§ MA

Research programs in Massachusetts.

172 local programs run in Massachusetts, 83 of them free or paid, and 10 explicitly prioritize under-resourced or first-generation students. Plus 210 nationwide programs open to anyone in the US.

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Local to Massachusetts

MIT PRIMES
√mathroots
A fully-funded 14-day summer math program at MIT for high-potential high school students from underrepresented or underserved backgrounds to explore creative topics in mathematics and problem solving.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–11
Selective
Boston University
Academic Immersion
Spend three weeks immersing yourself in the study of psychology, business, medicine, or creative writing.
📅 May🎓 Grades 9–12
Highly Selective
MIT Jameel Clinic
AI & Health Summer High School Bootcamp
A one-week, in-person bootcamp on the MIT campus introducing grades 10-12 students to machine learning applications in medicine, covering clinical AI, biomedical data analysis, and drug discovery, with group projects and a final presentation.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Massachusetts AI Hub (MassTech) with Work-Based Learning Alliance
AI for Massachusetts High Schools Internship Program
A paid, fully virtual internship program in which Massachusetts public high school students work in teams with industry mentors 2-3 hours per week to develop AI-enabled solutions for real business needs across sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, and clean energy.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
UMass Boston Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute (PEAAII)
AI Institute Summer Camp
A five-week, project-based hybrid summer camp (July 27-Aug 28, 2026) where high schoolers build skills in machine learning, computer vision, NLP, generative AI, and robotics, producing a research-style write-up mentored by UMass Boston CS faculty and PhD students.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
UMass Amherst
Avian Physiology Lab Research Intensive
Students spend six weeks embedded in the Gerson Lab studying how birds physiologically respond to extreme environmental conditions and contribute to ongoing faculty research before presenting a poster.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Babson College
Babson Summer Study
Earn college credit in entrepreneurship at the #1 ranked program.
⏱ 3 weeks📅 March🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Berklee College of Music
Bass Workshop
Students age 15+ receive intensive bass instruction and performance training with Berklee faculty and professional musicians.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Berklee
Berklee Aspire
Five-week music performance intensive in Boston for musicians ages 15 and up.
⏱ 1 week📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Berklee College of Music
Berklee Five-Week Summer Performance
Five-week immersive music performance program.
⏱ 5 weeks📅 January🎓 Grades 9–12
Highly Selective
Berklee College of Music
Berklee Online Summer Courses
Students age 14+ can take twelve-week accredited online Berklee courses in songwriting, music production, theory, music business, and related areas, with college-credit options.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Boston Leadership Institute
Big Data
A one-week summer program for teens interested in business, math, and computer science, part of Boston Leadership Institute's STEM research offerings held at Greater Boston-area college campuses.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Biogen
Biogen Community Lab
Free hands-on biotech labs and high school research opportunities at Biogen sites.
⏱ Day to weeks📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
MIT
Blueprint by HackMIT
Annual learnathon and hackathon for HS students at MIT.
⏱ 2 days📅 Winter🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Boston Public Health Commission
Boston Area Health Education Center Summer Enrichment Program
A paid six-week summer program for Boston high schoolers interested in health careers, including interactive workshops, networking with health professionals, field placements at community health organizations, and weekly field trips.
📅 January🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
City of Boston
Boston Mayor's Youth Council
Boston high-school students represent youth in city government, collaborate with officials, and develop projects addressing community and civic issues.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
City of Boston
Boston SuccessLink
Free paid summer employment program for Boston youth ages 14-18.
⏱ 6 weeks📅 Spring🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Boston University
Boston University Lab Apprenticeship in Science & Technology (BLAST)
Boston-area students participate in a paid biomedical-science internship featuring laboratory practicums and mentoring; the longer-term program can lead into immersive laboratory research.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Highly Selective
Boston University
Boston University Research in Science & Engineering (RISE)
Six-week summer research program in 14 STEM disciplines.
⏱ 6 weeks📅 Winter🎓 Grades 11–12
Highly Selective
Berklee College of Music
Brass Workshop
Students age 15+ study brass performance with Berklee faculty through intensive instruction and ensemble work.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Broad Institute (MIT & Harvard)
Broad Summer Scholars Program
Paid genomics research for Boston-area rising seniors from underrepresented groups.
⏱ 6 weeks (summer)📅 January🎓 Grade 11
Selective
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Broad Summer Scholars Program (BSSP)
A six-week paid summer research program for rising high school seniors near Boston to conduct original biomedical research with Broad Institute scientists in areas like cancer biology, chemical biology, and computational biology.
📅 January🎓 Grade 12
Highly Selective
Brown University Pre-College Programs
Brown Environmental Leadership Lab: Rhode Island (BELL RI)
A 12-day residential program for students completing grades 10-12 that pairs environmental science coursework with leadership development, field trips across Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts, and a community environmental action plan.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Zon Lab, Boston Children's Hospital / Harvard Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology
Camp Zon Virtual Summer Research Experience
A paid two-week virtual research experience where Massachusetts high schoolers become part of the Zon Lab team, using zebrafish to study anemia and blood development, designing experiments, generating a hypothesis, and analyzing data alongside top researchers.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Harvard GSD
Career Discovery in Architecture
Six-week summer program for HS juniors and seniors exploring careers in design at Harvard.
