15 College Programs for High School Students in Oregon
If you’re an ambitious high school student looking to extend your learning beyond the classroom, university programs can offer a concrete way to explore what a field actually looks like in practice. Whether you're sitting in a college seminar, working in a research lab, or developing a business pitch with peers, these programs place you in environments that reflect how professionals in that field actually spend their time. You’re able to build skills that are harder to develop in a standard high school curriculum, make connections with faculty and practitioners in fields you're considering, and get a clearer sense of whether a particular direction is worth pursuing further.
Why should you attend a program in Oregon?
Oregon's universities run programs across a wide range of disciplines, offering worthwhile opportunities regardless of your specific interests. At institutions such as OHSU, Oregon State University, the University of Oregon, Lewis and Clark College, Reed College, and Portland State University, you can find opportunities in cancer research, veterinary medicine, data science, creative writing, engineering, entrepreneurship, cardiovascular health, and competitive debate, among others. If you live or go to school in Oregon, many of these programs are accessible without the cost and logistics of traveling across the country. If you're based elsewhere and open to exploring the Pacific Northwest, Oregon's universities offer a range of academically serious options, including some virtual options.
From that broader landscape, we've put together a list of 15 college programs for high school students in Oregon.
If you’re looking for programs in Oregon, check out our blog here.
Key takeaways
These programs span cancer research, cardiovascular medicine, veterinary science, data science, creative writing, engineering, entrepreneurship, debate, and business, so students with a wide range of academic interests can find a relevant college program in Oregon.
Several programs are free or low-cost, including OHSU Ted R. Lilley CURE Program (free with a $4,000 stipend), OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Internship (free), UO Summer SAIL (free), OHSU UCEDD Summer Internship (free), Reed College Young Scholars ($100 per semester), and PSU Summer Business Institute ($100).
Programs range from one-week intensives (OSU SESEY, OSU Summer Veterinary Experience, Lewis and Clark programs) to full academic year commitments (UO Prebaccalaureate Program, Reed College Young Scholars), so students can choose based on their availability and depth of interest.
Application deadlines range from January (OHSU Ted R. Lilley CURE, Lewis and Clark programs, Lewis and Clark Data in Action) to June (Lewis and Clark Portland Speech and Debate Institute, OSU-Cascades Summer Academy), with UO SAIL and UO Prebaccalaureate accepting rolling or open applications.
1. OHSU Ted R. Lilley CURE Program
Location: Knight Cancer Institute, OHSU, Portland, OR
Cost: No cost; participants earn a $4,000 stipend
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: June 22 – August 14
Application Deadline: January 8
Eligibility: Oregon high school sophomores, juniors, or seniors aged 16+ by the program start, with a minimum GPA of 3.0. You must have taken at least one lab science course, preferably in biology
Placed in an active Knight Cancer Institute lab, you’ll work alongside OHSU faculty and scientists on real cancer research questions, guided by a faculty mentor throughout the summer. Weekly seminars run alongside the lab work, covering scientific methodology and health equity topics. You will present your findings at a poster session at the end of the program, attended by lab staff, directors, and Knight Cancer Institute researchers. Past interns have worked across cancer genetics, immunotherapy, and molecular biology.
2. OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Internship
Location: Knight Cardiovascular Institute, OHSU, Portland, OR
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: 3rd week of June – August
Application Deadline: April 6
Eligibility: Oregon high school students aged 16+ by May 30, with a preference for 10th and 11th graders
This program places you within the Knight Cardiovascular Institute to gain exposure to how cardiovascular medicine operates in both clinical care and prevention. You'll encounter real-world casework, engage with professionals across different corners of the field, and develop a working understanding of how cardiovascular health intersects with broader medicine. Strong participants are considered for research opportunities in subsequent summers, which can be the start of a longer relationship with the institute's research.
3. UO Summer SAIL
Location: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate: Open enrollment
Dates: Residential: July 12 – 17 | Day program: July 20 – 24
Application Deadline: Open until filled
Eligibility: High school students
SAIL gives you a week on the UO Eugene campus with access to faculty across six academic tracks: Psychology and Linguistics, Physics and Physiology, Business and Economics, English and Design, World Cultures and Sociology, and Computer Science and Environmental Studies. Each track is multidisciplinary by design, letting you engage with how different fields approach common questions. Lab and facility tours run alongside faculty-led sessions. You will have the option to earn high school credit for participation, and students who attend can access UO's year-round mentoring network afterward, which connects them with current UO students and advisors throughout the academic year.
