As a high school student curious about artificial intelligence, a strong summer program can help you build your profile. These programs give you real deliverables, AI prototypes, capstone presentations, research-style write-ups, or portfolio projects you can showcase on college applications.

Below are 10 AI summer programs that help you gain hands-on experience, build technical skills, and build real-world projects.

1. Delta Launch AI (Delta Institute)

Delta Launch AI is built for students who want structure and tangible project outcomes. As part of the programs, you go through AI masterclasses and technical workshops, then apply what you learn to a project that solves a real problem. These help you build a strong portfolio and build your applications around it. 

A key outcome is documentation that makes your work easy to evaluate: your project’s concept, your approach, what you tried, what worked, and what you changed. Depending on the format you choose, the experience can be cohort-based (shorter and fast-paced) or 1:1 mentorship (longer and more personalized). 

• Cost: AI Intensive $2,200; AI Immersive $4,800 

• Location: Virtual 

• Application Deadline: March 29 

• Program Dates: Year-round 

• Eligibility: High school students 

2. Berkeley Engineering Summer Machine Learning & AI Research Training (BeSMART) 

BeSMART is a residential program that blends classroom instruction with lab-style build time. Your days start with a lecture, then hands-on coding labs in the afternoon, ending with evening study time that pushes you to keep improving your work and iterating on drafts. 

The program helps you gain experience with rigorous iteration, testing, debugging, validating results, and presenting what you built in a way that makes sense to others. If you like the idea of learning AI in a highly immersive environment with a clear daily rhythm, this is one of the most structured options on the list. 

• Cost: $7,000 

• Location: UC Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) 

• Application Deadline: April 15 

• Program Dates: July 27 – August 7 

• Eligibility: High school students (see program requirements) 

3. ROAR Academy (Robot Open Autonomous Racing)

ROAR Academy is a 10-day, in-person summer program focused on Python and autonomous driving in simulation. You work through a Python refresher and practice debugging, then apply the skills to autonomy topics tied to reinforcement learning, machine learning, and autonomous driving algorithms. 

The output is performance-based: you build driving agents that can compete inside the Simulation Racing Series environment, and you practice improving systems under real constraints. Students earn a certificate of completion and can continue into ROAR’s broader ecosystem (like ambassador pathways and competitions) after the program. 

• Cost: $2,200 tuition (+ $50 application fee) 

• Location: UC Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) 

• Application Deadline: March 27 (early) 

• Program Dates: July 6 – July 17 

• Eligibility: Entering grades 10 – 12; California residents for 2026 standard enrollment (see details) 

4. Machine Learning (ML) Summer Program 

NYU Tandon’s ML program is a two-week, full-day format built around learning core machine learning concepts and applying them through programming. You’ll work through ML foundations and model validation, then connect those ideas to real applications, like recognition systems and other everyday ML-powered technologies. 

What makes this program useful for a portfolio is the repeated cycle of “build → test → improve.” You’re not just coding once, you’re also learning how to evaluate whether a model is working and how to iterate to make it more efficient. 

• Cost: $3,180 (plus optional housing/meal plan if needed) 

• Location: NYU Tandon School of Engineering (Brooklyn, NY) 

• Application Deadline: April 17 (Session 1); May 1 (Sessions 2 & 3) 

• Program Dates: June 15 – June 27; July 6 – July 17; July 20 – July 31 

• Eligibility: Ages 15+; grades 9 – 12 (plus prerequisites) 

5. ICS Summer Academy – Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning 

If you want an AI experience that is structured like school (schedule, teamwork, deliverables), UC Irvine’s ICS Summer Academy may be a good fit for you. The program emphasizes hands-on work and ends with a capstone presentation, which can be especially helpful if you want practice explaining technical work to an audience. 

The AI/ML option is delivered as a two-week commuter session. You’ll spend full days working through ML foundations using both paper-based thinking (understanding the concepts) and programming (applying them), which is exactly the combination that helps students move beyond memorizing buzzwords. 