⏱ 6 weeks📅 April🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
UMass Chan Medical School, Department of Neurobiology
Central Massachusetts Brain Bee
A free regional neuroscience competition at UMass Chan for Central Massachusetts high schoolers in grades 9-12, featuring a written exam and oral elimination rounds on neuroanatomy, nervous system function, and neurological disease, with the winner advancing to the USA National Brain Bee.
📅 March🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
The Trustees of Reservations
Claire Saltonstall Education Program (CSEP) Environmental Training Internship
A six-week, up to 20-hour-per-week internship on Martha's Vineyard rotating high school students through environmental education, stewardship management, shorebird monitoring, horticulture, and sustainable agriculture with Trustees conservation staff.
📅 May🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
Clean Energy Internship Program — High School Vocational Track
Eligible Massachusetts vocational-technical high-school students can obtain paid internships with clean-energy and water-innovation employers during the academic year and summer.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Smith College
College Readiness Program
Rising juniors and seniors spend a residential week strengthening academic skills and preparing for college applications and the transition to university study. The 2026 fee was $2,795.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Highly Selective
Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI)
Composition Fundamentals & Electroacoustic Composition Workshops
Two-week intensive workshops for high school composers at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home: Composition Fundamentals introduces Western musical notation and composition technique, while the Electroacoustic Composition Workshop teaches recording, synthesis, and DAW-based sound manipulation in surround-sound studios.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Smith College
Creative Writing Workshop
Students spend two weeks developing creative writing through an iterative workshop process across multiple forms and genres.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center
CURE (Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences) Summer Internship
A full-time, paid 7-11 week summer research internship for Massachusetts high school and undergraduate students, offering mentored cancer research projects in basic, nursing, clinical, and population science at DF/HCC institutions.
📅 February🎓 Grades 10–12
Highly Selective
UMass Amherst
Developmental Neurobiology: Neural Stem Cells and Brain Development Lab
Students use zebrafish to investigate nervous-system development, neural stem-cell proliferation, brain growth, and gene expression alongside the Karlstrom Lab.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Berklee College of Music
Drums and Percussion Workshop
Students explore rhythm, technique, performance, and contemporary percussion with Berklee instructors.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Berklee College of Music
Electronic Music Production and Sound Design Workshop
Students explore electronic music, synthesis, sound design, production, and laptop performance.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Tufts University Pre-College Programs
Engineering with Artificial Intelligence
A two-week pre-college program at Tufts covering machine learning fundamentals and a group engineering-design project, requiring prior programming experience and open to students entering grades 10-12.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Tufts University
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Bootcamp
Students develop a business concept, build a business case and go-to-market strategy, pitch an original idea.
📅 May🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Museum of Science / The Possible Zone
FastForge Hackathon
High-school teams research a real-world problem, identify innovation opportunities, design a consumer-product concept, and pitch their work to judges. The 2026 event is scheduled for November 6.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
NE FIRST
FIRST Robotics Competition – Massachusetts (NE FIRST)
The Massachusetts branch of FIRST Robotics Competition, where roughly 700 grade 9-12 teams design, build, and program industrial-sized robots to compete in a new game released each January.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
UMass Amherst
Food & Environmental Chemical Impact on Development of Obesity Research Intensive
Students join the Park Lab to investigate relationships among food, environmental chemical exposures, metabolism, and obesity.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
ADA Forsyth Institute
Forsyth Student Scholars Summer Program
A six-week, full-time paid summer internship at ADA Forsyth's Somerville headquarters where high school sophomores and juniors from Eastern Massachusetts work alongside scientists on oral health, immunology, and microbiology research, ending in a poster presentation.
📅 April🎓 Grades 10–11
Moderate
UMass Amherst
From Lipids to Resistance: Investigating Mycobacterial Defense Layers
Students investigate mycobacterial cell envelopes using microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, western blotting, chromatography, mass spectrometry, and flow cytometry.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Girls' Angle
Girls' Angle Math Club
Math program in Cambridge MA mentoring girls in mathematics.
⏱ Year-long📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 5–12
Selective
Berklee College of Music
Global String Program
Young string musicians study contemporary performance with leading players and educators in an intensive Berklee summer environment.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Berklee College of Music
Gospel Performance Program
Vocalists and instrumentalists immerse themselves in gospel performance, ensemble playing, and the musical tradition's stylistic foundations.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Governor's Youth Advisory Council
Massachusetts young people advise the Governor and Lieutenant Governor on civic engagement, education, housing, environment, youth violence, and other statewide issues. Members are ages 16–21.
🎓 Grades 10–12
Selective
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Governor's Youth Climate Council
Rising sophomores through seniors meet monthly during the school year and develop climate-policy recommendations for the Governor.
🎓 Grades 10–12
Selective
City of Boston
Greenovate Boston Youth Leaders
Students work on local environmental justice and climate resilience projects in the Boston area.
⏱ 6 weeks📅 February 1🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Boston University LERNet
GROW Research Program
Massachusetts rising seniors living near Boston spend six weeks working full-time in an individual BU research lab and present their work at a symposium. Participants receive up to a $2,000 stipend.
🎓 Grade 12
Selective
Berklee College of Music
Guitar Sessions
Students age 15+ receive five days of intensive guitar instruction, technical training, and ensemble performance with Berklee Guitar Department faculty.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Harvard
HackHarvard
Harvard's flagship hackathon; high schoolers can apply.
