15 AI Pre-College Programs for High School Students
If you are a high school student interested in artificial intelligence, pre-college programs can help you explore the field in a structured academic setting. These programs introduce you to topics such as machine learning, data analysis, computer vision, and natural language processing while helping you understand how AI systems are built and evaluated. You also get the opportunity to learn from faculty, researchers, or mentors while developing foundational skills used in advanced computing fields.
What are the benefits of an AI program?
In an AI pre-college program, you study concepts that go beyond introductory computer science coursework. You may train machine learning models, analyze datasets, study neural networks, and explore areas such as medical imaging, autonomous systems, or language processing. Many programs also include collaborative projects and presentations that help you strengthen both technical knowledge and communication skills.
To make your search easier, we narrowed the list to 15 AI pre-college programs for high school students.
If you’re looking for free online programs, check out our blog here.
1. Princeton University’s AI4ALL
Location: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Cost/Stipend: None; housing + meals covered, and travel assistance is available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive; small cohorts around 30 students
Dates: July 9 – 30
Application deadline: April 9
Eligibility: Rising 11th graders from low-income households in the U.S. or Puerto Rico; underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.
Princeton AI4ALL offers high schoolers a structured introduction to artificial intelligence, emphasizing how AI is developed, researched, and applied responsibly. The program combines lectures from Princeton AI professors with exposure to active research from Princeton AI groups and the Center for Information Technology Policy, helping you understand both technical and social aspects of AI. You will take part in small-group mentoring, connect with faculty, senior researchers, and graduate students, and engage in social activities that build academic and career awareness. Also part of the program is a hands-on research project led by Princeton AI graduate students, for which you will examine the societal impact of AI and present your work at the end of the program. The experience may include a two-day field trip to Washington, D.C., where you will explore organizations and meet policymakers working at the intersection of AI and public policy.
2. Veritas AI: AI Scholars & AI Fellowship
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: 10 – 15-week cohorts run several times each year
Application deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: High school students; AI Fellowship with Publication and Showcase accepts previous AI Scholar participants or those with some experience working with AI 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. Carnegie Mellon AI Scholars
Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Cost: None
Acceptance rate: Highly selective
Dates: June 20 – July 18
Application deadline: February 1
Eligibility: High school juniors who will be at least 16 years old by the start date and are U.S. citizens or permanent residents with current U.S. green cards
AI Scholars at Carnegie Mellon University lets you explore artificial intelligence through college-level classes, research exposure, and hands-on projects with CMU faculty and peers. Before arriving, you will complete a virtual Python course with instructor support to build core coding skills. On campus, you will study foundational computing and AI concepts, learn about active research led by faculty and graduate students, and work in teams to apply what you learn to practical problems. Through mentoring with faculty and graduate students, visits to tech companies, and group research projects, you will see how AI is developed and applied in practice. The program ends with a capstone symposium where you will present your team project that showcases your programming, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.
4. Lumiere Research Scholar Program: AI Track
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies; financial assistance offered
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Multiple sessions, including summer, spring, fall, and winter cohorts, are scheduled each year
Application deadline: Varies by cohort
Eligibility: High school students; accepted students typically have an unweighted GPA of 3.3 out of 4.0
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.
5. Stanford AI4ALL
Location: Virtual or Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Cost: Online: $4,120 | Residential: $9,800; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Online: June 15 – 26 | Residential: July 19 – 31
Application deadline: February 6
Eligibility: Current 9th graders (rising 10th graders) who are U.S. residents
Stanford AI4ALL is a two-week program designed to help you explore how artificial intelligence is built and used to solve real-world problems with social impact. You will learn alongside students from around the world through lectures with Stanford faculty, live demos with AI companies, career workshops, and mentorship from researchers and industry professionals. Additionally, you work in small research groups led by graduate students and postdocs on projects connected to medicine, disaster response, poverty analysis, and robotics, and present your results at the end of the program. You can choose a focus area in Computer Vision, Medical AI, Natural Language Processing, or Robotics. Then, you may build and evaluate models for tasks such as analyzing satellite images, creating medical imaging systems, developing language-based classifiers, and designing AI-powered robots. Throughout the experience, you can build technical skills while learning how to use AI responsibly.
6. Columbia University Pre-College: Data Science and Machine Learning Courses
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY, or virtual
Cost: Starts at $2,815 for one course + $2,700/additional course + application fee $80
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Fall: September 19 – December 7 (In-person) | Summer (in person): June 29 – July 17 or July 21 – August 7 | Summer (online): July 6 – 17 or July 20 – 31 (Online)
Application deadline: Varies by program type and format; multiple deadlines for each session
Eligibility: High school students; no prerequisites for introductory level.
