High school students interested in exploring careers in engineering have more opportunities than ever to gain experience before university – even if they’ve already had early exposure through the science fair circuit. Federal research labs, corporate internship opportunities, university programs and online research institutes all offer ways to explore the field and gain skills.
If you want to see what engineers actually do day to day, many of these opportunities offer genuine engineering practice and foundational skills building. But how can you tell which ones are more than just a few structured weeks of observation? After all, most students don’t pursue engineering internships to watch someone else work. They want direct exposure, real world experience and hands on training to design, build, test and solve problems alongside experienced engineers.
This guide walks through 21 of the most credible engineering internships for high school students available, organized so you can compare them on what actually matters: who oversees the work, how much ownership the student has over it, and the academic value and future opportunities they can point to upon successful completion.
Engineering is not a subject most high schools teach with much depth, and that gap is exactly why STEM internships for high school students – engineering internships especially – have become a common way for young people to test the field and build college readiness before committing to it as a college major.
A summer spent studying computer science and engineering principles, or debugging a radar system, running structural calculations or supporting technical tasks or an actual lab team, tells high school students interested in engineering or applied STEM careers far more about whether they enjoy it than another semester of physics ever could.
Engineering internships also vary enormously in what they actually offer. Some place a single student with a scientist or engineer for months of individualized scientific research and critical thinking. Others have students participate in a fixed curriculum with a group project that students collaborate on a project at the end. A few are unpaid volunteer placements at federal science labs; others are paid engineering internships with hands on projects for teens with real corporate deliverables attached.
None of that variation shows up in a program’s name, which is why it’s worth understanding the differences before applying – whether you’re comparing university-run summer engineering programs for high school students or a federal lab’s stipend-paying internship.
The highest quality research programs for high school students fall into two categories:
The strongest programs tend to share two qualities: a high degree of student agency in shaping the research direction, and meaningful institutional oversight that ensures academic rigor. Programs with oversight from universities, government bodies, and established non-profits typically possess these qualities, giving students the closest approximation to what college-level research actually looks like, making the experience valuable college preparation.
To read more about the different types of research programs available, and how they differ from popular “independent mentor-matching” services, read our comprehensive guide on choosing the best research opportunities.
The programs below were selected based on:
NIST SHIP places students directly with federal engineers and scientists in one of the country’s oldest metrology labs, culminating in a poster session. It’s unpaid with direct expert mentorship, and it’s restricted to students who live near one of NIST’s two campuses.
NASA OSTEM spans every NASA center and every level of student, from high school through graduate school, through one centralized application portal. Because postings are project-specific, the actual engineering exposure depends heavily on which project a student is matched to.
The Pioneer Research Institute is the only fully accredited online research program for high school students — the research institute itself, not just the credit-granting partner, carries the accreditation. When the program begins, students conceive of their own engineering research question and work 1:1 with a university professor through the full research cycle, from literature review to a final paper graded against Pioneer’s rubric and independently sampled by Oberlin College’s faculty committee.
While there is tuition to participate, Pioneer will offer financial aid to cover 100% of demonstrated need for qualifying students.
SEES is built around Earth and space science, but its core work — writing Python code to model real datasets — is close enough to engineering methodology that it’s a reasonable fit for students whose interest sits at the intersection of computation and the physical world. It’s a hybrid structure: several distance-learning modules followed by a two-week, on-site research sprint at UT Austin.
SEAP students are placed in real Navy research labs working alongside career engineers and scientists, which makes this a strong option for students who want paid, hands-on engineering exposure without a university affiliation.
PRISM is Fermilab’s current high school research offering, replacing the lab’s previous internship program. Beyond project work in accelerator and detector engineering, participants explore topics including particle physics, quantum science, engineering design and AI through hands-on labs, expert-led lectures, facility tours and mentorship from Fermilab scientists and engineers. Students also complete a research abstract, poster and final presentation, giving them experience communicating technical work.
Sandia is one of the few programs here that isn’t limited to a single summer cohort — it also runs part-time, school-year internships and co-ops. Students work alongside scientists and engineers on real national security, energy and advanced technology projects, with opportunities spanning disciplines such as mechanical, electrical and computer engineering, cybersecurity, microelectronics and software development.
Because positions are posted by individual teams throughout the year, it’s worth checking the careers page regularly rather than waiting for a single annual application window.
LANL offers genuine access to one of the world’s leading multidisciplinary research laboratories, with interns contributing to engineering, computing and scientific projects alongside laboratory staff.
