12 Free AI & ML Programs for High School Students
Are you in high school and looking to participate in artificial intelligence and machine learning programs? We’ve curated a list of free opportunities from across the country for high school students.
Participating in an artificial intelligence or machine learning program can offer valuable exposure in a way that sets you up for success, both in college and for future employment, bridging the gap between the classroom and real-world experience.
Below are 12 programs to consider, some of which are offered in the summer and others during the school year. The programs cover artificial intelligence and machine learning for students of all academic backgrounds – which can help you learn more about this emerging field, regardless of your current knowledge in these fields.
1. Veritas AI
Location: Remote - you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!
Program Length: 10 sessions (over 2 weeks or 10 weeks)
Eligibility: You must be currently enrolled in high school or plan to enroll as a freshman in college in the fall of 2023. No previous knowledge is required!
Application Deadline: There are 4 cohorts (You can apply here). Upcoming cohort - Winter 2023: December 3.
Veritas AI is founded and run by Harvard graduate students and our programs are geared towards high school students who want to build their foundations in artificial intelligence and machine learning. 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 AI Scholars program. Through the program students build real-world projects in groups of 3-5 students to showcase their interests and skills. You can also apply for the AI Fellowship where you work 1-1 with mentors from top universities to build unique, individualized projects. Veritas AI offers up to 100% financial aid to 20% of each cohort.
2. Horizon Academic Research Program
Location: Virtual
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! It is one of the very few research programs for high school students that offers a choice between quantitative and qualitative research!
Location: Virtual
Program Length: Varies with most events held on a date in May (TBD)
Eligibility: N/A
Application Deadline: N/A
Stemming from MIT’s Media Lab, the Day of AI is a free, annual program offering curriculum and practical experience for K-12 students to gain greater familiarity with artificial intelligence and its practical applications. There are two possible tracks for high school students to participate in, accommodating a range of backgrounds in programming. The “High School” track does not require any knowledge of programming and is advertised as being suitable to all students. It does not require any coding knowledge either.
The “High School CS” track is much more technical and ideal for students who have more familiarity with coding, ranging from block-based programming languages to Python. Both will provide exposure to data science visualization, image classification, and data activism. There is no rigorous application process and the questions are fairly straightforward! You can register here!
4. Carnegie Mellon University: AI Scholars
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Program Length: 4 weeks for the month of July
Eligibility: High school juniors who are at least 16 years of age and U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or registered with DACA, no prior coding experience is required
Application Deadline: March 2024
This merit-based, grant-funded program provides rising seniors in high school with an opportunity to learn about artificial intelligence. Students work alongside faculty, staff, and researchers at Carnegie Mellon University through college-level courses and seminars on higher education. These courses offer hands-on experience with group projects, an in-depth introduction to ongoing research projects, and preparation for college academics and post-graduate studies. The program places a special emphasis on students from backgrounds which have been historically underrepresented in STEM fields. A major advantage of this program is that it gives each student a comprehensive evaluation on their performance, which they can add as unique supplemental material on university applications.
5. Beaver Works Summer Institute at MIT
Location: Virtual/ Cambridge, MA
Program Length: The summer program is 4 weeks long
Eligibility: All high school students
Application Deadline: March 2024
Sponsored by MIT’s School of Engineering and the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the Beaver Works Summer Institute is a project-based program which seeks to expose students to technology and AI. They offer virtual courses as well as in-person summer programs. Some of the courses offered last summer included: Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Quantum Software, and Serious Game Development with AI, among others. Alumni have called the program “beginner-friendly” and accommodating towards individuals with very limited coding experience, while also noting that their projects in the program made substantial contributions to their college applications.
Do keep in mind that the application process for the summer program is separate from that of the online course application, but both are rigorous. The online course is considered a prerequisite for the summer course offered subsequently. Beyond technical ability, students are evaluated based on three essays, a recommendation letter, and commitment to extracurriculars.
6. Google’s Machine Learning Crash Course
Location: Virtual
Program Length: 15 hours
Eligibility: Open to anyone! Recommended prerequisites are basic understanding of variables, linear equations, graphs of functions, histograms, and statistical means, along with experience with Python.
Application Deadline: N/A
This course is a fast-paced, comprehensive introduction to machine learning and its application through real-world case studies. It consists of more than 30 exercises across 25 lessons, leaving students with a confident and thorough understanding of machine learning. The lessons are a comprehensive insight into machine learning, with individual ones consisting of framing, logistic regressions, and neural networks, among others. You also receive a certificate upon completion of the program.
The program is open to individuals of all backgrounds, as well as flexible in its completion. It is a great course to take during the school year, as you can take your time with it and adapt it for your own schedule. Since the course is online, you can complete it from anywhere! This is an especially great option for younger high school students who may not yet be eligible for other machine learning programs. The course also offers pre-work in order to familiarize yourself with the recommended prerequisites to ensure smoother completion of the course.
