If you are a high school student looking to pursue computer engineering, chances are that you’re looking at pursuing some programs to gain a foundational understanding of fundamental topics within this field. Opting to do a program is a great way to gain experience in your field, benefit from mentorship, and explore the various career and study paths that you can opt for. 

However, the costs of a program can add up, especially with transportation, accommodation, and other external costs that are an inevitable part of your attendance. Therefore, in this blog, we have collated 8 free computer engineering programs that you can apply to as a high school student. Do note that although some of these programs have a cost, they afford need-based financial aid that you can avail to reduce your cost of attendance! 

1. Veritas AI

Location: Virtual 

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

Program Dates: Differs depending on 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 focuses on providing high school students who are passionate about the field of AI a suitable environment to explore their interests. The programs include collaborative learning, project development, and 1-on-1 mentorship. These programs are designed and run by Harvard graduate students and alumni and you can expect a great, fulfilling educational experience. Students are expected to have a basic understanding of Python or are recommended to complete the AI scholars program before pursuing the fellowship. 

The AI Fellowship program will have students pursue their independent AI research projects. Students work on their research projects over 15 weeks and can opt to combine AI with any other field of interest. In the past, students have worked on research papers in the fields of AI & medicine, AI & finance, AI & environmental science, AI & education, and more! You can find examples of previous projects here. 

Do note that this program is paid, although need-based financial aid for the AI Scholars program is available. The costs for the program are $2,290 for the 10-week AI Scholars program, $5,400 for the 15-week AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase and $6,900 for both. 

2. NYU ARISE (Applied Research Innovations in Science and Engineering)

Location: Virtual for the first 4-weeks of the program, with in-person workshops for the other 6 weeks at the NYU Campus, New York, NY.

Application Deadline: February 21, 2025

Program Dates: June 2, 2025 - August 8, 2025

Eligibility: 

• Must reside in New York City. 

• Should be completing your sophomore or junior year in 2025. 

NYU offers a 10-week summer program that covers foundational topics in STEM, particularly in bio-and molecular engineering, computer science, AI and Machine Learning, and more allowing you to gain experience in working in research labs. You will be working alongside faculty from NYU’s Tandon and CAS departments, and you can look here for the possible research projects that you can opt for. 

With a focus on interdisciplinary scientific exploration, ARISE has now adopted a new 10-week format, with the first four weeks comprising remote workshops that cover the theoretical aspects of science, with the following six weeks being devoted to lab work, which will allow you to put your newly acquired knowledge to use! 

3. 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: accepted 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. 

4. Anson Clark Scholars Program at Texas Tech

Location: Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

Application Deadline: February 15, 2025 (tentatively, based on previous year’s dates)

Program Dates: June 16, 2025 - August 1, 2025 (tentatively, based on the previous year’s dates)

Eligibility: 

• Must be rising seniors or graduating seniors at the time of applying (graduating in 2025 or 2026). 

• You must be at least 17 years old by June 16, 2025 (the start date of the program).

• You must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident.

The Anson Clark Scholars program is a 7-week research program where you will pursue an independent research project under the mentorship of the Texas Tech faculty. For those interested in computer engineering, there is a dedicated area of research towards electrical and computer engineering that includes research areas such as Millimeter-Wave sensing for Healthcare, RF/Analog Circuits, and Human-Machine Interface (among others!).

For inspiration, you can take a look at the projects of previous scholars, such as Rachel Ma from the 2023 cohort, who researched “Secure Sensing with Passive Radar for Spectrally Congested Spaces.” If you are interested in applying, we’ve done a deep dive into this program, which you can check out here!

5. NIST Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP)

Location: Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

Application Deadline: January 31, 2025

Program Dates: Typically runs from mid-June to the second week of August. 

Eligibility: 

• Must be a junior or senior at the time of applying. 

• You will need to have a minimum GPA of 3.0. 

• Only open to U.S. citizens. 

