12 Engineering Programs for Middle School Students
Engineering programs can be a useful way for you to explore STEM concepts while you are still in middle school. They allow you to build skills in problem-solving, design, and basic programming through structured activities and projects. You can explore topics like robotics, circuits, and engineering design while learning how engineering concepts are applied across different fields.
What are the benefits of an engineering program?
Engineering programs often focus on project-based learning, allowing you to test ideas and develop solutions through guided activities. Depending on the program, activities can include building models, programming robots, or working through design challenges while developing teamwork and analytical skills. These experiences can help you better understand engineering concepts and explore your interests in a structured environment.
To help you get started, we’ve put together 12 engineering programs for middle school students.
If you’re looking for online tech programs, check out our blog here.
1. Virginia Tech CEED - Imagination
Location: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA (in-person)
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not publicly disclosed | selective for some tracks
Dates: June 22 - 26 | June 29 - July 3
Application Deadline: March 29
Eligibility: Rising 7th or 8th graders only (at time of application) | preference given to first-time applicants
Virginia Tech's Imagination program is a free week-long residential engineering experience held on the Blacksburg campus for rising 7th and 8th-graders. Students rotate through hands-on engineering projects, with past sessions including electrical and computer engineering (ECE) challenges and interactions with VT faculty and current engineering students. Two one-week sessions are offered each summer, giving students exposure to engineering disciplines, college campus life, and STEM career pathways. The program gives preference to first-time applicants. Participants explore engineering both as an academic pathway and a career, examining how engineering disciplines address real-world problems.
2. Veritas AI - AI Trailblazers (Middle School Program)
Location: Online (virtual via Zoom)
Cost/Stipend: Tuition-based | up to 100% financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Multiple cohorts per year – winter, spring, summer, and fall
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines. You can apply to the program here.
Eligibility: Grades 6 - 8 | no prior coding or math experience required
The AI Trailblazers program by Veritas AI is a virtual program that teaches middle school students the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Over 25 hours, you will learn the basics of Python as well as topics like data analysis, regression, image classification, neural networks, and AI ethics. Students learn through lectures and group sessions with a 5:1 student-to-mentor ratio. Previous student projects have included building a machine-learning model to classify music genres and developing a machine-learning algorithm to generate a custom list of educational resources based on specified criteria.
3. Engineering for Kids - STEM Campus and Programs
Location: Local franchise locations across the U.S. and internationally | in-person at community centers, schools, and university partner sites
Cost/Stipend: Fee-based | costs vary by location and program type | some scholarship options are available through local franchises
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment | cohort sizes vary by location | typically 10 - 20 students per session
Dates: Summer camps: June - August | after-school and weekend programs: year-round
Application Deadline: Rolling enrollment | register through local franchise location
Eligibility: Students aged 4 - 14 years | middle school students (aged 11 - 14 years) eligible for advanced engineering tracks | older 8th graders who have turned 14 years old should confirm eligibility with their local franchise | no prior engineering experience required
Engineering for Kids is a structured STEM education organization offering engineering-focused camps, classes, and after-school programs for students up to age 14, with dedicated advanced tracks for middle school participants. Middle school programs span disciplines such as mechanical engineering, structural engineering, electrical circuits, robotics, and computer programming, delivered through project-based challenges that follow the engineering design process from problem definition through prototyping and testing. Courses use industry-relevant tools and materials adapted for young learners, and instructors are trained in both engineering content and youth education. Programs are delivered through a network of local franchise locations across the U.S. and in several international markets, offering broader geographic accessibility compared to most university-based programs.
4. Lumiere Junior Explorer Program (Grades 6 - 8)
Location: Online (virtual; one-on-one with mentor)
Cost/Stipend: Tuition-based | full financial aid available through the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation for eligible students
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective | shortlisted applicants are interviewed before placement
Dates: Summer cohort: approximately July 7 - August 24 | Fall cohort: approximately late August - December Application Deadline: Summer cohort regular admission deadline: approximately April 1
Eligibility: Grades 6 - 8 | open to motivated middle school students worldwide | no prior research experience required
The Lumiere Junior Explorer Program is an eight-week one-on-one academic mentorship program for middle school students in grades 6 - 8. Each student is paired with a PhD researcher or scholar from leading universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Oxford. Students select from a wide range of academic tracks, including engineering, computer science, AI and data science, mathematics, physics, biology, environmental studies, and more. The initial four weeks are exploratory, supervised by a mentor. Weeks five and six involve a focused, in-depth study of a selected topic. The final two weeks are dedicated to completing a project from a research paper or a case study, depending on the chosen track. The program provides fully funded placements for academically strong students from low-income backgrounds.
