Computer Science Programs for High School Students
EC Finder currently lists 128 computer science programs for high school students. Of these, 83 are free to participate in and 74 offer virtual participation. Examples include 2026 U.S. Innovator Challenge, Advanced Vertical Robotics (AVR) Competition, and Aerospace Jam - High School Aerospace Robotics Competition.
- 128
- listed
- 83
- free
- 74
- virtual
- 128
- with a listed deadline
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are computer science programs for high school students?
- Computer Science Programs for High School Students are curated extracurricular listings for high school students interested in computer science. Each listing includes eligibility, cost, and deadline details where known, so you can compare options and find the right fit for your college application profile.
- Are any of these programs free?
- Yes — 83 of the 128 programs listed here are free to participate in.
- Can I participate virtually?
- Yes — 74 of the 128 programs listed here offer virtual or online participation.
- Are computer science programs good for a college application?
- Yes — computer science programs are a common way for high schoolers to show sustained interest and initiative in computer science on college applications.
Related Categories
128 activities found·Browse by category
2026 U.S. Innovator Challenge
The U.S. Innovator Challenge is an invitation-only national innovation competition hosted by Innovation World where top K-12 inventors from across the United States present their inventions virtually, with winners advancing to a global innovation event.
Advanced Vertical Robotics (AVR) Competition
National HS competition using UAVs and ground vehicles in realistic mission scenarios like search and rescue. Focus on robotics systems integration.
Aerospace Jam - High School Aerospace Robotics Competition
Robotics competition centered on space exploration and aerospace-themed robot challenges. Summer event with awards and recognition.
Aerospace Robotics Competition (ARC - Drone-Based)
Drone robotics competition where HS students design, code, and operate autonomous UAVs to complete missions. National event with scholarship opportunities.
AI Scholar
Advanced AI/ML research program where students work 1-on-1 with graduate student mentors to complete original research projects and publish papers.
American Computer Science League (ACSL)
Team-based competition with programming challenges and written tests covering Boolean algebra, digital electronics, algorithms, and data structures. Four divisions based on skill level.
Apex High School AI Championship
National AI competition where students solve STEM and AI challenges through interactive experiences. Prizes include $50K+ in scholarships.
Bay Area Cyber League Competitions
Year-round regional competitions for high school and community college students in the greater Bay Area. Includes fall and spring competitions with Discord community support.
Bay Area Cyber League Summer CyberCamps
Low/no-cost, in-person cybersecurity bootcamps (Intro, Intermediate, Advanced) hosted at Bay Area community colleges in June–July 2025. Topics include cyber hygiene, ethical hacking, cryptography, digital/network forensics, web security, and Linux fundamentals.
Bay Area Programming Contest (BAPC)
ICPC-style programming contest hosted by Gunn High School's Competitive Programming Club featuring 8-13 algorithmic problems ranging from USACO Bronze to Platinum difficulty.
Bay Area STEM Robotics Camps & Programs (Aggregator)
Directory of Bay Area robotics camps (LEGO, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc.), many suitable for HS students. Camp aggregator for summer opportunities.
Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab (BAIR) High School Summer Program
Free 1-week program at UC Berkeley covering machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, robotics, and AI ethics. Mentored by Berkeley graduate students.
Big Data at Berkeley – High School Data Science Bootcamp
Big Data at Berkeley, a UC Berkeley student organization, runs a free 7-week Saturday bootcamp for high-school students interested in data science. Participants learn coding fundamentals, basic statistics, and how to use data science tools to solve real-world problems, all taught in person by Berkeley undergrads. During the program, students complete a project using real datasets and receive a certificate of completion, making it a strong, beginner-friendly tech EC.
Botball Educational Robotics Program (KIPR)
A team robotics competition for middle and high schoolers who design, build, and program fully autonomous robots (no remote control) using a standardized kit to complete timed tasks at regional and international tournaments.
Cal Poly Pomona GenCyber Summer Camp
A free week-long residential camp funded by NSA's GenCyber program. Held each summer at Cal Poly Pomona, it introduces cybersecurity basics including operating systems, network security, forensics, and hands-on cyber labs for high school students and teachers.
CALICO (California Informatics Competition)
Programming competition hosted by UC Berkeley students featuring 6-13 algorithmic problems to solve in 3 hours. Held twice yearly (Fall and Spring) with in-person and online options.
California Cyber Innovation Challenge (Mission Apgaritum)
An annual free state-level cyber competition for CA high school teams organized by Cal Poly CCI. Students solve a simulated cyber-crime scenario involving digital forensics and puzzles. The event usually runs virtually in early October with awards for top teams.
California State University Summer Cybersecurity Academies
Week-long programs at various CSU campuses (San Bernardino, Dominguez Hills, Channel Islands) offering hands-on training in ethical hacking, digital forensics, and network security.
CISA Cybersecurity Career Resources
Government resources for exploring cybersecurity careers including scholarships, internships, and educational pathways.
Cisco Networking Academy - Cybersecurity Courses
Free online courses (Introduction to Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Essentials) with hands-on labs and industry-recognized certifications.
Code For Fun – Internship and Volunteer
Organization teaching kids to code; HS students can intern or volunteer as teaching assistants and outreach helpers.
Code.org Volunteer / Create CS Curriculum
Volunteer opportunity to help teach computer science to younger students or contribute to open-source CS education resources.
