12 Engineering Programs for High School Students in Boston
If you are curious about a career in engineering, structured programs are a great way to explore your interests before college. As a participant, you will explore various disciplines, including mechanical engineering, robotics, computer science, biomedical engineering, and environmental design, in far greater depth than a typical classroom allows. You will also get to practice what you learn through projects involving software or prototype development, coding sessions, research, design challenges, and other exercises. In the process, you will build practical technical skills, get exposure to cutting-edge research, and gain insight into potential career pathways. These programs will also connect you with faculty mentors, graduate students, and like-minded peers, helping you build meaningful academic and professional relationships early on.
Why should you attend a program in Boston?
Boston and the surrounding area are home to various universities and engineering research centers that offer engineering programs to high school students. These institutions offer pre-college programs where you can experiment in advanced labs, tackle robotics challenges, explore AI and data science, or design sustainable engineering solutions. Whether you are a local or an out- of city student, you can access a wide range of academic environments and resources that help you better understand how engineering is studied and applied in different settings.
To help you get started, we have narrowed down 12 engineering programs for high school students in Boston.
If you’re looking for free online programs, check out our blog here.
1. Young Scholars Program @ Northeastern University
Location: Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Cost/Stipend: Free to attend; stipend availability varies by year.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; details not publicly specified
Program dates: June 22 – July 30
Application deadline: March 2
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors who are Massachusetts residents and U.S. citizens/permanent residents living within commuting distance of the program site
The Young Scholars Program offers high school juniors hands-on laboratory research experiences in engineering, science, and health sciences at the Northeastern University campus. You will work directly in university research labs with faculty mentors and get a taste of college expectations and academics. The program also includes seminars, career exploration workshops, and corporate field visits. You will also gain direct exposure to engineering disciplines through presentations led by chemical, mechanical, civil, electrical, and industrial engineering professors and graduate students. Structured college support and career counseling are also part of the experience.
2. Veritas AI: AI Scholars & AI Fellowship
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Program dates: Program cohorts run all year; the AI Scholars runs for 10 weeks, and the AI Fellowship program runs for about 12 to 15 weeks
Application deadline: Varies by cohort. You can apply to the program here.
Eligibility: High school students; AI Fellowship with Publication and Showcase typically accepts previous AI Scholar participants or those with some experience working with AI or Python.
Veritas AI, founded and run by Harvard graduate students, offers programs for high school students who are passionate about artificial intelligence. Students looking to get started in 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 have the opportunity to work on real-world projects. Another option for more advanced students is the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase. Through this program, students have the opportunity to 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. You can also check out some examples of past projects here and read about a student’s experience in the program here.
3. MassRobotics BOOST
Location: MassRobotics, Boston, MA
Cost: Free (lunch and transportation for field trips provided)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Program dates: April 20 – April 24
Application deadline: March 9
Eligibility: High school boys interested in STEM; priority will be given to those enrolled in Boston Public Schools.
BOOST (Boys Optimizing Opportunities in STEM and Technology) is a free one-week intensive designed to spark interest in STEM. As a participant, you will explore fabrication, electronics, and programming, with a focus on robotics and manufacturing, through hands-on exercises in a workshop-style setting. The program offers industry site visits and networking opportunities to connect with professionals. You will also connect with like-minded peers and learn about career paths in STEM.
4. Lumiere Research Scholar Program: Engineering Track
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies; financial assistance offered
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Program dates: Multiple sessions, including summer, spring, fall, and winter cohorts, are scheduled each year
Application deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: High school students; accepted students typically have an unweighted GPA of 3.3 out of 4.0
Lumiere’s Research Scholar Program is a rigorous opportunity for high school students who want to explore an area or topic of interest in depth. During the program, you will work one-on-one with a Ph. D.-level mentor on a research project. You can choose research topics from a wide range of subjects, including engineering. You will finalize a research question with support from your mentor and also work with a writing coach to present your findings. At the end of the program, you will have developed an independent research paper in engineering! You can find more details about the application and available program formats here, and check out students’ reviews of the program here and here.
5. MassRobotics Drone Academy
Location: MassRobotics, Boston, MA
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Program dates: July 6 – 10
Application deadline: March 9
Eligibility: High school students who have completed their freshman year; priority will be given to those enrolled in Boston Public Schools.
MassRobotics Drone Academy is a hands-on robotics program designed to help you build, program, and fly your own drones, gaining exposure to engineering and tech skills. You will learn about and practice electrical assembly, soldering, flight mechanics, and Linux-based drone programming. You will move from assembly to calibration to live flight demonstrations while following a curriculum set by professionals in the field. The experience combines hardware engineering with computer science fundamentals, allowing you to practice what you learn over the course of a week.
6. Wentworth Institute of Technology’s ImpactLab
Location: Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
Cost: $3,995/two-week session | $6,990 for both sessions; partial tuition assistance available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Program dates: Session One: July 5 – 17 | Session Two: July 19 – 31
Application deadline: Priority deadline: March 13; Final deadline: May 15
Eligibility: Rising 11th and 12th graders (domestic and international students)
ImpactLab is a two-week residential pre-college program that allows high schoolers to explore STEM and design disciplines through project-based courses at Wentworth’s five academic schools. You will explore topics in engineering, design, and technology within university classrooms and labs alongside peers, undergraduate mentors, and faculty. Coursework emphasizes engineering, rapid prototyping, problem-solving workflows, and applied experimentation. Each course integrates lab modules, short lectures, and project time, culminating in a final build or demonstration that reflects your design process. The residential format also offers you a taste of campus life in Boston, with opportunities to engage with peers and faculty.