Depending on their placement, students may support work in areas such as mechanical, electrical or materials engineering, robotics, manufacturing or national security technologies while gaining experience with professional research and engineering workflows.
ESRP is structurally different from every other program on this list: it’s a full-year model built around a teacher’s registration rather than an individual application. It’s worth knowing about mainly so a student can ask their own teacher about it, since there’s no way to apply solo.
BNL is explicit that independent research projects are not permitted here. Instead, students join an existing research team, working alongside scientists, engineers and fellow interns under the guidance of a dedicated mentor.
Depending on the placement, projects may involve instrumentation, data analysis, computing or engineering support for Brookhaven’s large-scale scientific facilities. That collaborative, mentorship-driven approach makes the program a particularly good fit for students who want to experience how multidisciplinary research is conducted at a national laboratory rather than pursue a fully independent project.
LLRISE participants spend two intensive weeks learning the fundamentals of radar engineering through lectures, laboratory exercises and team-based design work, culminating in the construction and testing of a coherent radar system.
The program offers a realistic introduction to electrical engineering, signal processing and defense technologies, but it’s best viewed as an immersive engineering workshop rather than a research internship. LLRISE is a shorter, more accessible alternative to MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s paid, multi-week high school internship, which is currently suspended for the foreseeable future.
LLP is a genuine Princeton-run laboratory placement, matching students with faculty mentors and research groups across the university, including opportunities in engineering departments where available.
Participants spend several weeks contributing to ongoing research, gaining firsthand experience with laboratory techniques, data collection and the day-to-day realities of academic research.
To learn more about the LLP summer program, including application information and details about location, you can check out our comprehensive program guide.
ASSIP stands out by pairing an authentic university research experience with three hours of college credit, making it one of the few programs where students can earn academic credit while contributing to an active research project.
Students work closely with individual faculty mentors and research teams, with opportunities available across engineering, computer science and other STEM disciplines in both hybrid and in-person formats. Unlike most federal-lab internships, however, the program is tuition-based rather than stipend-funded, although financial assistance is available for eligible students.
You can learn more about the George Mason ASSIP program in our comprehensive guide.
BU RISE has offered high school research experiences for more than four decades, placing students directly into active university laboratories under the mentorship of faculty members, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students. Internship participants spend roughly 40 hours per week contributing to ongoing research before presenting their work at a campus-wide poster symposium, while also attending weekly workshops focused on research, academic and professional development.
The result is one of the closest approximations to an undergraduate research experience available to high school students, particularly for those seeking exposure to engineering research at a major R1 university.
Interested students can read out full BU RISE program report here.
Simons gives students the opportunity to spend six weeks embedded in an active university research lab, working alongside faculty mentors, graduate students and research staff on ongoing projects. Beyond their lab work, participants attend faculty lectures, workshops and research seminars before presenting their findings at the program’s closing poster symposium.
The result is an immersive introduction to university research that closely mirrors the experience of an undergraduate research assistant.
Our comprehensive Simons Research Program guide provides more information for curious students.
ARISE combines four weeks of remote instruction in research methods, ethics, scientific communication and college readiness with six weeks of hands-on research in an NYU Tandon laboratory under the guidance of faculty mentors and research staff.
Students contribute to active engineering and science projects while developing laboratory, professional, and technical skills before presenting their work at a public poster symposium. The result is a well-structured introduction to university research that prepares students before they ever step into the lab.
Prospective applicants can read our longer guide to the ARISE program here.
Run by the nonprofit HYPOTHEkids alongside Columbia Engineering’s SHAPE program, Hk Maker Lab emphasizes hands-on engineering design rather than faculty-led laboratory research. Participants build technical and design-thinking skills through workshops, prototyping activities and collaborative projects before tackling a two-week health equity hackathon, where teams develop and present solutions to real-world challenges.
Students who complete the program are also eligible to continue into a paid internship, extending the experience beyond the summer.
Now in its 36th year, this program gives students the opportunity to contribute to research at one of the world’s leading laser-fusion facilities, working one-on-one with scientists and engineers on individual projects related to inertial confinement fusion, laser systems and supporting technologies. Alongside their research, students participate in seminars and present their work at the program’s closing symposium, offering a realistic introduction to the pace and expectations of a professional research laboratory.
This is a genuine corporate engineering internship, not a camp or workshop. Students work alongside aerospace engineers on active programs, gaining experience with engineering workflows such as design, analysis, testing and systems integration while contributing to real-world projects.
Unlike many summer STEM programs that are primarily educational, Lockheed Martin’s model mirrors a professional internship experience, including paid work and direct exposure to the aerospace industry.