⏱ 2 days📅 Fall🎓 Grades 11–12
Selective
MIT
HackMIT
Annual 24-hour student hackathon at MIT; many HS students attend HackMIT High School Hackathon (Blueprint).
⏱ 2 days📅 Fall🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Hampshire College
Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics (HCSSiM)
Intensive six-week math program for talented high schoolers.
⏱ 6 weeks📅 Spring🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Harvard University
Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops
Two-week residential debate training led by national champions.
📅 Not yet announced — check official site for next cycle🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Harvard Debate Council
Harvard Debate Tournament
Premier college-run high school debate tournament held annually.
⏱ 3 days📅 Winter🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Harvard University
Harvard Model Congress
Premier high school simulation of the US federal government, run by Harvard students.
⏱ 4 days📅 Winter🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Harvard University
Harvard Model UN
High school Model UN conference with delegates from around the world.
⏱ 4 days📅 Fall🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Harvard University
Harvard Pre-College Program
Two-week residential program in 50+ disciplines.
⏱ 2 weeks📅 January🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Harvard Student Agencies
Harvard Student Agencies Case Competition (HSACC)
An individual, two-round online business case competition run by Harvard Student Agencies in which high schoolers submit a written strategy deck and then a video pitch, competing for cash prizes and internship scholarships.
📅 October🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Hampshire College
HCSSiM
Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics; intense 6 weeks.
⏱ 6 weeks📅 April🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
High School Apprenticeship Challenge
Underrepresented and low-income Massachusetts students receive paid life-sciences internships at research institutions and biotechnology companies. Host wages are subsidized at $17 per hour for up to six weeks full-time.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Berklee College of Music
High School Composition Intensive
Students ages 15–19 compose three original works, workshop them with faculty, and have their pieces performed and recorded by professional musicians.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
UMass Chan Medical School
High School Health Careers Program (HSHCP)
A tuition-free, four-week residential precollege immersion at UMass Chan Medical School exposing Massachusetts high school sophomores and juniors from disadvantaged backgrounds to biomedical research and health careers, including a research project and mentorship.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 10–11
Highly Selective
Boston University
High School Honors
Rising juniors and seniors spend six weeks taking from more than 80 BU undergraduate courses for college credit while participating in college-preparation and campus programming.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Paul Revere House
High School Internship Summer Program
A free, five-day, non-residential program at Paul Revere's actual North End home where small groups of students work with museum staff, create content about real artifacts, and explore how historians and museum professionals investigate and present the past.
📅 May🎓 Grades 10–12
Selective
Museum of Science
High School Science Series
High-school groups interact with scientists and researchers and complete science and engineering activities connected to STEM careers and current research.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
MIT Educational Studies Program
High School Studies Program (HSSP)
Hundreds of secondary students take multi-week courses taught largely by MIT students on subjects ranging from STEM to humanities and unconventional electives.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Highly Selective
MIT
Homeschool Internship Program for Science and Technology (HIP-SAT)
Homeschooled high-school students spend eight weeks conducting frontier research in MIT laboratories in areas such as chemical biology, chemistry, and engineering. Students are paid $15 per hour for about 20 hours per week.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
City of Cambridge / Innovators for Purpose
Innovators for Purpose Studio Internship
Cambridge teens use coding, web/app design, augmented reality, animation, design, and storytelling to build real projects addressing community and social challenges.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Junior Achievement of Greater Boston
JA Company Program
A semester- or year-long entrepreneurship program in which high school students conceive, launch, and manage their own business venture, learning business planning, financial management, marketing, and sales under the mentorship of business volunteers.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
John and Abigail Adams Scholarship
Massachusetts public-school students can qualify through MCAS performance for a tuition credit covering up to eight semesters at Massachusetts public colleges and universities.
🎓 Grade 12
Highly Selective
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Judicial Youth Corps
Students spend six weeks learning about the Massachusetts judiciary while working with judges, lawyers, clerks, and probation officers and participating in mock trials and court-related activities.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
UMass Amherst
Juniper Institute for Young Writers
Residential creative writing program for high schoolers run by UMass MFA faculty.