In this internship, you will participate in a cutting-edge research project alongside NIST staff scientists and engineers. 6 NIST laboratories participate in the SHIP program, and they include:

• Communications Technology Lab

• Engineering Lab

• Information Technology Lab

• Material Measurement Lab

• NIST Center for Neutron Research 

• Physical Measurement Lab

If you are interested in Computer Engineering, we encourage you to apply for the Information Technology Lab or the Engineering Lab. Your areas of focus will be networking and communications, computer security, software engineering, and human interaction with computers. Your examples of area research can include computer network modeling, biometrics for computer access and security, cryptography, and digital data retrieval, just to name a few. You can look at the full list here!

6. Johns Hopkins’ ASPIRE Program

Location: Johns Hopkins University Campus, Baltimore, MD

Application Deadline: February 15, 2025 (tentatively, based on previous year’s dates)

Program Dates: June 27 to August 18 (tentatively, based on previous year’s dates)

Eligibility: 

• High-school juniors and seniors residing in the Washington-Baltimore Metro area.

• A minimum GPA of 2.8 is required.

• Must be 15 years old by June 15th, 2023 (For the Summer 2023 session)

• Only U.S. Citizens are eligible to apply.

The ASPIRE program by Johns Hopkins allows students to explore STEM careers before committing to an area to study at university. Throughout the program, ASPIRE participants are paired with APL staff mentors to complete projects, solve problems, and learn and apply their theoretical knowledge. 

The Areas of Placement include computer science, information technology & cybersecurity, mathematics & data analysis, and more! Each student has to choose one area of interest and can either choose to participate in person, hybrid, or complete their program virtually. If you are interested in computer engineering, we recommend either opting for computer science or IT and cybersecurity!

7. MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute

Location: Virtual for the pre-requisite course, in-person and virtual options available for the summer camp. In-person camps are held at the MIT Campus, Cambridge, MA.

Application Deadline: Registrations open for 2025 online courses. Courses are administered on a rolling basis. The application deadline for the summer program is March 31, 2025. 

Program Dates: The online program begins on February 3, 2025. The program dates for the summer programs are from July 7, 2025, to August 2 or 3, 2025. 

Eligibility: 

• Open to rising sophomores and rising juniors (at the time of attendance) who are attending high school in the United States. 

• Do note that although freshmen and sophomores are welcome to apply, the typical cohort size consists of rising juniors. 

MIT offers a series of summer camps by the Lincoln Laboratory, and their School of Engineering called the Beaver Works Summer Institute. In this 4-week program, you will be able to get hands-on experience in the field of computer engineering through courses that are designed as workshops. 

If you are interested in computer engineering, we recommend courses such as ‘Build a Cubesat,’ which covers the foundation of the design trade, the build, and the testing of an imaging payload Cubesat. You will cover key aspects of satellite development, participate in computer-driven exercises, and understand the concepts of communication, power generation, performance, and more! The program will culminate in you actually contributing to building a space system. 

Do note that attending the online course is a mandatory pre-requisite for attending the summer program. Additionally, if your family’s income exceeds $150,000 annually, then you will have to pay $1,750. 

8. Microsoft Discovery Program

Location: Redmond, Washington, or Atlanta, Georgia

Application Deadline: TBA, but they will open in February 2025. 

Program Dates: 4 weeks during the summer months. 

Eligibility: 

• Only open to graduating seniors. 

• Must live and attend high school within 50 miles of Redmond- Washington, or Atlanta, Georgia. 

• Must have completed a pre-calculus or equivalent course. 

• For Redmond, Washington - must attend a Microsoft-sponsored organization. The list will be uploaded in February 2025. 

• For Atlanta, Georgia - must attend a TEALS program school, in either the Atlanta Public Schools, Dekalb, or the Fulton County School Districts. 

This is a 4-week internship program offered by Microsoft where you will be exposed to fundamental concepts in computer science, benefit from mentorship from Microsoft employees, and prepare for a career in computer engineering. 

Throughout the program, you will be allocated to a product group, where you will work in teams to complete a project to understand the involvement of software development, technical project management, and UX design in product development. An added bonus is that you will get paid a stipend. 

If you are interested in participating in this program, you can check out this detailed guide here!

If you’re looking to build a project/research paper in the field of AI & ML, consider applying to Veritas AI! 

Veritas AI is founded by Harvard graduate students. Through the programs, you get a chance to 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 AI & ML with us. You can apply here!

Image Source - NYU Logo