; and functional decomposition. UCLA’s Computer Science Summer Institute replicates what it would be like to take a college-level computer science course and utilizes Python (a programming language) to introduce students to both programming itself, and the broader field of computing. This opportunity is only available for students able to commute to UCLA’s campus, as there is no option for on-campus housing. 


There’s an intermediate track you can consider if you have prior experience in the field.


9. Futures: Machine Learning Algorithms by UC San Diego Extended Studies


Location: Virtual

Cost: $350 per course 

Application Deadline: Dates for 2025 TBD. 

Dates: Dates for 2025 TBD

Eligibility: High school students.


UC San Diego Extended Studies offers an online Machine Learning program specifically tailored for high school students, comprising three courses: Python and Mathematics for Machine Learning, Machine Learning Algorithms, and Deep Neural Networks.

The program begins with a foundational course that covers the essential programming skills in Python and the mathematics behind Machine Learning algorithms. In the second course, students learn about widely used Machine Learning algorithms for both supervised and unsupervised models. The final course delves into Deep Neural Networks, where students explore Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and build a Deep Neural Network (DNN) framework to apply in real-world tasks like classification and recommendation systems.


10. Stanford’s A14ALL

Location: Virtual

Cost: $4,000 (Financial aid is available)

Application Deadline: March 20, 2025 (Tentative, based on 2024 program dates)

Dates: July 8 - 26, 2025 (Tentative, based on 2024 program dates)

Eligibility: Current 9th-grade students 


Stanford’s AI4ALL is a 3-week online program designed to immerse students in AI through a combination of lectures, practical research, and mentoring. Participants will have the opportunity to interact with industry experts and learn how AI is being used to tackle problems across various fields.

As part of the program, students will work with the Stanford AI Lab, gaining valuable hands-on experience with cutting-edge research projects. The program is open to all 9th-grade students, though applicants with a strong academic background, a passion for STEM, volunteer or outreach experience, and problem-solving and math skills are preferred.


11. Kode With Klossy


Location: Virtual

Cost: Free

Application Deadline: Interested students can join the program waitlist. 

Dates: 

  • June 3 - June 14

  • June 17 - June 28

  • July 8 - July 19

  • July 22 - August 2

  • August 5 - August 16

Eligibility: Women and gender-expansive students aged 13-18

Kode with Klossy offers a 2-week, free virtual coding camp designed to empower students from underrepresented genders in STEM. The camp covers foundational coding skills, starting with Web Development, where students learn to create websites using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. The Machine Learning course introduces AI concepts such as algorithms, data sets, and natural language processing, helping students build a chatbot in Python. Additional subjects like Data Science and Mobile App development are also part of the curriculum.


12. Google Summer of Code


Location: Virtual 

Stipend: Students receive a stipend for their work. No amount has been specified. 

Application Deadline: April 2, 2025 (Tentative, based on 2024 program dates)

Dates: January 23, 2025 - November 17, 2025 (Tentative, based on 2024 program dates)

Eligibility: Graduated high school seniors who are 18 years old or above

Google’s Summer of Code offers a virtual, 12-week opportunity for graduated high school students to work on open-source coding projects with guidance from dedicated mentors. Participants gain real-world experience by collaborating with source organizations on meaningful software development tasks.

The program encourages involvement in open-source development, helping projects recruit new developers while giving participants exposure to real-world coding scenarios. It also aims to enhance the open-source ecosystem by producing more collaborative code for global use.

13. Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) Online Programs


Location: Virtual

Cost: 

  • LIVE courses: $550 - $1,365

  • Individually Paced courses: $984 - $1,499

  • Session-Based courses: $716 - $2,127

  • Clubs: $191

Application Deadline: January 5, 2025 (For Spring 2025)

Dates: Dates and duration vary depending on the type of course chosen

Eligibility: High school students 

Johns Hopkins CTY’s Online Programs challenge academically gifted students by offering advanced learning opportunities beyond the typical classroom experience. These programs are offered in three formats: session-based, individually paced, and live classes, with courses available in subjects such as Computer Science, Language Arts, Mathematics, and History.

In the Computer Science track, students will engage with topics like Scratch programming, advanced Java, and AP Computer Science, along with learning various programming languages. The track also includes project-based learning, where students apply their skills to create animations, design games, build websites, and more.

14. Girls Who Code


Location: Virtual

Cost: Free

Application Deadline: Rolling applications

Dates: There is a 2-week Summer Immersion program and a 6-week self-paced program 

Eligibility: Current 9th-12th graders


Girls Who Code offers a free virtual program designed to help high school students develop essential computer science skills for successful careers in tech. The program is available in two formats: a 2-week Summer Immersion Program, which focuses on game design through live virtual classes, and a 6-week Self-paced Program, where students explore key tech topics independently.

Participants will gain hands-on experience in coding through real-world projects in areas like game design, cybersecurity, data science, web development, and artificial intelligence. Additionally, the program offers networking opportunities with engineers and entrepreneurs, as well as access to workshops aimed at developing career-ready skills.

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