5. MIT MITES Saturdays (formerly SEED Academy)
Location: MIT Campus, Cambridge, MA (Saturday sessions, in-person)
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective | limited to public school students in Boston, Cambridge, and Lawrence, MA
Dates: Year-round Saturday sessions
Application Deadline: Application opens in November | deadline is early December
Eligibility: Public school students in 7th - 10th grade at the time of application, attending Boston, Cambridge, or Lawrence, MA public schools | open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents with a current green card only (visas are not substitutes) | strong interest in STEM required | no minimum GPA but A/B grades expected once enrolled | students continue through 12th grade once admitted
MITES Saturdays is a free multi-year program run by the School of Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 7th - 12th graders enrolled in public schools in Boston, Cambridge, or Lawrence. Students attend weekly Saturday sessions on the MIT campus, working through engineering and science topics at a level that goes beyond standard middle school curricula. The program builds a strong STEM foundation through challenging coursework, hands-on lab sessions, and sustained mentorship over multiple years. There is no minimum GPA required, as the program looks for consistent academic effort and curiosity. MITES Saturdays also serves as a direct entry point to the broader MITES ecosystem, which includes free summer residential and semester programs for high school students. It is designed specifically to expand access to STEM education for students from public schools in underserved communities.
6. Columbia University - Summer Engineering Program (Girls in STEM)
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY (in-person)
Cost/Stipend: Free for accepted students; all program materials included
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective | small cohort sizes of approximately 20–25 students
Dates: Two weeks in July
Application Deadline: Applications typically open in March | deadline in May
Eligibility: Female-identifying students in grades 7–9 | U.S.-based students preferred | no prior engineering experience required | demonstrated interest in STEM preferred
Columbia University's Summer Engineering Program for Girls in STEM is a free two-week in-person program designed to introduce female-identifying middle school students to core engineering disciplines through structured, hands-on project work on Columbia's campus. Participants engage with topics spanning mechanical, biomedical, electrical, and civil engineering through laboratory sessions, design challenges, and problem-solving workshops led by Columbia faculty and graduate student mentors. The program follows the engineering design process from problem identification and ideation through prototyping and testing, giving students a structured methodology they can apply beyond the program itself. Students live and work on Columbia's Morningside Heights campus, gaining direct exposure to what studying engineering at a research university looks and feels like. Daily interaction with faculty, graduate students, and industry professionals provides early access to both academic and professional networks in engineering.
7. MIT dynaMIT — Summer Day Program
Location: MIT Campus, Cambridge, MA (in-person, commuter)
Cost/Stipend: Free (including lunch and snacks daily)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not publicly disclosed | targeted toward economically disadvantaged students in the Greater Boston area
Dates: Week 1 (rising 6th - 7th graders): August 17 - 21 | Week 2 (rising 8th - 9th graders): August 24 - 28
Application Deadline: Applications open in spring | decisions released in late April
Eligibility: Rising 6th through 9th graders | economically disadvantaged students | preference for students in the Greater Boston area | must commute to MIT campus daily
The dynaMIT program is a free, one-week summer day initiative hosted on MIT's campus. It is designed for economically disadvantaged middle school students and run by MIT undergraduate and graduate students. Each day follows a different STEM discipline – chemistry, biology, physics, earth and space science, computer science, and mathematics explored through hands-on activities and experiments. Past activities have included building bottle rockets, anatomy and medical tools demonstrations, conducting plasma demonstrations, working on coding projects, and solving cryptography challenges. The program provides students with access to STEM enrichment opportunities on MIT's campus and in the community. Free lunch and snacks are provided daily. Sessions are organized by grade level, with separate weeks for rising 6th- to 7th-graders and rising 8th- to 9th-graders.
8. Invent It Build It - Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
Location: Held at the annual SWE Conference | location varies by year (major U.S. cities)
Cost/Stipend: Free for student participants | travel costs are the student’s responsibility except where local sponsorships apply
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open to middle school girls attending the SWE Conference | capacity managed by event registration
Dates: Held annually in October during the SWE Annual Conference
Application Deadline: Registration opens in summer | tied to SWE Conference registration
Eligibility: Female-identifying students in grades 6–8 | must register through the SWE Annual Conference | open to students across the U.S.
Invent It Build It is a one-day hands-on engineering program run by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) for middle school girls, held annually as part of the SWE national conference. Participants work through structured engineering design challenges, building and testing prototype solutions to defined problems with guidance from female engineering professionals and university students volunteering as mentors throughout the event. The program is deliberately introductory and requires no prior engineering experience, making it accessible to students encountering formal engineering activities for the first time. Beyond the design challenges, students interact with a large community of women engineers across academia and industry, providing early exposure to professional networks and career pathways in engineering.