⏱ 10 days📅 Spring🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
UMass Amherst
Karatsoreos Lab Research Intensive
Students study how circadian rhythms and stress-response systems influence immunity, metabolism, neural communication, physiology, and behavior.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Tufts University Pre-College Programs (Tisch College)
Leadership for Social Change
A two-week residential pre-college program where students analyze systemic social issues such as educational inequity and environmental justice, build civic-engagement skills, and develop action plans in partnership with local community organizations.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
MIT Department of Biology / Health Resources in Action
LEAH Knox Scholars Program
Boston, Cambridge, and Everett public-school students enter a two-year pathway beginning with a paid five-week laboratory course and continuing with a six-week research internship the following summer.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Selective
Lexington High School (student-run, Hack Club)
LexHack
A free, in-person hackathon at Lexington Community Center where high school students form teams to build software projects around a yearly theme over two Saturdays and a remote build week.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
American Legion Department of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Boys State
A week-long, hands-on program of government instruction where male high school juniors from across Massachusetts form and run a mock state government, campaigning for and holding simulated public offices under the guidance of American Legion volunteers.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grade 11
Selective
Massachusetts DECA
Massachusetts DECA State Career Development Conference
The annual statewide DECA conference where top district-level competitors from Massachusetts' 8 DECA districts compete in over 50 categories of marketing, hospitality, finance, and entrepreneurship, with top finishers qualifying for the International DECA Career Development Conference.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Massachusetts Envirothon (affiliated with NCF-Envirothon)
Massachusetts Envirothon
A team-based environmental education competition where Massachusetts high school teams rotate through ecostations covering soils, forests, water, and wildlife, plus a Current Issue presentation, with the winning team advancing to the national NCF-Envirothon.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Future Business Leaders of America - Massachusetts
Massachusetts FBLA
The Massachusetts high school division of FBLA, a career and technical student organization preparing students for business careers through local chapters, regional/state/national competitive events, and an annual State Leadership Conference.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)
Massachusetts FCCLA State Association
The Massachusetts state association of FCCLA, the national career and technical student organization centered on family and consumer sciences, through which students can compete in sectional and state events in areas like child development, culinary arts, and interior design.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Massachusetts FFA Association
Massachusetts FFA
The Massachusetts chapter of the National FFA Organization, an intracurricular agricultural education association with more than 2,000 members across 17 chapters statewide, offering Career and Leadership Development Events (CDEs/LDEs) alongside coursework and supervised agricultural experience projects.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
American Legion Auxiliary, Department of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Girls State
A week-long residential civics program at Stonehill College where rising senior girls form mock cities and towns, run campaigns, hold elections, and pass legislation to learn how Massachusetts government and law actually work.
📅 Varies🎓 Grade 11
Selective
Boylston Chess Club / Massachusetts High School Chess League
Massachusetts High School Chess League (MHSCL)
A completely student-run, free chess league for Massachusetts high schoolers, hosting both virtual and in-person team tournaments at the Boylston Chess Club with the main event crowning a season-long league champion.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Massachusetts Scholastic Press Association (MASPA)
Massachusetts High School Journalist of the Year
An annual statewide award honoring the top individual high school journalist in Massachusetts, with the winner advancing to the National High School Journalist of the Year competition.
📅 February🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Massachusetts Historical Society (National History Day state affiliate)
Massachusetts History Day
A year-long historical research program in which students in grades 6-12 investigate a topic using primary and secondary sources and present their findings as a documentary, website, performance, paper, exhibit, or podcast at regional and state contests.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Massachusetts HOSA, hosted by Worcester State University
Massachusetts HOSA (Future Health Professionals)
The Massachusetts chapter of HOSA-Future Health Professionals, a statewide health-science student organization that runs a State Leadership Conference with competitive events in medical terminology, clinical skills, and public health for CTE health-science students.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
American Legion, Department of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Oratorical Contest
A statewide public-speaking competition, progressing from local posts to the state final, that challenges high schoolers to demonstrate knowledge of the U.S. Constitution through prepared and extemporaneous speeches on constitutional themes.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
SkillsUSA Massachusetts, Inc.
Massachusetts SkillsUSA
The Massachusetts chapter of SkillsUSA, preparing high school students in trade, technical, and service occupations through workforce-readiness curriculum and an annual State Leadership & Skills Conference where students compete in 111 skilled and leadership competitions.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Massachusetts Speech & Debate League
Massachusetts Speech & Debate League (MSDL)
A statewide interscholastic league for grades 9-12 running Saturday tournaments year-round in debate formats (including Public Forum and Congressional Debate), oratory, and interpretive/oral-reading speech events across member high schools in Massachusetts and affiliated New England schools.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Massachusetts Science & Engineering Fair, Inc.
Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair
A statewide science and engineering fair open to grades 9-12 that requires a research plan, project notebook, lab report, visual display, and oral presentation, with top projects advancing to the International Science and Engineering Fair.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Science Olympiad (Massachusetts state chapter)
Massachusetts State Science Olympiad
A statewide Science Olympiad competition where Division C (high school) teams compete in 23 STEM events spanning earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering, advancing from regionals to the state tournament.
📅 March🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
VEX Robotics / RECF
Massachusetts VEX V5 High School State Championship
The annual state championship for VEX V5 Robotics Competition, the high-school division of VEX Robotics, where qualifying teams compete in robotics challenges and submit engineering notebooks for judging.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
UMass Amherst
Massenberg Summer STEM Institute
Rising tenth graders from underserved communities in Massachusetts and New Jersey attend a fully funded residential program featuring STEM projects, mathematics, writing, entrepreneurship, career exposure, and college guidance.
🎓 Grade 10
Selective
MassRobotics
MassRobotics Jumpstart Fellowship Program
A fellowship providing diverse Massachusetts high school girls with technical skills in robotics through CAD design, electronics, and coding instruction, mentorship from industry professionals, and a paid summer internship at a robotics or technology company.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 11–12
Selective
City of Cambridge
Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program
Cambridge teens age 14+ receive six-week paid placements across nonprofit and public-sector organizations in STEM, media, arts, youth work, landscaping, libraries, and other fields.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Tufts University
Medford and Somerville High School Pre-College Scholarship Program
Partner high schools can nominate eligible local students for scholarships covering Tufts pre-college coursework during fall, spring, or summer.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
City of Cambridge Office of Workforce Development
Media Arts Internship
Cambridge teens can participate in a paid school-year STEAM internship centered on media and creative production.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
MIT Lincoln Lab
MIT BeaverWorks BWSI Hackathon
Free open hackathons run by MIT BeaverWorks alongside BWSI summer program.