7. Curiosity Machine AI Challenge
Location: Virtual
Program Length: Variable
Eligibility: High school students 18 and under
Application Deadline: On a rolling basis
Sponsored by Technovation Families, this challenge asks students to identify a problem in their community and devise a solution using AI technology. Before starting the challenge, students visit the Technovation Families program and take ten, brief lessons to learn about the intricacies of AI and machine learning, as well as predictive modeling. This is a fantastic opportunity to both learn about AI, and also apply your knowledge in a competitive environment. Furthermore, the program invites students to involve their families in these questions and devise a solution as a team! If you are looking for a low-stakes program to kickstart your AI and ML journey, this is a great opportunity!
Location: Virtual
Program Length: 2-3 hours/ week, for 4 weeks
Eligibility: All high school students
Application Deadline: N/A
Google’s AI For Everyone course is a beginner friendly course for students interested in an introduction to artificial intelligence and its applications in real-world contexts. It is an online course that is self-paced and can be completed in roughly a month’s time. Some of the topics covered include: the ethics of AI, neural networks, and computer learning processes.
It is taught by Laurence Moroney, whose role as the lead AI advocate at Google makes him an excellent professor for this course. If you are interested, you can take this course independently or as part of Google’s larger Machine Learning Certificate Program, which will award you with a certificate at the end of it. This is an excellent option for students balancing classes and coursework, as it can be completed asynchronously at your own pace.
9. Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation
Location: Remote — you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!
Application Deadline: 4 annual cohorts run in fall, spring, summer, and winter
Program Dates: Vary based on yearly cohort.
Eligibility:
You must be currently enrolled in high school or plan to enroll as a freshman in college in the fall of 2023.
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 Inclusion Foundation stands as a non-profit research program tailored for gifted students from low-income backgrounds. Stemming from the Lumiere Research Scholar Program, renowned for its extensive one-on-one research opportunities for high school students, the foundation provides the same access to independent research experiences at zero cost.
The Lumiere Breakthrough Scholar Program is the equivalent of the Individual Research Scholar Program at Lumiere Education. In our flagship program, we pair talented high-school students with world-class Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll develop an independent research paper. You can choose topics from subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. You can apply here!
This program is a particularly solid option if you are interested in interdisciplinary research and want to create an individual research paper.
10. The MIT Jameel Clinic AI & Health Summer Program
Location: Cambridge, MA
Program Length: Two cohorts of one week each
Eligibility: Current sophomore, junior or senior high school students
Application Deadline: TBD, June 2024
This is a one-week long, intensive course with 3-4 hours of daily instruction. Students are introduced to AI, machine learning, coding languages, and various applications of these technologies. This is a unique opportunity given its focus on the intersection between healthcare and technology. Speakers from MIT’s campus also deliver lectures and as a participant, you have the opportunity to take trips to partnering research organizations! Towards the end of the program, students complete and present a final presentation on a group project, which will be evaluated.
However, while the program is free, it is important to note that the program is not a residential one and transportation/housing will not be provided by the program and the student will have to cover those costs.
Location: Virtual
Program Length: Variable
Eligibility: All high school students
Application Deadline: N/A
AIEDU is a non-profit organization developing equitable learning experiences to help build literacy in AI for students. Their platforms offer a wide variety of engaging material via games and projects that you can engage with for a few days or even weeks at a time, depending on your preference. Their range of courses and challenges are suitable for students to engage with at their own pace– with many of their most popular offerings being just five minutes long! In particular, we want to highlight their AI Challenges, which grant students an opportunity to experiment with AI in their life and share their findings with their community. These are great virtual opportunities to build competency in artificial intelligence and subsequently produce a project that demonstrates this knowledge.
12. Kode with Klossy
Location: In-person and Online
Program Length: Several cohorts of two weeks each
Eligibility: Female-identifying, gender-nonconforming, and trans students ages 13-18
Application Deadline: TBD, Spring 2024
Kode With Klossy is a coding camp taking place in the summer that is designed to generate opportunities in coding and tech for marginalized groups in these industries. Students can choose to center their experience around one of four topics: web development, mobile app, artificial intelligence/machine learning, or data science. The program offers virtual as well as in-person opportunities in twenty-one cities, so it is likely that there is a participating program in your area! Kode With Klossy has emerged as one of the top programs of its kind, whose alumni have continued their journeys in technology to generate tangible impact in this field. No coding experience is required for this program and students who complete the program leave empowered in technical skill sets, as well as supported by a community of scholars and alumni in the industry.
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!
Source: Google Machine Learning Crash Course Logo