13 Data Science Summer Camps for High School Students
Data science summer camps can be a strong option if you’re a high school student interested in exploring how data is used to solve problems across different fields. They allow you to build skills in areas such as statistics, programming, and data analysis while learning to interpret and work with complex datasets. You can also gain exposure to topics such as machine learning and data visualization, helping you better understand how data science connects to academic and career pathways.
How are camps different from other programs in high school?
Unlike year-long courses or multi-month research programs, summer camps are shorter, more focused experiences designed to give you a concentrated deep-dive into a specific subject. Some camps conclude with showcase presentations, where you’ll pitch your project to peers and mentors, giving you an idea of what it actually feels like to work in the field. Since camps are shorter and more structured, they're a great way to test your interest in data science before committing to a longer program.
To help with your search, here are 13 data science summer camps for high school students.
If you’re looking for data analytics programs, check out our blog here.
1. Veritas AI
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies by program; Financial aid offered
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application Deadline: Varies by cohort. You can apply here.
Eligibility: High school students
Veritas AI, founded and managed by Harvard graduate students, offers programs for high school students interested in artificial intelligence. If you’re looking to explore AI, machine learning, and data science, you may find the AI Scholars program particularly useful. It is a 10-session boot camp that introduces you to the fundamentals of AI and data science and provides opportunities to work on real-world projects. If you’re a more advanced student, consider the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase program, which allows you to work one-on-one with mentors from top universities on a unique, individual project. This program also provides access to an in-house publication team, which will help you secure a publication 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.
2. Statistics & Data Science Camp
Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Cost: Free
Program Dates: June 22 – 26
Application Deadline: March 15
Eligibility: High school students within Pittsburgh and the surrounding school districts only
The Statistics & Data Science Camp introduces you to the world of statistics and data science, exploring how these fields extract meaning from the vast amounts of data generated by images, websites, books, social media, and everyday activities. Each day combines presentations on statistics and data science fundamentals with hands-on demonstrations and computer labs where you learn the basics of R programming. This blend of instruction and practice ensures you develop both conceptual understanding and practical skills for working with real data. A highlight of the program is a field trip to the offices of a Pittsburgh-based company that uses data science every day, giving you real-world exposure to how these skills are applied in the professional world. This industry visit demonstrates the range of problems data scientists tackle across different sectors and helps you connect classroom concepts to professional practice.
3. Lumiere Research Scholar Program: Data Science Track
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies; Financial aid available
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts year-round
Application Deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: High school students with a minimum 3.3 GPA
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program offers extensive 1-on-1 research opportunities for high school students across a broad range of subject areas. The program pairs high school students with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll have developed an independent research paper! You can choose research topics from subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. You can find more details about the application here, and check out students’ reviews of the program here and here.
4. University of the Pacific Summer High School Institute: Data Science Boot Camp
Location: University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA
Cost: $3,800; Discounts offered
Program Dates: Session 1: June 1 – 11; Session 2: June 16 – 26
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students
The University of the Pacific's Data Science program immerses you in the artificial intelligence revolution, teaching foundational data science skills while exploring how technology has enabled computers to perform tasks once thought uniquely human, from recognizing friends in photos to navigating self-driving cars. The program connects exciting real-world applications to the underlying programming and data science concepts you learn throughout the camp. You will learn Python programming from the ground up while building skills in reading, processing, and transforming data. You’ll also learn how machine learning systems find patterns in different types of data and make predictions based on those patterns. The curriculum explores the AI revolution and how data science sits at the center of modern technological advancement, giving you context for how the technical skills you're learning apply across industries from medicine to finance.