⏱ Varies📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 10–12
Selective
MIT
MIT LaunchX
Entrepreneurship program; teams build startups with mentorship.
📅 Not yet announced — 2027 program dates listed as "coming soon"🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
MIT Office of Engineering Outreach
MIT MITES
Free rigorous six-week residential STEM program for underrepresented HS juniors.
⏱ 6 weeks📅 February🎓 Grade 11
Highly Selective
MIT Department of Mathematics
MIT PRIMES
A free year-long after-school research program for high school sophomores and juniors near Boston, pairing students with MIT mentors to work on original research in mathematics and bioinformatics, culminating in a conference presentation.
📅 December🎓 Grades 10–11
Selective
MIT Sloan
MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference Student Programs
Premier sports analytics conference with student research competition and case competition.
⏱ 2 days📅 Winter🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
MIT
MIT WTP (Women's Technology Program)
Four-week summer EECS or ME program for HS women.
⏱ 4 weeks📅 January🎓 Grade 11
Moderate
MIT
MITES (Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science) Summer
Free six-week residential STEM program at MIT for under-represented rising HS seniors.
⏱ 6 weeks📅 Winter🎓 Grade 12
Highly Selective
MIT
MITES Saturdays
Free academic enrichment for 10th graders in Greater Boston from under-represented backgrounds.
⏱ Year-long📅 Fall🎓 Grade 10
Highly Selective
Berklee College of Music
Music Business Program
Students learn artist development, rights, revenue, branding, marketing, social-media strategy, and entrepreneurship, then develop and pitch a rollout plan for an emerging artist.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Berklee College of Music
Music Production Workshop
Students study recording, editing, mixing, and digital-audio-workstation techniques in an intensive Berklee program.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
New England Scholastic Press Association (Boston University College of Communication)
NESPA Spring Conference
An annual scholastic journalism conference at Boston University where high school student journalists and advisers from across New England attend panels, workshops, and awards ceremonies covering newspapers, yearbooks, broadcast, and photojournalism.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Highly Selective
New England Aquarium
New England Aquarium Summer Teen Internship
Teens age 14+ complete one training week followed by six paid work weeks as Aquarium Guides or Visitor Services Assistants while studying marine science, climate science, advocacy, and public communication.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
New England High School Journalism Collaborative (NEHSJC) / New England Newspaper & Press Association
New England High School Journalism Collaborative Summer Workshop
A one-week, all-expense-paid summer workshop at Simmons University in Boston where high school students learn reporting, writing, editing and multimedia production and produce their own newspaper under deadline pressure with professional journalists.
📅 April🎓 Grades 9–12
Highly Selective
New England High School Journalism Collaborative (NEHSJC)
New England High School Journalism Collaborative Summer Workshop
A fully-funded, residential week-long workshop (June 20-27, 2026) at Simmons University in Boston where New England high schoolers learn to report, write, edit, and produce multimedia journalism, publishing a newspaper under deadline pressure.
📅 April🎓 Grades 11–12
Highly Selective
National High School Ethics Bowl / Tufts University
New England Regional Ethics Bowl (Maine teams)
Teams of 4-6 students discuss real-world ethical dilemmas and respond to judges' questions in a collaborative (not adversarial) debate format; Maine high schools compete in this New England regional, which qualifies teams for the national tournament.
📅 December🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Tufts University (National High School Ethics Bowl regional)
New England Regional High School Ethics Bowl
A structured team debate competition in which high school students argue considered ethical positions on contemporary and philosophical cases, competing at Tufts as the New England regional qualifier for the National High School Ethics Bowl.
📅 December🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
NACLO (hosted at university sites including in Massachusetts)
North American Computational Linguistics Open Competition (NACLO)
A free puzzle-based linguistics competition open to middle and high schoolers requiring no prior linguistics background, where top scorers advance from local test sites to an invitational round and then international competition.
📅 January🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
UMass Amherst
Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Engineering Research Intensive
Students work with nucleic-acid-based chemical and biological tools used for sensing, cellular imaging, and molecular engineering.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Sea Grant
Ocean STEAM Powered (O-STEAM) Fellowship
A week-long residential fellowship in Woods Hole where Massachusetts high school sophomores and juniors work with WHOI researchers on hands-on ocean science, including building hydrophones, analyzing marine mammal vocalizations, and testing water quality.
📅 March🎓 Grades 10–11
Selective
The Public Health Museum in Massachusetts
Outbreak! High School Program
A free experiential-learning program for students entering grades 10-12 interested in public health careers, mixing expert talks and hands-on activities on topics like health equity, infectious disease, and emergency preparedness, culminating in an outbreak-simulation project.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 10–12
Selective
Berklee College of Music
Piano/Keyboard Workshop
Students age 15+ immerse themselves in contemporary piano, keyboard, and organ performance.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
UMass Amherst
Plant Signal Transduction and Reproduction Research Intensive
Students investigate plant reproduction and growth using molecular biology, genetics, PCR, protein purification, and genetically transformed plants.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Huntington Theatre Company (with Mass Cultural Council)
Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts
The Massachusetts state program of the national poetry recitation contest, in which high schoolers memorize and perform poems, advancing from school contests through semi-finals to a state final judged on interpretation and delivery.
