Robotics Programs & Competitions for High School Students

Robotics is one of the strongest ways to show colleges hands-on engineering ability: you design, build, program, and compete with a physical machine on a deadline.

This list spans team competitions like FIRST Robotics and VEX, summer robotics intensives, and research programs where you work on autonomous systems.

45 verified programs match this page; 21 of the featured listings are completely free; 1 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY) — Ready AI: Join a global AI competition for grades 6-12 to solve real-world problems using artificial intelligence. Build STEM skills, boost college applications
• 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
• FIRST Robotics Competition Chairman's Award — FIRST: Most prestigious FRC team award. Recognizes team that best embodies FIRST mission.
• Zero Robotics Programming Competition — MIT/NASA: Program robots that compete aboard the International Space Station. Finals run on actual SPHERES satellites in microgravity on ISS.
• 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.
• VEX Robotics World Championship — REC Foundation: Largest robotics competition by participants. Teams build VEX robots to compete.
• FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) World Championship Qualifier — FIRST: 3,600+ teams. Build 120lb robot. World Championship is most prestigious robotics event.
• 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.
• 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.
• FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Dean's List Finalist — FIRST: Top individual student award in FRC. 10 winners selected from ~300 semi-finalists.
• 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.
• National Robotics League Combat Robots — National Robotics League (NTMA): A combat robotics competition where students design, build, and battle robots in a real-world engineering challenge.
• Robofest Robotics Competition — Lawrence Technological University: Robofest is an autonomous robotics competition for 4th–12th grade students organized by Lawrence Technological University.
• Robo-One Biped Robot Competition — Robo-One Committee: Robo-One is a Japanese biped robot fighting and performance competition that challenges teams to design, build, and control humanoid robots.
• MIT Robocon Tech Team Robotics Competition — Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Robocon Tech Team: A student-led MIT team that designs and builds robots for international ABU Robocon competitions.
• European Rover Challenge Robotics Competition — European Space Foundation: An international Mars rover competition and space science event bringing student teams together to design and operate planetary rovers.
• E-Yantra Robotics Competition — IIT Bombay (e-Yantra Project, CSE Dept.): A major educational robotics competition by IIT Bombay that teaches embedded systems and robotics through themed challenges.
• NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge — NASA Marshall Space Flight Center: An annual NASA engineering competition where student teams design, build, and race human-powered rovers over simulated extraterrestrial terrain.
• MATE ROV Competition (High School Division) — MATE Inspiration for Innovation: Compete in the MATE ROV underwater robotics competition for high schoolers. Gain hands-on STEM skills, tackle real-world ocean challenges, and boost c
• National Robotics Week Competitions — Various Organizations: Explore robotics competitions during National Robotics Week! Grades 6-12 gain hands-on STEM skills, network with peers, and enhance college applicatio
• National Robotics Challenge (NRC) — Marion Technical College: Compete in the National Robotics Challenge, an open-platform high school competition. Build hands-on engineering and robotics skills to stand out on c
• FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) — FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology): Design, build, and program robots in an exciting hybrid STEM competition. Gain hands-on engineering, coding, and teamwork experience to boost college
• VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) — Robotics Education & Competition Foundation: Compete in the VEX Robotics Competition to design, program, and engineer robots for exciting challenges. Build STEM skills and enhance college applica
• SeaPerch Underwater Robotics Program — Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Foundation & RoboNation: Build underwater robots in this hands-on STEM competition for grades 6-12. Gain engineering skills, boost college applications, and explore marine rob
• NYU ARISE Summer Research Program — NYU Tandon School of Engineering: Gain hands-on STEM experience in a free 7-week summer research program for high school juniors and seniors. Build skills for college and explore engin
• Engineering Summer Academy at Penn (ESAP) — University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science: Explore cutting-edge STEM fields in this in-person summer program for high schoolers. Gain hands-on engineering experience, boost college applications
• Columbia Engineering SHAPE — Columbia University: Explore engineering, coding, and robotics in a hands-on summer program at Columbia. Perfect for building STEM skills and enhancing college application

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