13 Economics Programs for High School Students in New Jersey (NJ)
If you are a high school student interested in economics, a structured program can help you explore how economic principles are applied to business, finance, entrepreneurship, and public policy. Depending on the program, you may analyze financial markets, study microeconomics and macroeconomics, develop business plans, participate in investment simulations, or conduct research alongside faculty and mentors. These experiences can help you strengthen analytical and quantitative skills while exploring potential academic and career interests.
Why should you attend an economics program in New Jersey?
New Jersey is home to institutions such as Rutgers University and Stevens Institute of Technology that offer economics and business programs for high school students. Through these programs, you may take college-level economics courses, study investing and quantitative finance, develop entrepreneurial ventures, or work with financial tools and market data used in industry. Whether you are interested in economics, finance, entrepreneurship, or business analytics, New Jersey offers programs across a range of related fields.
To help you get started, here are 13 economics programs for high school students in New Jersey.
If you’re looking for free programs in New Jersey, check out our blog here.
Key takeaways
These programs span entrepreneurship (Rowan TLAE, Stockton SEBA, Montclair Business Entrepreneurship Week), investing and quantitative finance (Seton Hall Investing 101, Stevens Quantitative Finance, Montclair Wall Street Experience), and economics coursework (Rutgers Pre-College Summer Scholars), giving students options across the full range of economics-adjacent interests.
Several programs are free, including Rowan University's TLAE (which also awards three transferable college credits) and Stockton University's SEBA (which includes a $500 prize for the winning business plan team).
Programs with industry certification opportunities stand out for their practical value, including Stevens Quantitative Finance (Bloomberg Market Concepts and Capital IQ certifications) and Stevens Finance and Investing Bootcamp (multiple S&P Capital IQ certifications).
Many programs include New York City field trips or visits to major financial institutions, including Stevens Business Explorer (Bloomberg, Google, LinkedIn), Rutgers Business School Camp (AT&T, Johnson and Johnson), Montclair Wall Street Experience, and Montclair Business Entrepreneurship Week.
Application deadlines vary widely, with earlier deadlines like Stevens programs (March 16 priority) and Wharton Global Youth (January 28 priority) and later rolling deadlines for programs like Rutgers Business School Camp and Seton Hall Investing 101.
1. Rowan University Think Like an Entrepreneur Summer Academy (TLAE)
Location: Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: July 6 – 9
Application deadline: May 18 (based on previous years); applications open on March 18
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors
TLAE is one of the few programs of its kind that places a social mission at the center of entrepreneurship education. You will work within a team of peers on one of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals and spend four intensive days developing a solution to it using the tools of entrepreneurship. The curriculum will move from problem and opportunity recognition through design thinking, customer discovery, rapid prototyping, the Business Model Canvas, financial resource modeling, and pitch development. AI tools will be incorporated into prototype development and marketing work. Rowan faculty will lead instruction alongside student mentors from the university's entrepreneurship program. The week concludes with a team competition. You will earn three transferable college credits upon completing TLAE.
2. Veritas AI’s Deep Dive: AI + Finance
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies; financial aid offered
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: 25 hours over 10 weeks
Application deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: Students in grades 8 – 12 who have completed Veritas AI Scholars or have some background in coding
Veritas AI runs a series of AI programs for ambitious high school students, founded and run by Harvard graduate students. Through the AI + Finance Deep Dive, you will gain a deeper understanding of AI applications in the financial field. You will get a chance to participate in lectures, code walkthroughs, and real-world projects that use AI & ML models to predict future financial patterns from past data, forecast stock prices, and more. You can explore the program brochure here and check out application details on the application form.
3. Stockton University Summer Entrepreneurship and Business Academy (SEBA)
Location: Stockton University Atlantic City Campus, Atlantic City, NJ
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 12 – 18
Application deadline: Usually in the spring; details updated on the program website
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors
SEBA is a week-long program designed to help you create a viable business from scratch. You will work within a team of peers, exploring accounting, finance, business analytics, management, marketing, and hospitality, and learning from Stockton faculty and guest speakers from the business community. You will apply what you learn directly to the business plan your group is developing in parallel. A business plan competition judged by Advisory Board members, faculty, and executives will conclude the week, with the winning team taking home a $500 prize. Field trips to business locations will be an important part of the program; in the past, students have visited the Federal Reserve Bank, gaining direct exposure to financial institutions alongside the entrepreneurship content.
4. Lumiere Research Scholar Program: Economics Track
Location: Remote! You can participate in the program from anywhere in the world.
Cost: Varies by program type; full financial aid available.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Varies by cohort: summer, spring, fall, and winter. Options range from 12 weeks to a year.
