Engineering Programs & Competitions for High School Students

Engineering programs for high schoolers range from university summer intensives to design competitions and real research placements in mechanical, electrical, aerospace, and biomedical engineering.

Admissions officers look for evidence you have actually built something — these programs give you that evidence.

157 verified programs match this page; 23 of the featured listings are completely free; 5 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• NASA HUNCH (High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware) — NASA: Design and build aerospace hardware used on the ISS in this hands-on high school STEM program. Boost engineering skills and strengthen college applica
• Women's Technology Program at MIT — MIT: Empower your STEM journey with a free four-week summer program for high school women at MIT. Gain hands-on engineering skills and boost your college a
• NASA Student Launch — NASA: Design and launch high-power rockets in this exciting STEM competition. Gain hands-on aerospace experience, boost college applications, and explore en
• Beaver Works Summer Institute — MIT: Elite summer program for high schoolers in Grades 10-11 focused on STEM fields like drones and cybersecurity. Gain hands-on experience and boost colle
• James Dyson Award — James Dyson Foundation: International STEM competition challenging high school innovators in Grades 11-12 to design groundbreaking solutions. Win $40k and boost college appli
• Summit STEM Fellowship (SSF) — Summit Education: The Summit STEM Fellowship (SSF) is a virtual summer program for top STEM students around the world. Students learn from mentors at Harvard, Stanford,
• Penn State Science-U STEM Camps — Penn State University: Immersive residential STEM camps at Penn State for middle and high school students covering robotics, cybersecurity, engineering, and life sciences on
• NSBE Pre-College Scholarship — National Society of Black Engineers: NSBE's pre-college scholarships support Black high school students pursuing STEM education. Awards ranging from $500–$15,000 recognize academic excell
• SHPE Foundation ScholarSHPE Program — Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Foundation: SHPE Foundation ScholarSHPE awards scholarships to Hispanic STEM students from high school through graduate school. One of the premier engineering org
• AISES Scholarship Program — American Indian Science and Engineering Society: AISES offers $2,000–$10,000 scholarships to Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and First Nations STEM students. One of
• Lehigh University Pre-College Programs — Lehigh University: Pre-college programs at Lehigh University covering engineering, business, arts, and sciences.
• High School Internship Program — Los Alamos National Laboratory: Research and operations internships for NM high school seniors.
• AEOP High School Apprenticeship Program (HSAP) — U.S. Army Educational Outreach Program: Paid summer research apprenticeships with Army-sponsored labs and faculty.
• Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) TEAMS Competition — Technology Student Association: Team-based engineering problem-solving competition. Tests real-world engineering scenarios. State and national levels.
• Autonomous Vehicle Challenge (SAE International) — SAE International: Competition to design and build autonomous vehicles. Tests AI, robotics, and engineering skills. Demonstrates cutting-edge STEM capabilities.
• NASA High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS) — NASA Johnson Space Center: Online course with an in-person engineering design experience at NASA.
• FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) World Championship Qualifier — FIRST: 3,600+ teams. Build 120lb robot. World Championship is most prestigious robotics event.
• NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative — NASA: Student teams design and build small satellites launched by NASA. Real space mission experience. Demonstrates advanced engineering and project managem
• Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) — National Science Teaching Association & U.S. Armed Services: Research presentation competition with regional and national symposia.
• ETH Zurich Summer Research Fellowship — ETH Zurich: Research fellowship at top European technical university ETH Zurich. STEM research with leading Swiss scientists.
• SAE Autonomous Vehicle Challenge — SAE International: Design and build autonomous vehicles. Cutting-edge experience with AI, machine learning, and robotics in transportation.
• BEST Robotics Competition — BEST Robotics: Free robotics competition. Six-week design challenge.
• MITES Summer — MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs: Six-week, residential MIT program for underrepresented rising seniors in STEM.
• MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI) — MIT Lincoln Laboratory & MIT School of Engineering: Rigorous 4-week STEM program. Students work on real engineering challenges in robotics, AI, cybersecurity. Free for selected students.
• Future City Competition — DiscoverE: Design city of the future. Teams create models, essays, and presentations for national finals in DC.
• New Jersey Governor's School of Engineering & Technology — Rutgers University: NJ's premier engineering summer program at Rutgers. Hands-on projects and college-level coursework for NJ students.
• U.S. Naval Academy Summer STEM Program — United States Naval Academy: Hands-on engineering and design camp on the USNA campus for grades 9-11.
• VEX Robotics World Championship Excellence Award — REC Foundation: Excellence Award is the highest honor at VEX Worlds. Given to teams that exemplify overall excellence in building a quality robotics program.
• NASA Lunabotics Competition — NASA: University-level robotics competition to design, build, and operate lunar regolith mining robots for simulated Moon environments.
• Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions — U.S. Department of Energy & Argonne National Laboratory: DOE-sponsored university-level eco-car competitions; high school students can engage via outreach, mentoring, and events.

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