14 Free STEM Summer Camps for High School Students
STEM summer camps can help you explore subjects beyond your regular coursework while building skills in areas such as engineering, computer science, mathematics, robotics, and biomedical science. These programs often introduce you to topics that may not be covered in school and give you opportunities to learn from university faculty, researchers, and STEM professionals. Many camps also bring together students with similar academic interests, creating an environment where you can explore new ideas and strengthen your problem-solving and analytical skills.
How are STEM camps different from other programs in high school?
Unlike research programs or academic courses that can run for several months, STEM camps are typically shorter and more focused. Most camps center on a specific subject area and use workshops, experiments, design challenges, coding activities, and group projects to introduce new concepts. Because they take place over a few days or weeks, they offer a way to explore different STEM fields without a long-term commitment while still gaining exposure to advanced topics and university-level learning environments.
To help you get started, we have curated a list of 14 free STEM summer camps for high school students.
If you’re looking for online summer programs, check out our blog here.
1. University of Missouri NASA STEAM Camp
Location: University of Missouri campus, Columbia, MO
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Small cohort with pre‑screening evaluation
Dates: July 6 – 12
Application Deadline: May 29
Eligibility: High school sophomores or juniors interested in STEAM
Each day of this camp focuses on a different emerging technology, from digital agriculture and robotics to AI and geospatial science. You work with sensors and programmable drones, then analyze the data you collect using machine learning tools introduced by university faculty. The program includes a visit to a research farm, where you see how precision agriculture technology is used in the field, and a trip to the St. Louis Space and Science Center. Professional development workshops cover resume writing, interview skills, and finding STEAM scholarships and NASA internships. At the end of the week, you’ll present your project to faculty and peers, and you'll receive a drone to take home as part of the camp.
2. Veritas AI
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies, 100% financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling. You can apply to the program here.
Eligibility: High school students. AI Fellowship applicants should either have completed the AI Scholars program or exhibit experience with AI concepts 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. SAGE Camp at SLAC
Location: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University, Menlo Park, CA
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: ~40‑50 participants annually
Dates: June 21 – 27
Application Deadline: February 24 – March 17
Eligibility: Current 9th, 10th, and 11th‑grade students in Northern California public high schools, age 14‑17
SAGE Camp gives you direct access to a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory. Over one week, you explore topics like particle physics, materials science, and computational modeling through hands‑on workshops and lab tours. Past participants have built their own electric motors, visited an observatory, and talked with Stanford researchers about their latest discoveries. The camp is residential, so you stay on a college campus and experience what it is like to live and study in a STEM‑focused environment. All costs are covered, including meals and housing, making this one of the few residential free STEM summer camps for high school students in Northern California.
4. Lumiere Research Scholar Program
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies, 100% financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students (grades 9‑12)
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program matches you with a PhD mentor to conduct original research over several months. You choose your topic, from computer science and biology to economics and psychology, and meet weekly with your mentor to design experiments, analyze data, and draft a research paper. Your mentor will help you conduct a literature review, choose appropriate methods, and interpret your results. You’ll write a college‑level research paper, with guidance on structuring arguments and presenting data. The program also includes small-group sessions on research ethics, data visualization, and submitting your paper to high school journals.
5. Carnegie Mellon University Statistics and Data Science Camp
Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: ~25 students per cohort
Dates: June 22 – 26
Application Deadline: March 15
Eligibility: High school students in Pittsburgh and surrounding districts with a solid understanding of algebra
This one‑week camp introduces you to statistics and data science through classes, hands‑on demonstrations, and computer labs. You learn the basics of R programming and study topics such as data modeling, linear regression, and unstructured data. The program includes a field trip to a Pittsburgh‑based company that uses data science daily, and you receive a free bus pass and a stipend. By the end of the week, you will have a clear sense of what data science careers look like and how to prepare for them. The final session includes a panel discussion where CMU alumni working in tech and finance answer your questions about data science careers.
6. University of Minnesota IMA‑MathCEP Math Modeling Camp
Location: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: ~15% acceptance for new applicants
Dates: June 22 – 26
Application Deadline: May 31
Eligibility: Current high school students who have completed a year‑long course in single variable calculus
This free camp focuses on mathematical modeling, covering how models are used to solve real‑world problems such as studying disease spread, assessing climate change impacts, analyzing population trends, and optimizing train routes. Each day begins with a lecture on a modeling technique, differential equations, discrete time models, or Monte Carlo simulations, and then you spend the rest of the session implementing your model in software. You’ll keep a digital lab notebook where you document your assumptions, equations, and validation steps. The week ends with a poster session in which you explain your model to faculty and fellow students. You’ll also receive feedback from professional mathematicians who use modeling in their research. The application process requires that a math teacher send a letter of recommendation.
7. ORISE Robotics Academy
Location: Oak Ridge, TN
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Limited spots
Dates: June 15 – 19
Application Deadline: May 15
Eligibility: Rising 7 - 10 grade students
The ORISE Robotics Academy is a week‑long day camp where you work in small teams to learn the basics of designing, building, and programming a robot. Midweek, you tour the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and see how researchers use robotic arms in nuclear materials handling and biological sample processing. You learn to code your robot in a block‑based or Python environment, depending on your experience level. The final day features a competition where your robot must complete a relay course against other teams. You’ll also hear from engineers who work at the lab about their career paths and the daily realities of robotics research.