4. OHSU UCEDD Summer Internship
Location: OHSU Institute on Development and Disability, Portland, OR
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: Mid-June – early August
Application Deadline: Generally in the fall; keep an eye on the program website for details
Eligibility: High school students aged 16+ who are Oregon or southwest Washington residents
This program places you at one of OHSU's Institute on Development and Disability centers, and you spend the summer working on a project in research, clinical care, community programs, or information dissemination related to disability health. You’ll contribute to real-world center projects, develop transferable skills, and learn about healthcare career paths. You will also get to connect with other interns and OHSU staff and faculty through shared events across the summer and present your work formally at the end of the program. For students drawn to healthcare with a disability focus, this is a setting where you are working alongside professionals in the field.
5. University of Oregon Prebaccalaureate Program
Location: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Cost: Standard UO undergraduate tuition rates apply per credit
Acceptance Rate: Open enrollment
Dates: Fall, winter, and spring academic terms
Application Deadline: 30 days before the intended term start
Eligibility: High school students enrolled in an accredited high school
The prebaccalaureate program lets you enroll in actual UO courses during the fall, winter, or spring term. You are placed in the same classroom as enrolled undergrads, completing the same coursework, and earning credit on a real UO transcript. Course selection spans the full UO catalog, so you can pursue whatever academic area you're most serious about. Lane County students may access the Duck Link track, which waives tuition costs and expands access further. This is one of the most academically substantive options available to Oregon high school students and a solid opportunity to kickstart your college journey long before enrollment.
6. OSU SESEY
Location: Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Cost: $500
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: July 19 – 24
Application Deadline: May 31
Eligibility: High school students
OSU School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering’s Summer Experience in Science and Engineering for Youth puts you inside a residential week of hands-on engineering work spanning chemical, biological, and environmental disciplines. You will develop and execute projects alongside peers and OSU instructors, building both technical skills and a practical sense of what engineering practice looks like across different fields. The week ends with student project presentations at Corvallis's da Vinci Days community science and innovation festival.
7. OSU Summer Veterinary Experience
Location: Gary R. Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Cost: $400
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: July 20 – 24
Application Deadline: April 15
Eligibility: Oregon residents entering grades 11–12, age 16+, with a B or better in all science courses
Inside OSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, you'll perform physical exams on animals, use microscopes to examine parasites, work through clinical skills labs, and tour the necropsy gallery. Both small- and large-animal care receive attention, and wildlife rehabilitation demonstrations are part of the week as well. Veterinary instructors and staff run sessions collaboratively rather than through lectures, and a career panel puts you in direct conversation with professionals across the field. Compared to other short-duration programs, this one is fairly competitive due to its hands-on nature, and even securing entry is an achievement you can add in your resume.
8. Lewis & Clark Fir Acres Writing Workshop
Location: Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
Cost: $3,900
Acceptance Rate: ~60 students
Dates: June 21 – July 4
Application Deadline: March 6
Eligibility: Rising grades 10–12
Sixty students spend two weeks on L&C's Portland campus studying fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction with published faculty in workshops small enough to sustain close critique of individual work. Every day involves both serious reading and the production of your own writing, pushed forward by feedback from faculty and peers who take the craft seriously. Distinguished visiting writers participate throughout the program, and at the close of each week, students read from their own work at a community reading. You will leave with your writing included in a program anthology, and more practically, with a much sharper sense of what deliberate revision actually requires.
9. Lewis & Clark Data in Action
Location: Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
Cost: $1,800
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: July 12 – 17
Application Deadline: January 1
Eligibility: High school students
Working with real environmental datasets under the guidance of L&C data science faculty, you'll learn to clean, analyze, and visualize data, then apply those skills to a topic you choose. The goal is to create a finished, interactive, publicly communicable piece of data journalism. Field trips connect classroom work to local environmental questions, and guest speakers bring in perspectives from outside the academic context.
10. Lewis & Clark Future Health Leaders
Location: Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
Cost: $1,800
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: June 21 – 26
Application Deadline: January 1
Eligibility: High school students
Run by L&C's Center for Community and Global Health, this program takes you through several areas of health education across the week. You'll train in CPR, earn Red Cross Basic Life Support certification, work through L&C's research labs, and get introduced to narrative medicine. Public health communications also get dedicated attention. Healthcare professionals across multiple specialties come through the program, giving you a realistic picture of how varied careers in health and healing actually are. The BLS certification you earn has practical utility well beyond the program itself.
11. Lewis & Clark Circular Innovation Challenge
Location: Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
Cost: $1,800
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: July 12 – 17
Application Deadline: January 1
Eligibility: High school students; open to all applicants
Run by L&C's Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership, this program frames entrepreneurship within the circular economy, focusing on business models that prevent waste, extend product lifespans, and generate value without relying on finite resources. You'll develop a business concept within that framework with mentorship from instructors and outside advisors, and field trips to Portland will put real circular economy companies in front of you during the process. You will pitch your team's concept at the end of the week. The sustainability-first framing teaches you to work within this constraint and to learn a form of entrepreneurship that is generally not covered in high schools or even in many college curricula.