9. FIRST LEGO League (FLL) - Challenge
Location: Teams form locally | regional competitions across the U.S. and internationally| World Championship held annually
Cost/Stipend: Free to enter | team registration fees vary by region | many teams are fully sponsored
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment | World Championship fields about 110 teams
Dates: Season: September - April | regional competitions: November - February | world Championship: April Application Deadline: Team registration opens in the spring for the following season
Eligibility: Ages 9 - 16 years old (grades 4 - 8) with middle schoolers in grades 6 to 8 fully eligible and commonly participate | teams of 2 - 10 students | no prior robotics experience required | open to all students internationally
FIRST LEGO League Challenge, organized by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), is a global team-based engineering program for students aged 9 - 16 (grades 4 - 8). Each season, teams of 2 to 10 students research a real-world engineering problem, design and build a robot using the LEGO SPIKE Prime platform to complete structured missions on a themed playing field, and present their research findings to judges at regional and national tournaments. The program develops skills in robotics, mechanical engineering, programming, project management, and scientific communication. Teams typically form through schools, community centres, or robotics clubs. While entry fees are minimal, many teams participate at no cost through sponsorships. The program operates across all 50 U.S. states and in more than 110 countries.
10. DiscoverE - Engineers Week, Girl Day, and Future City Competition
Location: School-based and community-based | Future City regional competitions at universities across the U.S. | national finals held annually in February
Cost/Stipend: Free (all DiscoverE programs, including Future City, are free to enter and participate)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open to all | Future City sees 40,000+ participants annually, with national finalists selected from regional competitions
Dates: Engineers Week: third week of February | Future City season: October - February | national finals: February
Application Deadline: Future City registration opens in August
Eligibility: Future City: grades 6 - 8 | Engineers Week and Girl Day: open to all middle school students | no prerequisites required | The Official Team consists of 3 presenting students plus 1 educator plus 1 engineer mentor (engineer mentor is mandatory, not optional) | underlying working teams can be larger (whole class, 10 students, etc.), but exactly 3 students present at regional competition.
DiscoverE is a nonprofit coalition that runs multiple free engineering programs accessible to middle school students year-round. Its main programs include Engineers Week, held annually in the third week of February, which brings engineering demonstrations and activities to schools nationwide. Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, which connects female middle school students with volunteer engineers for hands-on activities, and the Future City Competition, a project-based engineering challenge where students in grades 6th - 8th design a city of the future using SimCity software, build a scale model, and present engineering solutions to professional engineers. Each team must include a mandatory engineer mentor, a professional from engineering, architecture, urban planning, or a technical field who provides guidance alongside the educator throughout the competition process. Future City is completely free, runs from October through February, and involves working with larger teams(about 10 students) each mentored by an engineering volunteer. Over 40,000 students participate in Future City annually.
11. Project Lead The Way (PLTW) - Gateway Middle School Program
Location: School-based | offered through participating middle schools across all 50 U.S. states
Cost/Stipend: Free for students (program costs borne by the school)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Available in 12,000+ schools nationally | no competitive admission, enroll through your school
Dates: Year-round | follows the school academic calendar
Application Deadline: No application deadline for students enrolled through your school's course registration | schools apply to join PLTW at pltw.org
Eligibility: Grades 6 - 8 | must attend a school that offers PLTW Gateway | no prerequisites
Project Lead the Way Gateway is a free, school-based engineering and technology curriculum for middle school students in grades 6-8. It is delivered through participating schools across the United States, and courses cover engineering design, automation and robotics, design and modeling, medical detectives, and computer science. In engineering design courses, students apply the full engineering design process, including problem definition, ideation, 3D modeling using tools such as Autodesk Inventor, prototyping, and testing. PLTW Gateway is taught by trained teachers using industry-standard tools, with a curriculum designed in collaboration with leading engineering universities. Over 2.5 million students across 12,000+ schools participate. While students typically access the program at no cost, schools pay an annual licensing fee.
12. Science Olympiad
Location: School-based preparation | regional, state, and national tournaments across the U.S.
Cost/Stipend: School membership ~$100 - $150/year (check soinc.org for current fees) | no per-student fee | additional costs may include tournament travel, materials for engineering events, and invitational registration fees
Acceptance rate/cohort size:Dates: Academic year with invitational tournaments fall–winter; state tournaments spring; nationals May
Application Deadline: School registration typically opens in late summer/fall
Eligibility: Middle school students (grades 6 - 9 for Division B) | teams of exactly 15 students | middle schoolers (grades 6 - 8) compete alongside early high school students on the same team of 15
Science Olympiad is a national STEM competition program for middle and high school students that covers 23 interdisciplinary events in biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, engineering, and technology. Middle school students compete in invitational, regional, state, and national tournaments. Engineering events such as Wright Stuff (rubber band-powered aircraft), Scrambler (egg-drop vehicle), and Tower building require hands-on design, construction, and testing under specific constraints. Teams of 15 students work with a coach throughout the academic year to prepare across all events. Registration is handled through individual school coaches, with school membership fees (typically $100 - $150/year) applicable, but there is no per-student participation cost.