📅 November🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Posse
Posse Foundation
Full-tuition leadership scholarships nominated by partner cities. High schoolers from cities like New York, Chicago, LA, Atlanta nominate by August of senior year.
⏱ Senior year📅 August🎓 Grade 12
Selective
Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt)
Pre-College Summer Studios
A four-week, credit-bearing studio intensive modeled on MassArt's Studio Foundation year, in which high school juniors and seniors take core courses in 2D Fundamentals, 3D Fundamentals, and Issues & Images plus an elective of their choice.
📅 May🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Harvard Medical School
Project Success
Boston and Cambridge juniors and seniors complete paid summer internships in Harvard Medical School and affiliated science laboratories with research mentorship and STEM career programming.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Selective
Boston University
PROMYS
Selective six-week residential program in mathematics.
⏱ 6 weeks📅 March🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
UMass Lowell
PROPEL (Professional Research Opportunities to Prepare for Engineering and Life Sciences)
A competitive, full-time paid summer internship placing Massachusetts high school students in UMass Lowell labs to conduct research in engineering and life sciences alongside faculty and student mentors.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Boston University
RISE Internship/ Practicum
Conduct university-level STEM research in a laboratory setting.
📅 February🎓 Grades 9–12
Highly Selective
Alliance for Young Artists & Writers / School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards - Massachusetts Writing Region
The Massachusetts regional affiliate of the nation's longest-running writing recognition program for teens, through which students in grades 7-12 submit work in categories like poetry, short story, and personal essay for regional and national Scholastic Awards.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Alliance for Young Artists & Writers / School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University
Scholastic Art Awards - Massachusetts Art Region
The Massachusetts regional affiliate of the Scholastic Art Awards, through which teens in grades 7-12 submit original artwork across categories such as painting, photography, and design for regional and national recognition.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
City of Cambridge / Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Science Research Mentoring Program (SRMP)
Cambridge Rindge and Latin students undertake a paid, year-long independent astrophysics research project with Center for Astrophysics scientists.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Harvard University
Secondary School Program (4-week)
Experience what it’s like to be a college student for 4 transformative weeks. This residential program allows students to choose one accelerated 4-credit course, with limited enrollment for increased interaction with faculty and peers, and earn college credit.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Berklee College of Music
Songwriting Workshop
Students age 15+ develop original songs through instruction in melody, lyrics, chord progressions, structure, feedback, and performance.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Massachusetts DESE
Stanley Z. Koplik Certificate of Mastery Award
High-achieving Massachusetts public-school students can earn a four-year public-college tuition credit through qualifying MCAS performance plus AP or other recognized academic achievements.
🎓 Grade 12
Selective
Massachusetts DESE
State Student Advisory Council
Students elected through regional councils advise the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on issues affecting Massachusetts students; the statewide chair becomes a voting Board member.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics
StatStart
A free month-long summer program (July 6-30) for Boston-area high school juniors and seniors, designed for first-generation and low-income students, teaching R programming and introductory statistics with mentoring from Biostatistics graduate students.
📅 May🎓 Grades 10–12
Selective
The LEAH Project
STEM Teaching Internship
A paid school-year internship placing Massachusetts high schoolers in afterschool programs where they teach STEM curricula to elementary school students, with training in classroom management, lesson planning, and professionalism.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 10–12
Selective
Boston Architectural College (The BAC)
Summer Academy – Boston
A half-day, onsite pre-college design program at BAC's Back Bay campus where high schoolers explore architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and other design fields with no experience required.
📅 June🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Boston University
Summer Challenge
Expand your academic horizons over two weeks, choosing 2 seminars.
📅 April🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
UMass Amherst College of Engineering
Summer Engineering Institute (SENGI)
A two-week pre-college program for rising sophomores through seniors to explore biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, and mechanical engineering through faculty lectures, labs, and team design projects.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Suffolk University Center for Entrepreneurship
Summer Entrepreneurship Program for High School Students (Becoming Entrepreneurial)
A free three-week, three-credit program for rising Boston-area high school seniors covering idea development, customer research, revenue models, and marketing, taught through class work, team projects, and visits to Boston entrepreneurial organizations.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grade 12
Selective
Boston University
Summer Journalism Academy
A journalism training program for high school students, offered either residentially on the BU campus for students with prior journalism experience or remotely for students ages 14-18 of any experience level, giving participants a hands-on sample of life as a news reporter under working journalists.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Smith College
Summer Science & Engineering Program
High-school students complete intensive laboratory-based science and engineering courses with Smith faculty in fields such as genetics, health, physical science, and digital systems.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Museum of Science
Summer Youth Internship Program
High-school students ages 14–19 complete a seven-week museum internship combining department-specific projects with professional-development workshops and authentic workplace experience.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Wentworth Institute of Technology
SummerFAB
A four-week, grant-funded architecture and design program for Boston-area high school juniors and seniors, who work alongside Wentworth faculty and current architecture students to design, fabricate, and build a full-scale community-driven project addressing a local neighborhood challenge.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 11–12
Selective
Smith College
Sustainable Futures
Students investigate sustainability through fieldwork, environmental science, farms, art, writing, community resilience, and Smith's own carbon-neutrality efforts.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Boston University
Tanglewood Institute
Premier summer music program for high school instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers.