Columbia’s Pre-College Data Science and Machine Learning Courses show you how data science and machine learning work together to shape the technology you use every day. In Data Science and Machine Learning I, you will explore real applications, learn beginner Python coding, study common machine learning algorithms, and practice analyzing and presenting data in ethical and clear ways while learning about related career paths. If you already have Python experience, Data Science and Machine Learning II builds on that foundation by strengthening your programming skills and applying statistics, linear algebra, and probability to analyze data and create meaningful visualizations. You also learn how to communicate results, apply fairness frameworks, and make data-driven decisions. Across both courses, you will gain practical experience using code and math to understand systems behind tools like voice technology, games, and medical applications, while preparing for advanced study in AI, data science, and machine learning.
7. Brown Pre-College Artificial Intelligence Courses
Location: Brown University, Providence, RI, or virtual
Cost: Varies by length and starts at $3,096; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Multiple sessions between June 15 and July 25
Application deadline: May 8 (rolling admissions)
Eligibility: High school students
Brown Pre-College Summer Programs offer various AI-focused Courses to let you explore artificial intelligence from both technical and human-centered perspectives. For instance, in the AI, Data Science, and Machine Learning course, you will work with real data to practice exploration, visualization, diagnostic analytics, and predictive modeling with statistical and machine learning methods. You will learn text analytics, recommender systems, deep learning, and computer vision, while examining ethics in machine learning pipelines and presenting your own data architecture. The course builds Python or R skills and strengthens statistics and probability through projects in healthcare, sports, hospitality, and business. On the other hand, A Humanist Approach to Artificial Intelligence course focuses on how AI shapes language, creativity, and authorship through philosophy, literature, cultural studies, and computer science, using AI tools to create and interpret work and discuss ethical questions.
8. MIT BWSI Summer Institute: AI Courses
Location: MIT Campus, Cambridge, MA, or virtual
Cost: Free for students with family income under $200,000 | $2,400 for others
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive
Dates: July 7 – August 1 or 2
Application deadline: March 31
Eligibility: High school students, grades 9 – 11, who are U.S. citizens and have completed online prerequisites by June
The MIT BWSI Summer Institute offers high schoolers various STEM courses, including AI options. In each AI course, you will explore AI by building real systems under the guidance of MIT faculty and engineers. Across all tracks, you will begin with online preparation in Python and math, then collaborate in teams, refine coding and model development skills, and end with project presentations to showcase your AI solutions. For instance, in the CogWorks Autonomous Cognitive Assistant course, you will develop AI technologies for cognitive assistants. In Serious Games Development with Artificial Intelligence, you can design human-centered AI that responds to moral dilemmas and player behavior. Medlytics will train you to apply machine learning, neural networks, and computer vision to health-related data analysis, while Autonomous RACECAR challenges you to use AI for perception and safe navigation in autonomous systems.
9. UPenn Wharton AI Leadership
Location: University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton San Francisco campus, San Francisco, CA
Cost: $8,959 + $100 non-refundable application fee; scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: July 5 – 17
Application deadline: Final: March 18; Priority: January 28
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9 – 11
Wharton Global Youth AI Leadership Program introduces you to how artificial intelligence shapes business and society through direct work with AI and generative AI tools. You will learn how machine learning, natural language processing, and generative AI function in business contexts while learning from Wharton faculty and industry experts. You will also engage in hands-on projects, team-based problem solving, and site visits to leading AI companies in San Francisco. You will explore AI ethics, analyze real-world use cases, evaluate AI across industries, and use beginner-level tools like ChatGPT to prototype solutions to real problems. In teams, you will define a challenge, research AI applications, design an AI-supported solution, and deliver a final project explaining the problem, users, impact, and approach with visuals and storytelling.
10. Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes: Artificial Intelligence
Location: Virtual
Cost: $3,080
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June 15 – 26 | July 6 – 17
Application deadline: March 13
Eligibility: Students in grades 10 and 11 with beginning proficiency in Python
Stanford’s pre-college Artificial Intelligence Course covers what artificial intelligence is and how intelligent systems are trained to perform tasks efficiently. You will study core approaches in modern AI, including supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning, while examining the strengths and limits of each method. The course also explores how bias can enter data and algorithms, and what you can do to reduce it when building models. You will apply math concepts such as linear algebra, statistics, calculus, and optimization to see how learning systems work. Through regular programming practice, you will implement algorithms in Python using both instructional and real datasets. By combining theory with hands-on work, you will learn how to design safe, efficient, and responsible AI systems that address real problems.