• Cost: $2,500

• Location: UC Irvine (Irvine, CA) 

• Application Deadline: April 12 

• Program Dates: July 21–August 1 

• Eligibility: Rising grades 9–12 (and graduating seniors) 

6. Artificial Intelligence Academy – Georgetown University

Georgetown’s AI Academy is a one-week program that connects AI to a real work environment. You’ll work through discussions and applied activities that help you gain exposure to the reasoning behind AI’s impact and not just its technical side. 

By the end of the program, you’ll have a clear sense of what AI is, where it fails, and how to go about using it responsibly. This experience can be a good addition to your college applications as it goes beyond just the technical aspect and helps you understand the deeper use cases and structural implications of AI. 

• Cost: Residential $3,725; Commuter $3,095 

• Location: Georgetown University (Washington, DC) 

• Application Deadline: April 15 

• Program Dates: June 7–June 13 

• Eligibility: High school students (see admissions criteria) 

7. Engineering with Artificial Intelligence – Tufts Summer Pre-College

Tufts’ AI program is a two-week, campus-based experience that’s meant to be hands-on, not theoretical. Students explore AI and machine learning concepts while building and implementing solutions. This program allows you to show initiative and technical growth.

Since students code in Python, the program works best for students who have already had at least one introductory experience and want to level up. The end result is typically learning about what your model does, what data you worked with, what choices you made, and how you evaluated your approach. 

• Cost: Commuter $4,425; Residential $5,950 

• Location: Tufts University (Medford/Somerville, MA) 

• Application Deadline: May 1 

• Program Dates: July 5–July 17; July 19–July 31 

• Eligibility: Entering grades 10–12 (or 2026 high school graduate) 

8. STEMx High School Program (Artificial Intelligence Week) – NJIT

NJIT’s STEMx model is built around one-week intensives, which is helpful if you want focused learning without committing to a full multi-week residential program. The AI week is taught with faculty involvement and is designed to immerse students in a concentrated set of activities that connect computing skills with real-world problems. 

This program is a good fit for beginners who want to understand whether they want to go deeped into machine learning, data science, or adjacent fields like cybersecurity. It also works well as a stepping stone, allowing you to engage in longer, more personalized experiences upon completion. 

• Cost: $725 per week (+ $70 application fee) 

• Location: New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark, NJ) 

• Application Deadline: April 10 (regular admission window) 

• Program Dates: July 6–July 10 (AI week option) 

• Eligibility: Current 10th–11th graders (see requirements) 

9. High School Summer AI Tech Camp – UC Davis (AIFS)

This is a short, high-intensity day camp that connects AI to a specific domain such as sustainability and agriculture. Students learn Python and AI fundamentals while working with practical tools (including an AI camera setup) and building image-classification style models in teams. 

By the end of the program, you will develop an AI model and pitch your project, which helps you practice both technical thinking and communication. If you like applied STEM and want to see how AI can be used outside the usual technical domain, this program is a good option for you. 

• Cost: Free 

• Location: UC Davis (Davis, CA) 

• Application Deadline: Not specified 

• Program Dates: June 15–June 18 

• Eligibility: High school students (and teachers) 

10. Summer Intensive – All Star Code

All Star Code’s Summer Intensive is a live, virtual experience that combines web development with foundational AI literacy and professional skill-building. It’s designed for students to leave with proof-of-work, projects, and a clearer sense of how to learn and build consistently.

As part of the program, you will build projects, strengthen technical confidence, and finish with readiness for future pathways in tech. It also connects students with a long-term ecosystem after the summer, which can be valuable if you want continuity rather than a one-off experience. 

• Cost: Free 

• Location: Virtual 

• Application Deadline: April 17 

• Program Dates: July 6–August 14 

Eligibility: High school-aged male-identifying students (14–18) from underrepresented backgrounds in tech