HIP is a two-year mentorship pathway rather than a standalone summer internship. Students are paired with Northrop Grumman engineers who provide guidance, career insight and exposure to real engineering work through mentorship activities and STEM experiences.
The strongest participants can advance to competitive, paid summer internships, creating a multi-year pipeline from high school mentorship into industry experience. Because the program operates through partnerships with specific schools, eligibility is limited to students in designated communities.
The Microsoft High School Discovery Program gives students a direct look at professional software engineering through hands-on work with Microsoft teams.
Over four weeks, participants learn about engineering practices, collaborate with peers and mentors, and contribute to projects that reflect how software is designed, built and improved in a technology company.
It offers a rare opportunity for high school students to experience a true industry environment.
Start with the practical filters before the prestige ones. Geography rules out more programs than selectivity does on this list — more than a third of the entries above are restricted to a specific state, metro area or partner-school network, no matter how strong a student’s application is.
After that, decide whether cost or compensation matters: several federal-lab programs are unpaid volunteer positions, a few are paid stipend positions, and a handful of university programs charge tuition in exchange for college credit or lab access.
Once the practical filters narrow the list, weigh oversight and ownership: does the program hand a student an assigned task inside someone else’s project, or does it expect the student to drive their own question from start to finish? Both models teach real things, but they teach different things, and a student’s answer to “do I want to help run someone else’s experiment or design my own” should drive the final decision more than a program’s name recognition.
If you’re interested in conducting the highest level of research for high school students, consider joining a Pioneer information session to learn more about the Pioneer Research Institute.
Based on a recent survey, 71 percent of Pioneer Research scholars’ acceptances were to the top 20 US colleges and universities. Additionally, our alumni report acceptances to highly-selective institutions at a rate five times higher than the school’s published acceptance rate.
If you are a 9th or 10th grader, we encourage you to also check out the Global Problem-Solving Institute. You’ll have the rare opportunity to take an interdisciplinary approach to complex world programs, while earning college credits from UNC-Chapel Hill.
The strongest engineering internships for high school students combine real access to engineers or faculty, meaningful student ownership of the work, and a credible institution standing behind the experience. On this list, that includes federal-lab programs like SEAP and Fermilab PRISM for paid, hands-on engineering exposure; university programs like Princeton’s Laboratory Learning Program and NYU’s ARISE for lab placement backed by a research institution; and the Pioneer Research Institute for students who want to design and own an original engineering research question under 1:1 faculty mentorship rather than support someone else’s project.
There is no single best answer — it depends on whether you wants to assist real engineers, conduct independent research, or both.
Yes — most of the federal national-lab and government programs on this list, including NIST SHIP, SEAP, Fermilab PRISM and Brookhaven’s HSRP, charge no tuition, and several pay a stipend on top of being free. University programs are more mixed: some, like Princeton’s LLP and NYU’s ARISE, are free, while others, like Boston University’s RISE and George Mason’s ASSIP, charge tuition in exchange for college credit or extended lab access.
Students can pursue engineering research through several parallel paths: applying to structured university or federal-lab programs like the ones in this guide, seeking a mentor-matched independent research placement or applying to one of the accredited high school engineering research programs — like Pioneer Academics — that let a student design and drive their own engineering research question with a professor’s guidance. Most competitive engineering internships for teens expect some foundation first — coursework in physics, math or a relevant engineering discipline — before a student applies.
An online program is worth it when it is backed by real academic oversight rather than just a scheduling platform that pairs students with a mentor. Pioneer Academics is the only fully accredited online research program for high school students — the research institute itself carries accreditation through Oberlin College, not just the credit awarded at the end — which distinguishes it from mentor-matching services that don’t guarantee a rigorous, student-driven experience. The right question isn’t whether a program is online or in person, but whether an institution is actually overseeing the quality of the work.
Selectivity varies widely across this list. Some federal-lab programs like NIST SHIP and Brookhaven’s HSRP don’t publish acceptance rates but describe themselves as highly competitive, while corporate programs like Lockheed Martin’s and Northrop Grumman’s are geographically gated before selectivity even becomes a factor. The Pioneer Research Institute admits fewer than one in three applicants, which is more accessible than the most elite single-digit-acceptance federal programs, but still requires a strong academic record and a genuine, well-formed research interest.
Doing research is commonplace. How do you choose the research opportunity that makes a difference?
Join us for a free online info session to learn about Pioneer
Check exclusive sharings From directors of prestigious programs
Sign up to receive alerts for upcoming deadlines and other opportunities for high-achieving students.