8. Kode With Klossy Summer Camps
Location: In‑person in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Richardson, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and London, UK; plus virtual options
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: First‑come, first‑served registration; ~1,000 scholars across 50 camps
Dates: June 1 – 12 | July 6 – 17 | July 20 – 31 | August 3 – 14
Application Deadline: Early August
Eligibility: Women and gender‑expansive teens ages 13‑18
Kode With Klossy offers free two‑week coding camps where you choose from four curricula: Web Development, Mobile App Development, Machine Learning, and Data Science. Each day includes pair programming, where you work with a partner to debug code and review each other’s work. Guest speakers who are women software engineers from companies like Google, Netflix, and NASA share their career stories and lead mini‑workshops on topics like technical interviewing. The final project is a working app or website that you present to the whole camp on the last day. Kode With Klossy specifically supports underrepresented genders in tech and welcomes beginners, making it one of the most accessible free STEM summer camps for high school students.
9. UCLA NeuroCamp
Location: UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: ~12% acceptance; 30 students
Dates: Week 1: June 16 – 18 | Week 2: June 22 – 26
Application Deadline: April 19
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9 to 12 who reside in Los Angeles County, CA
Hosted by UCLA’s Brain Research Institute, NeuroCamp introduces you to neuroscience through lectures, hands‑on activities, and research. You’ll explore neurobiology, neurophysiology, and neuroanatomy, and engage in wet-lab work that includes brain and spinal cord dissections, investigations of habituation in roundworms, and experiments on earthworms and mice. Each session includes a short lecture on a topic like synaptic transmission or neuroanatomy, followed by hands‑on lab work. You keep a lab notebook at home, along with detailed protocols so you can repeat some experiments on your own.
10. Rice Neuroscience Society NeuroCamp
Location: Virtual or in‑person at Rice University, Houston, TX
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive; 25 selected from 50 interviewed
Dates: Online: July 18 – 19 | In‑person: August 1 – 2
Application Deadline: May 8
Eligibility: All high school students (in‑person camp limited to the greater Houston area)
Rice’s NeuroCamp enables you to explore neuroscience through interactive lectures, panel discussions, and independent lab experiments. In the in‑person session, you’ll use laboratory equipment to stain and observe your own cheek cells under a microscope, then compare them to prepared slides of brain tissue. A panel discussion covers college applications, with Rice students giving specific advice on writing the activities section and the “why this major” essay. You’ll also participate in a computational neuroscience exercise where you simulate a simple neural network using a web‑based tool. The virtual option includes the same lectures and panel, but replaces lab work with at‑home activities such as building a model neuron from craft supplies, and is open to international students.
11. Purdue University Northwest Forensic Science Summer Camp
Location: Purdue University Northwest, Hammond, IN
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Small cohort
Dates: June 15 – 19
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school ages 14 – 17 (younger high school classes may attend with permission of the director)
You’ll process a mock crime scene by dusting for fingerprints, collecting hair and fiber samples with tweezers, and photographing evidence. In the lab, you extract DNA from a simulated blood sample using a centrifuge and gel electrophoresis, then compare the banding patterns to suspects’ profiles. You’ll also learn to test for the presence of blood using luminol and to analyze ballistics markings under a comparison microscope. Each technique is taught by faculty who have worked as forensic scientists for police departments. On the final day, you present your findings in a mock trial, explaining how each piece of evidence supports your conclusion.
12. UC Davis High School Summer AI Tech Camp
Location: UC Davis, Davis, CA
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open (first-come basis)
Dates: June 15 – 18
Application Deadline: Not specified (first‑come, first‑served)
Eligibility: High school students interested in STEM or AgTech; no coding experience needed
In this program, you’ll learn Python programming and AI fundamentals using a Raspberry Pi AI Camera, then apply those skills to build an image classification model for an agricultural or environmental challenge. The camp includes hands‑on work with neural networks and edge computing, plus a tour of a drone lab to see how UAVs are used in research. You’ll work in teams to develop and pitch an AI project, competing in a friendly challenge against other students and teachers. The program is hosted by UC Davis’s AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems and is completely free. No prior coding experience is required, just curiosity about how AI can solve real‑world problems in food production and sustainability.
13. Western New England University Golden Bear Summer Camp
Location: Western New England University, Springfield, MA
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: First 35 students to register
Dates: June 22 – 26
Application Deadline: Rolling until full
Eligibility: High school students ages 13‑18
This camp focuses on pharmacy and other healthcare professions, covering topics such as hospital pharmacy, pharmaceutics, neuroscience, occupational therapy, and DNA extraction. You’ll attend labs, demonstrations, and hands‑on activities designed to prepare you for a career in healthcare. You’ll tour the university’s simulation hospital, where nursing students practice on high‑fidelity mannequins that breathe, blink, and respond to medications. You’ll also hear from a panel of pharmacists, occupational therapists, and physicians about their daily work, giving you a practical, behind‑the‑scenes look at multiple healthcare professions. The program is career‑focused, helping you understand what different healthcare roles actually do on a daily basis.
14. National Youth Science Camp (NYSC)
Location: Monongahela National Forest, Huttonsville, WV
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 2 delegates per U.S. state + international; highly competitive
Dates: July 11 – August 1
Application Deadline: February 19 – March 30
Eligibility: Graduating high school seniors or rising seniors
At the National Youth Science Camp, you’ll participate in daily lectures from renowned scientists, including astrophysicists, astronauts, and Nobel laureates. Afterward, you'll split into small study groups to explore topics such as quantum computing, ornithology, or astrobiology in greater detail. In the field, you collect water samples from mountain streams and analyze them for pH, dissolved oxygen, and macroinvertebrates. Evenings feature seminars on practical skills such as orienteering, juggling, or cooking over a campfire, as well as stargazing sessions with high‑powered telescopes. You also collaborate on a group research project that you present to the whole camp at the end of the three weeks.