15 Economics Programs for High School Students
If you are interested in economics, a program in the field can be a productive way to spend your free time while in high school. Economics programs typically offer you insights into finance, decision-making, policy-making, and more to help you understand why people make the choices they do and how governments and businesses operate. These programs allow you to explore the field beyond textbooks with experiences that range from weekend seminars and online courses to research mentorships and policy labs.
Through advanced coursework, case studies, and activities, economics programs can teach you how to think critically about complex problems, analyze data to find solutions, and understand the forces that shape your life. In the process, you will gain experience in working with data, debating trade-offs, and building projects that connect theory to real decisions, getting an insight into concepts like pricing, inequality, climate policy, entrepreneurship, and more.
To help you with your search, here are 15 economics programs for high school students.
1. Veritas AI Deep Dive: AI + Finance
Location: Online
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Eligibility: Students in grades 8–12 who have completed Veritas AI Scholars or have a background in coding
Cost: Varies; financial aid available
Application deadline: Varies by cohort
The Veritas AI Deep Dive: AI + Finance is a 10-week online program that introduces high school students to the intersection of artificial intelligence and finance. Through expert-led lectures and projects, you will learn how AI is reshaping financial markets and decision-making. The program also covers economic and financial concepts like financial instruments and risk and reward. Additionally, you will work on a group project, which can focus on the use of AI and machine learning models to tackle problems like stock price prediction, risk analysis, and fraud detection.
2. Boston Leadership Institute: Business track
Location: Boston, MA (The Newman School) or Waltham, MA (Gann/Bentley)
Dates: Session 1: June 23 – July 11 | Session 2: July 7 – 25
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified; average class size: 15–20 students
Cost: Tuition: $2,500; residential fee: $2,097
Eligibility: High school students
Application deadline: Rolling admissions until spots are filled
Boston Leadership Institute’s three-week program focuses on business and introduces students to the core concepts of finance and investing, from stock and bond valuation to forecasting, options pricing, and cash flow analysis. With Boston as a financial hub, during the program, you will also gain insights into institutional trading, hedge funds, and private equity. The program also covers the basics of macroeconomics and how the Federal Reserve affects interest rates. Exercises focusing on stock trading are also part of the experience, allowing you to make mock trades and learn how the stock market works.
3. Lumiere Research Scholar Program: Economics Track
Location: Online
Dates: Multiple cohorts in a year, including summer, spring, winter, and fall
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Cost: Varies by format; financial aid available
Eligibility: High school students, preferably with at least a 3.3 GPA (unweighted)
Application deadline: Varies by cohort
This is a rigorous research program meant for high school students who want to explore an area and topic of interest in absolute detail. Here, you will get to work one-on-one with a Ph. D.-level mentor on an independent research project. You can choose research topics from a wide range of subjects, including economics, finance, and international relations. Within your chosen track, you will finalize a research question with support from your mentor. You will also work with a writing coach to present your findings. At the end of the program, you will have developed an independent research paper! You can find more details about the application and available program formats here.
4. UCLA Economics Summer Institute
Location: UCLA Campus, Los Angeles, CA
Dates: July 14 – August 1
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Cost: $3,015 (estimated); scholarships available
Eligibility: Students in grades 9–12 who are at least 15
Application deadline: June 13
This three-week commuter program at UCLA introduces high school students to the tools economists use to understand markets, policies, and institutions. You will attend lectures with faculty along with smaller workshops led by UCLA undergraduates, where you will practice applying economic principles to real-world problems. The program balances theory with hands-on learning, allowing you to analyze data, explore the effects of taxation and trade, and debate the impact of policies like rent control. Team-based projects and case study presentations can help you practice evaluating evidence, justifying positions, and communicating your findings.
5. Yale Young Global Scholars: Politics of Law & Economics (PLE)
Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT
Dates: Vary by session (two weeks)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 150 students/session (based on past year’s data)
Eligibility: Current high school sophomores or juniors, ages 16–18
Cost: $7,000 (includes housing, meals, and materials); need-based aid available
Application deadline: October 15 (early); January 7 (regular)
This two-week residential session at Yale can help you explore the intersection of law, economics, and politics in both historical and contemporary contexts. You will examine questions around governance, human rights, market regulation, inequality, and the balance of power across societies. Through an interdisciplinary curriculum, you will also develop critical thinking and analytical skills, learning how to assess current issues using legal, political, and economic concepts. The program also encourages debate on topical themes, from antitrust laws and sustainable growth to the role of artificial intelligence in governance—preparing you to think critically. This can be an opportunity to combine your interest in economics with broader social and political questions.