12. OSU-Cascades Summer Academy
Location: Oregon State University–Cascades, Bend, OR
Cost: $1,500
Acceptance Rate: Open enrollment
Dates: July 19 – 24 or July 26 – 31, depending on track
Application Deadline: June 30
Eligibility: High school students entering grades 10, 11, or 12
At OSU's Bend campus, you choose an academic track such as Computer Science and AI, Kinesiology and Exercise Science, Environmental Stewardship, or Civic Engagement and Public Problem-Solving, and work through it with OSU-Cascades faculty and outside experts. Afternoons include field activities such as hiking, rock climbing, and river time, as well as off-campus employer visits and lab sessions. Successfully completing the Summer Academy also awards you with a $500 scholarship to OSU Cascades, providing a financial incentive for those serious about pursuing a major at the university.
13. Reed College Young Scholars
Location: Reed College, Portland, OR
Cost: $100 per semester
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: Full academic year
Application Deadline: April 1
Eligibility: Academically motivated high school seniors
Young Scholars lets you take one real Reed College course per semester alongside enrolled undergrads, taught by full Reed faculty, held to exactly the same standards as any other student in the room. Classes are small seminars with heavy reading, writing, and discussion loads across disciplines like math, the sciences, foreign languages, and the arts. Science classes also involve laboratory sessions and conferences. This is a highly rigorous and academically intensive program that awards you formal Reed credit on your transcript, making it one of the few pre-college opportunities in Oregon that produce a college academic record while you're still in high school.
14. Lewis & Clark Portland Speech and Debate Institute
Location: Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
Cost: $2,300 residential, $1,350 for commuter
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: July 12 – 25
Application Deadline: June 15
Eligibility: Rising grades 9–12
You work through Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Parliamentary, and Public Forum formats, developing the ability to compete across different debate styles. Daily drills, coached practice debates with stop-and-restart feedback, and full practice tournaments all form part of the curriculum. Research skill-building runs alongside argumentation technique, teaching you to find, evaluate, and deploy quality evidence that is central to a good debate. Small lab sections provide individualized coaching, and the program adapts to both novice competitors and students already performing at the varsity level.
15. PSU Summer Business Institute
Location: Portland State University, Portland, OR
Cost: $100
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: July 12 – 17
Application Deadline: May 1
Eligibility: Rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors
The SBI organizes its curriculum around how Oregon businesses engage with diversity, equity, B-Corporation frameworks, social responsibility, and sustainability, providing a business education grounded in what companies are actually doing in the Portland context. You'll hear directly from representatives of past sponsors, including Adidas, Hydroflask, and Multnomah County, about how they're rethinking conventional business models. In the second half of the program, you'll work in a team to develop and pitch a product or service addressing a social, environmental, or economic issue to a live judging panel. The program concludes with a team-based pitch competition in front of a live audience.
Frequently asked questions
1. What college programs are available for high school students in Oregon?
Options include biomedical and health research programs, such as OHSU Ted R. Lilley CURE, OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Internship, and OHSU UCEDD Summer Internship; veterinary and environmental science programs, such as OSU Summer Veterinary Experience and OSU SESEY; creative writing programs, such as Lewis and Clark Fir Acres Writing Workshop; data science and entrepreneurship programs, such as Lewis and Clark Data in Action and Circular Innovation Challenge; and academic credit programs, such as UO Prebaccalaureate and Reed College Young Scholars.
2. Are there free college programs for high school students in Oregon?
Yes, OHSU Ted R. Lilley CURE Program (free with a $4,000 stipend), OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Internship, UO Summer SAIL, and OHSU UCEDD Summer Internship are all free. Reed College Young Scholars ($100 per semester) and PSU Summer Business Institute ($100) are among the most affordable paid options. UO Prebaccalaureate charges standard undergraduate tuition, though Lane County students may access the Duck Link track with waived tuition.
3. Which Oregon programs are best for students interested in medicine or health sciences?
Students interested in medicine or health sciences might consider OHSU Ted R. Lilley CURE Program for mentored cancer research with a $4,000 stipend, OHSU Knight Cardiovascular Internship for exposure to cardiovascular medicine and clinical care, OHSU UCEDD Summer Internship for disability health research and clinical programs, and Lewis and Clark Future Health Leaders for CPR training, BLS certification, and healthcare career exploration.
4. When should I apply to college programs for high school students in Oregon?
The earliest deadline is OHSU Ted R. Lilley CURE Program (January 8), followed by Lewis and Clark Data in Action, Future Health Leaders, and Circular Innovation Challenge (all January 1) and Lewis and Clark Fir Acres Writing Workshop (March 6). OSU Summer Veterinary Experience closes April 15, PSU Summer Business Institute closes May 1, and OSU SESEY closes May 31. UO SAIL and UO Prebaccalaureate accept open or rolling applications, so students can apply at nearly any time.
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