Application deadline: Varies based on cohort
Eligibility: Students enrolled in high school who demonstrate strong academic performance
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program offers extensive 1-on-1 research opportunities across a wide range of subject areas for high schoolers to explore. The program pairs you with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the program, you will have developed a research paper! You can choose research topics from subjects such as economics, international relations, data science, engineering, physics, computer science, chemistry, psychology, and more. You can find more details about the program application here, and check out students’ reviews of the program here and here.
5. Stevens Institute of Technology Summer Residential Program: Business Explorer
Location: Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ
Cost: $3,150; need-based scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 5 – 11 | July 12 – 18
Application deadline: March 16 (priority); June 1 (regular)
Eligibility: Rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors
Held on a campus minutes from New York City's corporate headquarters, this week-long program offers you exposure to business while leveraging the proximity. Professors from the Stevens School of Business will lead you through real business case studies and integrative exercises using the Hanlon Financial Systems Labs, covering modules in Finance, Economics, Marketing, Management, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship. The week is built around applied learning rather than lectures, so you will be consistently working through problems in teams. A guided visit to one of Stevens's NYC industry partners caps the week, during which you will meet with executives, tour the facility, and gain direct exposure to corporate culture. Past visits have included Bloomberg, Google, and LinkedIn, offering students insights into what careers in different sectors actually look like day to day.
6. Rutgers Pre-College Summer Scholars Program: Economics Courses
Location: Online or Rutgers University-New Brunswick, New Brunswick, NJ
Cost: $482 – $551/credit for in-state students | $1,148 – $1,338/credit for out-of-state students + $162 Summer Student Fee; scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: Session I: May 26 – July 2 | Session II: July 6 – August 12
Application deadline: May 17 for Session I | June 28 for Session II
Eligibility: High school students, ages 16 – 18, with a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.0 and U.S. citizenship/permanent residency; applicants graduating high school in the program year are ineligible.
This pre-college program allows you to take actual Rutgers undergraduate courses across disciplines and attend classes alongside enrolled college students. You can choose from two economics courses. The Principles of Microeconomics course covers market systems, monopoly, price controls, pollution economics, and the government's role in market efficiency. The Principles of Macroeconomics course examines employment, national income, money and banking, monetary policy, and international trade. You will engage with faculty, complete coursework on the same timeline as undergraduates, and earn three transferable Rutgers credit hours upon completion. This can be an opportunity to test whether an economics major is the right direction before arriving at college.
7. Rutgers Business School Summer Camp
Location: Rutgers Business School’s Livingston Campus, Piscataway, NJ
Cost: $2,600
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: July 5 – 11 | July 12 – 18 | July 19 – 25
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students
The Rutgers Business School Summer Camp offers students a full immersion in business across every core discipline over the course of a week. Each day, RBS faculty will teach sessions on topics ranging from marketing and supply chain to accounting and finance, while a rotating group of executive mentors will advise student teams on their developing business plans. Site visits to companies are interspersed throughout the week, with past schedules including visits to AT&T, Johnson and Johnson, and MassMutual, where financial planning advisors led panel discussions, and students practiced elevator pitches on the spot. You will present your final business plan at the end of the week in front of faculty, parents, and current RBS students.
8. Seton Hall University Investing 101: Managing a Live Financial Portfolio
Location: Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
Cost: $500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Dates: July 13 – 17
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students
In this program, you will track actual assets and make real investment decisions at Seton Hall University within a real-world portfolio across five half-days. Instruction will cover financial markets, investment strategies, risk management, and portfolio diversification, with a focus on the equipment and software that professional analysts use daily. Guest lecturers from Bloomberg and TIAA will bring industry perspectives into the classroom, sharing how portfolio management actually functions at the institutional level. The Bloomberg Terminal access offered during the program makes this a hands-on credential that goes beyond what you may experience in traditional high school economics or finance classes.
9. Montclair State University Wall Street and the Investment Experience
Location: Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
Cost: $1,900
Acceptance rate: Not specified
Dates: July 12 – 18
Application deadline: Rolling enrollment with payment due on June 15; applications open on November 25.
Eligibility: Current 9th – 11th-grade students
This program covers financial markets from multiple angles: analytical, historical, cultural, and technological. You will learn to interpret business news, analyze financial data, and trade across different asset classes, including stocks, commodities, gold, oil, and cryptocurrency. Instruction also covers how artificial intelligence is changing the finance sector. A field trip to New York City's Financial District will bring the classroom into the real world, as you engage in a tour of Wall Street, visit financial institutions, and meet professionals working in the industry. The curriculum will also examine how Wall Street is portrayed in media and film, which adds a useful critical layer to the technical content.
10. Montclair State University Business Entrepreneurship Week
Location: Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
Cost: $1,900
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 12 – 18 | July 26 – August 1
Application deadline: Rolling enrollment with payment due on June 15; applications open on November 25.