⏱ 2-6 weeks📅 Spring🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Boston Private Industry Council
Tech Apprentice
A paid six- to seven-week summer internship placing tech-savvy Boston Public Schools high school students at local tech companies, government agencies, or universities for hands-on IT, web design, and programming experience.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Highly Selective
GrubStreet
Teen Summer Writing Fellowship
A three-week intensive fellowship for Boston-area teen writers to generate new work across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenwriting, with daily mentorship, guest author visits, and a culminating public performance showcase.
📅 March🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Today's Interns, Tomorrow's Professionals (TIP)
A paid work-and-learning internship program for Boston Public Schools students who have completed sophomore year, starting with a summer work experience and offering a three-year extended track through the first year of post-secondary education. Interns get job coaching, skill-building workshops, and financial management education tied to their paychecks.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
Tomorrow's Teachers Scholarship Program
A state scholarship of up to $25,000 per year for Massachusetts residents pursuing a teaching license through an approved educator-preparation program at a Massachusetts public university, in exchange for a four-year teaching service commitment in a MA public school.
📅 Varies🎓 Grade 12
Highly Selective
Tufts University
Tufts College Experience
A six-week residential or commuter program that allows you to live on campus and get a preview of what it would be like to be a college student. You will take 2 traditional courses with Tufts faculty, earn college credit, take College Prep 101, go on local college tours, have a dedicated student support advisor, and gain life experience as you explore the city with new friends.
📅 Not yet announced — check official site for next cycle🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Tufts University
Tufts Summer Research Experience
High school students have the opportunity to learn from renowned faculty and experience rigorous academics at a leading higher education institution.
📅 Not yet announced — check official site for next cycle🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Tufts University Department of Biomedical Engineering
Tufts University Biomedical Engineering Research Scholars (TUBERS)
A free six-week summer research program where high school students from designated Massachusetts cities work full-time in Tufts biomedical engineering labs investigating cells, tissues, and organs alongside faculty and graduate mentors.
📅 April🎓 Grades 11–12
Highly Selective
UMass Amherst
UMass Fusarium Genomics Lab Research Intensive
Students investigate plant-fungal interactions using Fusarium and Arabidopsis models, phenotyping, microfluidics, and bioinformatics.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Valley Press Club
Valley Press Club Scholarship
A set of $1,000 scholarships (including The Republican Scholarship, the 22News Scholarship, and the Rhonda Swan Memorial Scholarship) for western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut high school seniors committed to pursuing journalism careers.
📅 April🎓 Grade 12
Selective
Berklee College of Music
Vocal Summit
Contemporary vocalists receive focused training in performance and vocal musicianship with Berklee instructors.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Berklee College of Music
Vocal/Choral Intensive
Students ages 15–18 develop solo and ensemble vocal skills for musical theatre and classical-performance settings.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Department of Massachusetts
Voice of Democracy Scholarship Program
A nationwide audio-essay scholarship contest on an annual patriotic theme; Massachusetts students submit recorded essays through local VFW posts, with hundreds of Massachusetts students competing each year for scholarships that can reach $35,000 nationally.
📅 October🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Bentley University Pre-College Programs
Wall Street 101
A competitive pre-college program for rising juniors and seniors covering global finance and investing topics such as stocks, bonds, currencies, and trading strategies, using Bloomberg terminals and a trading-room facility.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate
Massachusetts Center for Civic Education (MACCE)
We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution (Massachusetts)
A constitutional-law curriculum culminating in a simulated congressional hearing where student teams testify as expert witnesses before judges acting as legislators, then advance from a Massachusetts state competition toward the national finals.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Mass Audubon, Boston Nature Center
Willow Tree Youth Leaders Internship Program
A paid, multi-year internship introducing Boston teens to nature and environmental science through public programming, camp counseling, land stewardship, and climate action projects at the Boston Nature Center.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Smith College
Women, Gender, & Representation
Students examine how gender intersects with politics, health, history, culture, literature, identity, and social change through college-style seminars.
🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
WPI Frontiers
Rising sophomores through seniors spend two residential weeks deeply studying a STEM major while also choosing a humanities, arts, or business minor.
🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
WPI Launch
Rising grades 9–11 spend a week using university technology, laboratories, and research tools to explore areas such as aerospace, robotics, programming, and other applied STEM disciplines.
🎓 Grades 9–11
Highly Selective
MIT Edgerton Center
You GO Girl!
Greater Boston rising ninth graders complete four days of hands-on engineering and science involving LEGO vehicles, genetics demonstrations, photography, and high-school preparation.
🎓 Grade 9
Moderate
Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI)
Young Artists Composition Program (YACP)
A six-week program for high school composers who have not yet begun full-time college or conservatory study, offering individual composition lessons, theory and analysis classes, and weekly composition projects under BU faculty direction.
📅 Varies🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
Northeastern University Center for STEM Education
Young Scholars Program
Rising seniors from the Greater Boston area spend six weeks working in Northeastern research labs with faculty and graduate mentors and finish with posters and presentations.