7. Northeastern University’s Boston Campus Pre-College Programs: Engineering Track
Location: Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Cost: $7,095; need-based financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 15 – 30 students/program
Program dates: July 12 – 24 | July 26 – August 7
Application deadline: Multiple deadlines between January and March; applications open in December.
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors (domestic and international)
Northeastern University offers various two-week, on-campus pre-college programs that introduce high schoolers to STEM, humanities, and design, including engineering. Each program is led by Northeastern faculty and emphasizes hands-on, inquiry-based work—such as prototyping in engineering tracks or computational modeling in biotechnology and cyber tracks. You will join a small cohort of peers, work in university labs and design studios, and complete projects that simulate college-level coursework. Many tracks also involve fieldwork or applied exercises in areas like extended reality, engineering design, health science innovation, and modern physics. The experience ends with a final presentation or project relevant to the chosen track.
8. Wentworth Institute of Technology’s Momentum
Location: Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
Cost: $699 (commuter) | $1,699 (residential)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: ~20 students/course
Program dates: August 3 – 7
Application deadline: May 15
Eligibility: Students entering grades 9 and 10
This program is a one-week pre-college experience in which you will explore STEM and design fields through hands-on activities at Wentworth Institute of Technology. You can choose one interdisciplinary course that combines subjects such as engineering, computing, design, business, or health technology. During the weeklong program, you will work on projects, participate in lab activities, and learn from Wentworth faculty while collaborating with other high school students. Courses introduce topics like product development, computing pathways, engineering solutions, and technology in healthcare. The program is designed to help you learn how different STEM disciplines connect and how they are used in real-world careers.
9. Tufts University’s Engineering Investigations
Location: Tufts University, Medford/Somerville, MA
Cost: $4,425 (commuter) | $5,950 (residential); scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Program dates: Session 1: July 5 – 17 | Session 2: July 19 – 31
Application deadline: May 1
Eligibility: Students, ages 15 and up, who are entering grades 10 – 12 or are graduating seniors
This two-week program at Tufts University offers a broad introduction to multiple engineering disciplines, including civil, environmental, mechanical, biomedical, and electrical engineering. Classes combine hands-on activities, lectures, discussions, and guest speaker sessions with Tufts faculty and industry. For roughly the first week and a half, you will rotate through activities covering various engineering fields and concepts, including design processes, engineering ethics, and fabrication. In the final few days, you will work in a small group to pick an engineering area of interest and develop a project or presentation. You will present your work at a public Project Showcase on the last day of the session.
10. Tufts University Pre-College Engineering with Artificial Intelligence
Location: Tufts University, Medford/Somerville (less than 15 minutes away from Boston), MA
Cost: $4,425 (commuter) | $5,950 (residential); financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Program dates: Session 1: July 5 – 17 | Session 2: July 19 – 31
Application deadline: May 1
Eligibility: Students, ages 15 and up, entering grades 10 – 12 and graduating seniors with prior programming experience
This two-week program at Tufts University is designed to introduce you to artificial intelligence and machine learning through a mix of daily lectures, hands-on coding sessions, and guest speakers from Tufts faculty and industry. The first week focuses on building foundational knowledge, covering AI history, Python-based machine learning tools, and an overview of different AI subfields. The second week shifts toward a group engineering design project, where you and your teammates will identify a real-world problem and build an AI-based solution. The program also covers careers, engineering education, research, and real-world issues that connect to data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. You will present your AI solution to peers and faculty on the final day.
11. MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute
Location: Virtual and MIT, Cambridge (close to Boston), MA
Cost: Free for students with family income under $200,000; cost is $2,400 otherwise.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Program dates: July 6 – August 1 or 2
Application deadlines: March 31
Eligibility: High school students, grades 9 – 11, attending school in the U.S. who have completed the online pre-requisite course
The MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute offers the opportunity to take college-level STEM courses, including engineering. During the program, you will attend sessions led by MIT faculty, explore core concepts within the chosen theme, and practice what you learn through project work. You can choose from various engineering-focused courses, including Unmanned Air System-Synthetic Aperture Radar, Embedded Security and Hardware Hacking, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Challenge, and Autonomous Air Vehicle Racing. Certain courses also allow you to test your work through challenges conducted at the end of the program.
12. MITES Summer
Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (close to Boston), MA
Cost/Stipend: Fully funded (room, board, tuition covered; travel not included)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Program dates: Six weeks (late June – early August)
Application deadline: Early February (application opens fall of junior year)
Eligibility: Students in their junior year of high school who are U.S. citizens/permanent residents
MITES Summer is a six-week residential STEM-focused experience. You will take five rigorous courses, including advanced math, physics, life sciences, humanities, and a project-based elective in engineering design, and experience college-level academics, midterms, finals, and collaborative projects. The program also includes lab tours, college admissions counseling, and networking with STEM professionals. You will practice public speaking and communication as you present your projects. You will additionally go on field trips and explore sites in the Greater Boston area.
Image source - MITES Logo