6. Harvard Secondary School Program: Economics, Finance & Public Policy Track
Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; residential, commuter, and online formats available
Dates: Four-week session: July 12 – August 8 | Seven-week session: June 20 – August 8
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Cost: $4,050–$14,950, depending on the course you choose + $75 application fee
Eligibility: High school students (typically rising juniors and seniors)
Application deadline: Early deadline: January 7; regular deadline: February 11; late deadline: April 1 (or earlier if course waitlists are full)
Harvard Summer School’s Secondary School Program is an opportunity for high schoolers to enroll in college-level courses and earn credit. You can choose from economics, finance, and public policy courses to explore topics like microeconomics, financial accounting, econometrics, or public finance. Each course combines theory and exercises to help you build critical thinking, data analysis, and problem-solving skills. For instance, the Introduction to Financial and Managerial Economics course covers the key concepts and processes within behavioral economics, financial engineering, innovation, and restructuring.
7. UPenn Arts & Sciences High School Programs: Economics Academy
Location: Penn State University, Philadelphia, PA (residential, on-campus)
Dates: July 11 – 26 | July 11 – August 1
Acceptance rate/cohort size:
Cost: $9,949 (includes housing and program fees); scholarships available for School District of Philadelphia public or charter school students
Eligibility: Current 9th–11th-graders
Application deadline: Varies; applications open in December
The Economics Academy at the University of Pennsylvania introduces high school students to foundational economic concepts in a global context. Here, you will spend two or three weeks exploring topics such as scarcity, markets and their failures, competition, and monopolies while applying models to real-world issues. Daily lectures, workshops, and guest speaker sessions offer a mix of theory and application. You will also work on a capstone project, for which you will analyze and propose solutions to an economic issue facing a country. Field trips and group activities round out the experience, offering both academic insights and practical experience. Additionally, you will get to experience life on a college campus and connect with like-minded peers from across the world.
8. Brown University Pre-College Program’s How a Nation’s Economy Works: An Introduction to Macroeconomics Course
Location: Brown University, Providence, RI
Dates: June 23 – July 11 (three weeks)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Cost: $8,006 (residential) | $6,134 (commuter)
Eligibility: High school students; no prior economics background required
Application deadline: TBA
This Brown University course offers an introduction to the fundamentals of macroeconomics, focusing on helping you build an understanding of real-world economic data and the role of fiscal and monetary policies. You will spend three weeks learning how to identify key economic indicators, explore policymaker tools, and apply economic models to analyze current events. The course emphasizes critical thinking and civic engagement, encouraging you to frame questions, collect relevant data, and interpret economic phenomena. Hands-on activities, simulations, and programming exercises will help make abstract concepts tangible, while allowing you to build analytical skills that extend beyond the classroom. The program also offers insights into macroeconomic trends and their impact on society.
9. Georgetown University’s Economics Policy Academy
Location: Georgetown University Campus, Washington, D.C.
Dates: June 29 – July 18
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Cost: $7,700 (residential fee, including housing and meals) | $5,800 (commuter fee)
Eligibility: Current 8th–12th-graders with at least a 2.0 GPA
Application deadline: Not specified
Georgetown University’s Economics Policy Academy introduces high school students to the intersection of economics and political science. Through classes, workshops, field trips, and group discussions, you will explore topics such as globalization, inequality, behavioral economics, trade, and U.S. fiscal and monetary policy. You will learn how to apply theory to real-world case studies and, in the process, gain a deeper understanding of how governments shape markets and address pressing economic challenges. You will also create a research-based poster related to one of the program themes.