🎓 Grade 12
Selective
Mass Audubon
Youth Climate Leadership Program
A free, statewide network of nine regional chapters where teens in grades 8-12 lead community-based Climate Action Projects and attend regional summits, developing public speaking, organizing, and advocacy skills.
📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 8–12
Selective
MassEnergize
Youth Climate Solutions Challenge
A nine-month, community-based after-school challenge in which teams of Massachusetts high schoolers design and lead clean-energy and climate outreach campaigns, receiving a $500 seed grant and competing for regional prize money at a final Awards Night.
📅 October🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Mass General Neurology / Mass General Brigham
Youth Neurology Education and Research Program (YNEP)
A paid, 40-hour-per-week mentored neurology research internship for Massachusetts high school and undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds, including a lab-skills bootcamp, an INSPIRE speaker series, and final research presentations.
📅 Varies🎓 Grade 12
Moderate
UMass Amherst
Zhou Lin Group in Quantum Chemistry Research Intensive
Students participate in computational quantum-chemistry research involving electronic structure, quantum dynamics, and data-driven molecular methods.
🎓 Grades 11–12
Moderate

Nationwide programs open to Massachusetts students

University of Pennsylvania
Academic English & University Readiness Academy
Two-week residential academy at Penn for non-native English speakers. Students do university-style work: reading, lectures, discussions, research and group projects, ending in a final presentation. Current 9th-11th graders; non-credit.
⏱ 2 weeks (July 26 - August 8, 2026)🎓 Grades 9–11
Highly Selective
Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP)
AEOP High School Apprenticeship Program
Students work alongside Army scientists and engineers on cutting-edge research projects in world-class laboratories.
⏱ 8 weeks📅 Early March🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
American Foreign Service Association (AFSA)
AFSA National High School Essay Contest
An essay contest designed to engage students in thinking about peace and conflict resolution.
📅 February 15🎓 Grades 11–12
Selective
Carnegie Mellon University
AI Scholars at CMU
Free AI-focused summer program for rising seniors underrepresented in computing.
⏱ 4 weeks (summer)📅 February🎓 Grade 11
Selective
AI4ALL
AI4ALL Open Learning
Girls in grades 6-12 learn AI and Python through interactive virtual classes.
⏱ 2 weeks📅 March 1🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Mathematical Association of America
AIME
Invitational round for top AMC scorers. 15-question, 3-hour exam that gates the USAMO. No fee for invited students.
⏱ 3 hours📅 February🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Freedom Forum
Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference
An all-expenses-paid journalism conference for one student from every US state and DC.
⏱ 1 week📅 February 15🎓 Grade 11
Selective
Amazon
Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship
Scholarship for high school seniors planning to study computer science in college.
⏱ 4 years scholarship📅 December 1🎓 Grade 12
Selective
Mathematical Association of America
AMC 10/12
The entry-level American Mathematics Competition. Top scorers qualify for AIME and the path to the USAMO. Open to all US high schoolers; school registration required.
⏱ 75 minutes📅 November🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
ACSL
American Computer Science League (ACSL)
A multi-division computer science competition covering both theory and programming.
⏱ School year📅 November 30🎓 Grades 9–12
Moderate
University of Pennsylvania
American Sign Language and Deaf Culture Online Seminar
Two-week online seminar (daily Zoom sessions) teaching basic ASL conversation and narrative skills in an immersion setting, plus Deaf community perspectives through vlogs, lectures and a panel of Deaf professionals. Current 9th-11th graders; non-credit.
⏱ 2 weeks (July 13 - 24, 2026)🎓 Grades 9–11
Highly Selective
Amgen Foundation
Amgen Scholars Future Track
Free online biotech simulations and pipeline programs preparing high schoolers for biomedical research.
⏱ Self-paced📅 Rolling🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Apple Inc.
Apple Swift Student Challenge
Swift coding competition hosted by Apple to showcase creativity and app development skills.
⏱ 1 month📅 February🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Berklee College of Music
Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive
The world's premier summer performance program for contemporary music, including jazz, rock, and pop.
⏱ 5 weeks📅 March 1🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
University of Pennsylvania
Astronomical Techniques Research Academy
Two-week residential academy at Penn. Students learn observational astronomy and data analysis, build simple cameras and spectrometers, observe the Sun and stars, and analyze data with Python. Current 9th-11th graders; non-credit.
⏱ 2 weeks (July 11 - 25, 2026)🎓 Grades 9–11
Moderate
NCWIT
Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC)
Award for girls and non-binary students in computing, providing recognition and a cash prize.
⏱ One-time📅 April 15🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Bard College at Simon's Rock
Bard College at Simon's Rock Young Writers Workshop
A 3-week residential program where students engage in creative and analytical thinking through literature and history.
⏱ 3 weeks📅 April 1🎓 Grades 10–12
Moderate
MIT Lincoln Lab
Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI)
Free MIT-led project-based courses in AI, robotics, cybersecurity.
⏱ 4 weeks (summer)📅 Early February🎓 Grade 11
Selective
ELASH / Bebras US
Bebras Computing Challenge (US)
An international computational thinking and informatics competition. Students can take the test remotely or through a local school coordinator.
⏱ 45 minutes📅 Early February🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective
Bennington College
Bennington Young Writers Awards
A prestigious creative writing competition for students to win cash prizes and publication.
📅 January 12🎓 Grades 9–12
Selective

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