Eligibility: Students in grades 9 – 11
In this program, you will explore the entrepreneurial mindset, the basics and process of company formation, the difference between for-profit and non-profit structures, and the concept of compassionate capitalism, which examines how business can generate both profit and social value. Instruction will be delivered by Feliciano School of Business faculty. Sessions will include access to the Bloomberg Seminar Room on Montclair's trading floor. Field trips will take you to Wall Street in New York City for a direct look at how the financial world operates, as well as to a New Jersey company so you can see how a local business runs from the inside. Pitching your business idea to potential investors will be the capstone of the program, helping you practice public communication and persuasion.
11. Wharton Global Youth: Future of the Business World
Location: Virtual
Cost: $4,099 + $100 non-refundable application fee; scholarships available for Philadelphia students
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 15 – 26 | July 6 – 17
Application deadline: January 28 (priority); rolling admissions after the priority deadline
Eligibility: Students in grades 9 – 12
In Future of the Business World, each session builds around the question of what global business will look like in the future. Wharton faculty will guide you through a mix of live lectures, small-group recitations, and collaborative group projects, covering themes like innovation and entrepreneurship, data analytics, and the impact of business on economies. A key feature is the pair of interactive business simulations: one puts you in charge of a fictional retail chain to make data-driven decisions about strategy, investment, and operations, while the other draws on behavioral economics and scenario planning. You will work closely with peers from around the world in small recitation sections, which keeps the learning environment genuinely discussion-based rather than passive. The program wraps with a group project in which your team produces an original analysis on where a specific corner of the business world is headed, a deliverable that requires you to synthesize everything covered across the two weeks.
12. Stevens Institute of Technology Quantitative Finance: 4-Week Virtual Summer Research Experience
Location: Virtual
Cost: $2,500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 6 – 31
Application deadline: March 16 (priority); June 1 (final)
Eligibility: High school students with an interest in finance, statistics, and computer science, and some coding experience
This four-week virtual program is designed to give you a working foundation in quantitative finance, focusing on math, programming, and financial markets. The curriculum covers financial analysis, probability, statistical methods, and the application of programming languages such as R to real-world financial data and case studies. You will work toward two industry-recognized certifications: Bloomberg Market Concepts and Capital IQ, both of which are used by professional analysts. Practical exercises and case studies will run throughout the program, so the learning will be hands-on. By the end, you will have built skills in data-driven decision-making that apply directly to careers in finance, investment research, and financial technology.
13. Stevens Institute of Technology Finance and Investing: 1-Week Intensive Virtual Bootcamp
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: August 3 – 7
Application deadline: March 16 (priority); June 1 (final)
Eligibility: High school students
In this program, you will work with the S&P Capital IQ professional platform, learning how to collect company performance data, run backtests, build and manage simulated portfolios, and apply portfolio optimization techniques. You will pursue actual S&P certifications throughout the week, such as Capital IQ Pro 101, Pro 201, Banking 101, and Ratings Direct 101, which provide you with documented, industry-recognized credentials in financial analytics and market data. Daily breakout sessions led by teaching assistants will help you apply the lecture content to hands-on exercises. Topics like equity analysis and risk assessment are threaded throughout the entire week.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best economics programs for high school students in New Jersey?
Strong options depend on a student's interests. Students drawn to entrepreneurship might consider Rowan TLAE or Stockton SEBA, those interested in investing and financial markets might look at Seton Hall Investing 101 or Montclair Wall Street Experience, and those seeking quantitative finance skills might consider Stevens Quantitative Finance or the Stevens Finance and Investing Bootcamp.
Are there free economics programs for high school students in New Jersey?
Yes, Rowan University's Think Like an Entrepreneur Academy and Stockton University's SEBA are both free. Rowan TLAE additionally awards three transferable college credits, and SEBA includes a $500 prize for the winning business plan team.
Which New Jersey economics programs offer college credit?
Rowan University's TLAE awards three transferable college credits upon completion, and Rutgers Pre-College Summer Scholars allows students to earn three transferable Rutgers credit hours by completing actual undergraduate economics courses alongside enrolled college students.
Which programs focus specifically on investing and financial markets rather than general business?
Seton Hall's Investing 101 involves managing a real financial portfolio with Bloomberg Terminal access, Stevens Quantitative Finance covers statistical methods and financial data using R, and Montclair State's Wall Street Experience covers stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrency analysis with a Wall Street field trip.
Do any New Jersey economics programs lead to industry-recognized certifications?
Yes, Stevens Institute's Quantitative Finance program awards Bloomberg Market Concepts and Capital IQ certifications, and the Stevens Finance and Investing Bootcamp awards multiple S&P Capital IQ certifications including Capital IQ Pro 101 and Banking 101.
When should I apply to economics programs for high school students in New Jersey?
Deadlines vary widely. Early priority deadlines include Wharton Global Youth (January 28) and Stevens programs (March 16), while others like Rutgers Business School Summer Camp and Seton Hall Investing 101 operate on rolling admissions throughout the spring.