10. Wharton Global Youth Program: Leadership in the Business World
Location: The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Dates: June 8 – 28 | June 29 – July 19 | July 20 – August 9
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 120 students/session
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors with a 3.5 unweighted GPA or higher
Cost: $11,399
Application deadline: April 2
Hosted by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, LBW is a three-week program that offers rising seniors a deep dive into business education and leadership. You will attend lectures with Wharton faculty, hear from industry leaders, and engage in real-world case studies and simulations to explore business fundamentals and economics. Beyond theory, the program offers opportunities to build teamwork, problem-solving, and communication skills. You will work alongside peers from around the world and hear from leaders in finance, entrepreneurship, entertainment, and real estate, gaining exposure to diverse perspectives on business and leadership.
11. University of Chicago Summer Session: Pathways in Economics
Location: University of Chicago campus, Chicago, IL
Dates: June 14 – July 4 (three weeks)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 80 students/year
Cost: $8,900
Eligibility: Students in grades 9–11
Application deadline: TBA
A part of UChicago's Summer Session, the Pathways in Economics course invites high school students to explore economic research in a hands-on, immersive environment. This three-week program covers subjects like macroeconomics, microeconomics, game theory, and field experiments, drawing on UChicago’s approaches to economic research and experimentation. You will engage in lectures, small group discussions, labs, and collaborative projects, applying mathematical tools to analyze economic patterns. Guided by current UChicago students and full-time lecturers, you will gain insight into the methods and creativity behind real-world economic research.
12. University of Chicago Summer Session: Introduction to Macroeconomic Models
Location: University of Chicago campus, Chicago, IL
Dates: July 7 – 26 (three weeks)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Cost: $8,900
Eligibility: Students in grades 9–11
Application deadline: TBA
This three-week UChicago Summer Session course offers an in-depth exploration of neoclassical macroeconomic models. Unlike broader introductory courses, it focuses specifically on five core areas: economic growth, consumption and savings, business cycles and unemployment, fiscal policy, and monetary policy with forecasting. You will work with real-world data to connect theory to current economic events, learning to interpret news and analyze policies through a model-based lens. The program is math- and discussion-intensive, making it an option to explore if you want to refine your quantitative thinking and critical analysis skills. Led by expert instructors, the course is designed to offer a foundation in macroeconomics and practical tools to understand and evaluate economic trends.
13. Rice University Precollege Program: The Business of Economics Course
Location: Online
Dates: Courses of varying lengths offered throughout the year
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Cost: $1,795
Eligibility: Students, ages 13 and up
Application deadline: Varies by cohort
Rice University offers a wide range of courses to high school students through its online pre-college program. The Business of Economics course covers concepts like how economics influences business decisions, from supply and demand to inflation, labor markets, and energy policy. You will learn from case studies and expert-led discussions, connecting theory with real-world challenges. The course also offers insights into potential professional roles that combine business and economics, like financial planner, account executive, research analyst, pricing analyst, and CFO. The course concludes with a mentored capstone project on stagflation, where you will apply concepts to pressing economic issues and come up with policies to improve economic welfare.
14. Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes: Principles of Macroeconomics Course
Location: Virtual
Dates: June 16 – 27 | July 7 – 18
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified; average class size: 16
Eligibility: Students in grades 9–11 who have completed one algebra course
Cost: $3,080; need-based financial aid available
Application deadline: March 20
Stanford offers various virtual courses to high schoolers through its pre-college program. Its Principles of Macroeconomics course focuses on the big picture of the economy. Over two weeks, you will attend online lectures to gain insights into the performance of the country's overall money, prices, and jobs, and how they can improve. This course covers key macroeconomic concepts, like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation, unemployment, financial markets, labor markets, and growth. Through class activities and assignments, you will learn how to think critically and analytically while exploring economic decisions and concepts.
15. Brown University Pre-College: Principles of Economics Course
Location: Online
Dates: June 16 – August 1 (seven weeks)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Cost: $8,586
Eligibility: High school students
Application deadline: TBA
A part of Brown University’s selective Pre-Baccalaureate program, the Principles of Economics course is a credit-bearing option for students planning to major in economics as undergraduates. This seven-week course covers major economic concepts, institutions, and vocabulary, while demonstrating how economic analysis applies to real-world social problems. While the course offers a foundation for future economics coursework, it also serves as a broad, one-time introduction to the field. This can be an opportunity to experience the pace and expectations of a college-level course at Brown.
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