5. Quinnipiac University Data Sciences Lab
Location: Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT
Cost: Residential: $3,600; Commuter: $2,600; Partial financial aid offered
Program Dates: July 6 – 17
Application Deadline: June 1
Eligibility: Current high school students (ages 15-18)
Quinnipiac University's Data Sciences Lab provides a practical introduction to how data scientists and analysts harness massive amounts of data to help businesses make decisions, governments shape policy, and doctors diagnose and treat patients. The curriculum teaches you to leverage mathematics, statistics, and computer programming to analyze data, detect patterns, and solve problems. You’ll explore foundational knowledge of big data, data science theory, and methodology while gaining hands-on experience analyzing datasets to uncover meaningful insights. The program connects technical skills to real-world impact, helping you understand how data science contributes to the development of artificial intelligence models and to new product innovation across industries.
6. NYU’s Machine Learning
Location: NYU andon School of Engineering, New York, NY
Cost: $3,180
Program Dates: Session 1: June 15 – 27; Session 2: July 6 – 17; Session 3: July 20 – 31
Application Deadline: April 17 (session 1); May 1 (session 2 & 3)
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9-11 who have completed Algebra 2 or equivalent; Some programming experience required
NYU Tandon's Summer Program for Machine Learning is a camp that introduces you to computer science, data analysis, mathematical techniques, and the logic behind machine learning and artificial intelligence. The program connects technical concepts to technologies you encounter daily, from video and image recognition and interactive voice controls to autonomous vehicles and diagnostic medical technologies. You’ll learn core machine learning principles, including model development through cross-validation, linear regression, and neural networks, and understand how to teach a computer to perform tasks independently and how to improve its performance over time. Theory is reinforced through daily assignments and weekly projects requiring hands-on programmatic implementation of machine learning algorithms.
7. LVC Computer Programming with AI Summer Camp
Location: Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA
Cost: $950
Program Dates: June 21 – 26
Application Deadline: Rolling until full
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors
Lebanon Valley College's Computer Programming with AI Summer Camp is an immersive experience for students who want to explore the future of technology. The camp takes you from idea to implementation, providing an authentic, fast-paced introduction to how programming and data science work in practice. You’ll use Python alongside AI-powered tools to solve programming and data science challenges as part of a team, learning how to think computationally and apply technical skills to real-world problems. The camp features opportunities to connect with LVC alumni working in computer and data science fields, gaining a professional perspective on career pathways. You’ll also gain hands-on exposure to relevant software and work on projects that reflect actual applications in the field, making the learning feel immediately relevant rather than purely academic.
8. Data Science in Action: Machine Learning for Self-Driving Cars
Location: Countway Library, Boston, MA
Cost: $50
Program Dates: Part 1 (Virtual): June 29 – July 3; Part 2 (In-person): July 6 – 17
Application Deadline: April 1
Eligibility: Rising freshmen through seniors; Basic algebra is required; Applications from students from low-income backgrounds are encouraged
Hosted by Harvard's Translational Data Science Center for a Learning Health System, this three-week camp teaches statistics, machine learning, and programming through an engaging project: building a self-driving toy car powered by your own neural network. The program combines a virtual Python bootcamp with two weeks of hands-on in-person work, making it accessible regardless of prior coding experience. The first week introduces you to Python through self-paced virtual classes, with tutorials available on the program's YouTube channel and TA support through Zoom office hours. During the two-week in-person phase, you’ll work in teams on progressively complex challenges from introductory coding tasks to image classification. You’ll learn machine learning methods and algorithms, training your own classification neural networks to recognize physical objects before installing your program into a camera-equipped toy car that self-drives using your model.
9. Berkeley Summer Computer Science Academy
Location: UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Cost: $5,197; Scholarships offered
Program Dates: June 21 – July 3
Application Deadline: March 9
Eligibility: Students who have completed 10th or 11th grade (16+) with a minimum 3.0 GPA
The Berkeley Summer Computer Science Academy is a two-week residential program for students interested in computer science and artificial intelligence. Based on UC Berkeley's renowned Beauty and Joy of Computing curriculum, the academy is designed for those with little to no prior coding experience. You’ll dive into coding using Snap, a visual programming language, exploring the core big ideas of computer science from an introduction to computing and coding languages. You’ll also get to work on a programming project of your own design. Topics span abstraction and functions, Boolean logic, algorithms, lists and higher-order functions, recursion, and the social implications of computing. The program also adds a dedicated Artificial Intelligence module covering supervised machine learning, reinforcement learning, generative AI, and AI ethics directly relevant to data science applications.
10. Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies: Introduction to Data Science
Location: Virtual
Cost: $3,200; Financial aid offered
Program Dates: Session 1: June 15 – 26; Session 2: July 6 – 17
Application Deadline: March 13
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9-11; Exposure to a programming language and working knowledge of statistics required
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies' Introduction to Data Science is a two-week online course exploring how data science has transformed the way we understand the world. It also explores how we can use powerful analytical tools effectively and ethically. You’ll work with datasets from natural and social sciences to investigate real-world questions relevant to your own life, applying machine learning through R programming exercises integrated throughout the course. The curriculum introduces you to computer algorithms and the variety of models they can generate, examining the tradeoffs of different approaches. By the end of the program, you'll have built a technical skill set for investigating datasets with strong coding ability and a scientific mindset.
11. Kode With Klossy
Location: Virtual + In-person options
Cost: Free
Program Dates: Multiple sessions in the summer
Application Deadline: March 31
Eligibility: Young women and gender-expansive teens (ages 13-18)
Kode With Klossy offers free two-week coding-intensive camps designed for students of traditionally underrepresented genders in STEM. The Data Science track teaches you to examine data and draw meaningful insights using SQL, Python, and data visualization tools. By the end of camp, you would’ve built a visualization of a topic you're passionate about, making the learning immediately personal and relevant. Beyond the Data Science track, the program offers options in AI/Machine Learning and Mobile App Development. The AI/ML curriculum covers artificial intelligence and machine learning fundamentals, including algorithms, datasets, and natural language processing, and culminates with training your own chatbot in Python.
12. Columbia University Pre-College Programs: Data Science and Machine Learning 1
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY; Online sessions also available
Cost: Varies; Financial aid offered
Program Dates: Multiple sessions in the summer
Deadline: April 2
Eligibility: High school students with little to no previous coding or programming experience
Columbia University's Data Science and Machine Learning 1 offers a broad overview of how data science and machine learning operate in the real world and the ways they shape decisions across healthcare, finance, social media, and beyond. From there, you'll move into hands-on Python coding, learning the language used by data scientists and machine learning engineers professionally, and build familiarity with the most widely used machine learning algorithms. The course wraps up with an applied component where you'll analyze and present data ethically and effectively, giving you a practical taste of what working in either field actually looks like. By the end, you'll have the foundational knowledge needed for more advanced data science and machine learning coursework.
13. Wharton Data Science Academy
Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Cost: $10,599; Financial aid offered
Program Dates: Session 1: June 21 – July 11; Session 2: July 12 – August 1
Application Deadline: January 28 (priority); March 18 (final)
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10-11 with a strong math and coding background required; Previous statistics understanding preferred
The Wharton Data Science Academy is a residential program that mirrors the rigor of upper-level Wharton undergraduate courses while remaining accessible to motivated high school learners. You’ll begin with foundational concepts, including data wrangling and visualization; fundamental probability and statistics, covering distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing; and core modeling techniques such as regression, classification, and model assessment. From there, the curriculum advances steadily toward modern machine learning and AI, including neural networks and large language models. You’ll work with real-world datasets, immediately applying concepts through hands-on exercises rather than purely theoretical study. Guest speakers from academia, industry, and government share perspectives on data science careers, while college and admissions insights help you connect data skills to future academic pathways. The program culminates in a capstone project where you’ll identify a high-impact real-world challenge, build a data-driven solution, and present your results at the Data Science Live showcase to peers and mentors.
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