11. NYU Tandon’s Summer Program in Machine Learning
Location: NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn/New York, NY
Cost: $3,180 (optional housing fee: $327/week)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Session 1: June 15 – 27 | Session 2: July 6 – 17 | Session 3: July 20 – 31
Application deadline: May 15
Eligibility: High school students who have completed precalculus and have some programming experience
NYU’s Summer Program in Machine Learning introduces you to the computer science, data analysis, math, and logic behind machine learning and artificial intelligence. You will learn how to build and improve models using cross-validation, linear regression, and neural networks, and explore how AI powers image and video recognition, voice assistants, autonomous vehicles, traffic systems, and medical diagnostics. You will attend classes led by Tandon faculty and work on individual and group projects that strengthen problem-solving and engineering skills with support from engineering and computer science mentors. Outside class, you can join campus activities, connect with students from around the world, and take part in organized trips around New York City.
12. Georgetown University Artificial Intelligence Academy
Location: Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Cost: Residential: $3,725 | Commuter: $3,095; scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June 7 – 13
Application deadline: April 15. To get an application fee waiver, apply by the early-bird deadline of January 31.
Eligibility: High school students
Georgetown University’s Artificial Intelligence Academy introduces AI as both a technical system and a social force shaped by ethics, policy, and politics. Through a mix of lectures, guest speakers, guided discussions, and experiential activities, you will study the science of AI from early to emerging ideas while examining its ethical, regulatory, and geopolitical impact. You will work with AI tools through exercises, applied projects, simple model testing, and simulations to explore real applications. The program covers the science of AI, ethical AI using Western and non Western frameworks, global AI regulation, and the geopolitics of AI in economics, competition, and sustainability, helping you define AI from a socio technical view, assess innovations and limits, identify issues, compare governance models worldwide, and propose design or policy solutions in an AI focus area of interest.
13. Stony Brook University Pre-College Program: Machine Learning and Self-Driving
Location: Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Cost: Residential: $2,250 | Commuter: $1,250 (discounts available)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 20 – 25
Application deadline: May 15
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors
Stony Brook Pre-College Machine Learning and Self-Driving Program lets you explore how artificial intelligence powers autonomous vehicles through lectures and hands-on work with a home-designed radio-controlled car. You will study core self-driving concepts, machine learning algorithms, neural network architectures, and data analysis while gaining exposure to deep neural networks, such as CNNs and ResNets, using the PyTorch platform. Beyond theory, you will manually drive RC cars, watch demonstrations of a self-driving model, collect driving data, and train neural networks to control the cars autonomously, following a guided development workflow. By linking coding, data, and real vehicle behavior, the program is designed to help you understand how machine learning systems are built and tested and prepare for STEM majors and AI-related career paths.
14. Johns Hopkins: Foundational Mathematics of Artificial Intelligence
Location: Virtual or Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Campus, Baltimore, MD\
Cost: Residential: $6,140 | Commuter: $4,660 | Online: $1,950
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June 22 – July 1 | July 6 – 16 | July 20 – 30 (10-day sessions)
Application deadline: March 10 (early February 3)
Eligibility: High school students who have completed 9th grade before the program starts, hold a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, and have completed Algebra I
The Foundational Mathematics of Artificial Intelligence course offered by Johns Hopkins Pre-College helps you understand what actually powers AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude by focusing on the math and statistics behind machine learning. You will study the mathematical ideas behind classification and prediction and implement them using Python and real-world data. During the course, you will build and test models such as linear regression, classification trees, neural networks, and K-nearest neighbors to see how modern AI systems make decisions. By designing and improving your own machine learning applications, you will learn both what AI can do and where its limits lie. Throughout the course, you will also gain experience working with data, spreadsheets, and cloud-based code, building a technical foundation for future AI and data science study.
15. UC Berkeley Summer Computer Science Academy
Location: UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA (residential non-credit track)
Cost: Application fee: $25 + Program fee: $5,197
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June 21 – July 3
Application deadline: March 9
Eligibility: High school students, ages 16–17, who have completed 10th or 11th grade and hold a B average; international students can also apply.
UC Berkeley Summer Computer Science Academy offers high schoolers a two-week introduction to computer science and artificial intelligence while experiencing college life. You will practice coding, collaborative programming, and problem-solving using the Beauty and Joy of Computing curriculum taught by Berkeley instructors and BJC-trained teachers. You will complete daily coding challenges in Snap, a visual programming language, explore core ideas of computing, and develop a programming project based on your own interests. You will also explore AI topics such as supervised machine learning, reinforcement learning, generative AI, and the ethics of AI. Your residential experience includes a pre-arrival webinar, move-in and orientation, and activities led by Berkeley student mentors that help you connect with peers, explore the campus, and prepare for future college study.
Image source - Stony Brook Uni Logo