Code/Art Game Design Competition for Girls
A national game design competition for female-identifying and gender non-binary students in grades 3-12. Participants design and build an original browser-based game (Scratch, GameLab, p5.js, or MakeCode Arcade) and submit a written reflection, competing for cash prizes by grade division.
ColoradoFIRST – FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)
Colorado's affiliate of FIRST Robotics, organizing the Denver Regional and supporting FRC teams across the state. High schoolers join a team to design, build, and program a competition robot to solve the season's challenge (2026 challenge: 'REBUILT'). Denver Regional held annually at the University of Denver.
ColoradoFIRST – FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC)
Colorado's affiliate of FIRST Tech Challenge, supporting teams of up to 15 students in grades 7-12 who design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in an alliance-format floor game. No prior technical experience required; teams need two adult coaches. Colorado FTC Kickoff held at Chatfield High School and Grand Junction High School.
Congressional App Challenge
Annual nationwide competition where students create original apps and submit to their congressional district. Winning apps are displayed in the U.S. Capitol.
Conrad Challenge (Cyber-Technology & Security Category)
Annual multi-phase innovation and entrepreneurship competition with a dedicated Cyber-Technology & Security category for tech solutions.
COSMOS - CS Clusters
Prestigious 4-week residential STEM program at UC campuses with dedicated computer science clusters covering programming, data science, robotics, and AI.
Coursera / edX - High School CS Courses
University-level CS courses from Stanford, MIT, Harvard available for free online. Topics include algorithms, AI, web development, and cybersecurity.
CS@Mines High School Summer Internship & Programming Project
Colorado School of Mines hosts high school students for summer computer science research internships (scholarship-funded at $20/hour for selected applicants, with topics including AI, robotics, cybersecurity) and a 5-week virtual computer programming project program ($200) where students build a CS project in teams. Priority application deadline April 10.
CSUSB GenCyber Summer Camp
A free, residential GenCyber summer camp at California State University, San Bernardino. 60 high school students spend one week on campus studying cybersecurity and AI through labs and mentoring. Includes college prep and dual-enrollment cybersecurity course.
CU Boulder Science Discovery – STEM Research Experience
Seven-week summer program at the University of Colorado Boulder where high school students work 15-20 hours per week alongside graduate students and faculty on real research projects in biology, engineering, neuroscience, and other STEM fields, plus a research methods class on finding and evaluating scientific articles. Concludes with a STEM Research EXPO where students present their poster.
Cyber.org High School Pathways
Comprehensive curriculum with hands-on labs, assessments, and teacher support. Covers cybersecurity fundamentals, ethical hacking, and digital forensics.
CyberDefenders
Blue team focused platform with digital forensics and incident response challenges. Practice defending networks using real-world attack scenarios.
CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition
The Air Force Association's flagship youth cyber competition, the world's largest cybersecurity contest for teens. High school teams defend virtual networks by finding and fixing security flaws in Windows, Linux, and Cisco images. Runs fall–spring with online qualifiers and National Finals.
Cybersecurity Mentorship Programs (CyberAcademy by CyberWarrior Foundation)
Free mentorship connecting high school students with cybersecurity professionals for career guidance and skill development.
Data Science Institute Summer Lab (University of Chicago)
A paid eight-week summer research program in which Chicago-area high school students are paired with a UChicago Data Science Institute mentor to conduct applied data-science research across domains such as public policy, climate, and biomedicine.
Diamond Challenge (Tech/Business Innovation Track)
Global entrepreneurship competition where students develop tech-based business or social innovation solutions. $100,000 in total prizes.
DVHS Robotics (Dougherty Valley HS - VEX Focused)
Student-run high school robotics program in San Ramon with competitive VEX teams and novice pipelines.
Esporterz Esports & Coding Camp
An in-person esports and coding camp based in Larkspur (Marin County, Bay Area) where teens play competitive and casual video games on pro-gaming PCs, learn basic coding and robotics, and take part in outdoor STEM activities during weeklong summer sessions.
FIRST Robotics - San Francisco Regional (FRC)
One of the main NorCal FRC regionals held in San Francisco. Great target event for Bay Area teams competing in the FIRST Robotics Competition.
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)
Flagship varsity high school robotics competition where teams build 120 lb robots to play a new game each year. Most prestigious robotics competition with pathways to substantial scholarships.
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) - California
Smaller robots (18" cube) with metal extrusion kits and Android-based control. Popular in NorCal leagues with accessible entry point for robotics teams.
FreeCodeCamp Certifications
Self-paced online platform offering free certifications in web development, data analysis, machine learning, and more. Great for building portfolio projects.
GenCyber Summer Camps (Northern California locations)
NSA/NSF-funded free camps at various NorCal colleges (SJSU, Sacramento State, Cabrillo). Topics: ethical hacking, digital forensics, cryptography, cyber hygiene.
Girls Go CyberStart
An online gamified cybersecurity competition by SANS Institute designed for U.S. high school girls to explore cyber careers. Participants solve fun puzzles in cryptography, forensics, and web exploitation. High scorers earn prizes and scholarships.
Girls Inc. of Metro Denver – Summer Internship Program
Career exploration and workforce development program for Denver-area high school girls, placing them with employers across healthcare, business, technology, nonprofit, and government sectors, plus professional development workshops, mentorship, and resume/interview prep. Runs early June through late July.
Girls Who Code - Clubs & Pathways
Free, project-based programs including a cybersecurity track alongside web development, game design, and data science. Clubs meet after school/weekends; the self-paced Pathways program is virtual for high schoolers.
Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program
Free 2-week program for rising 10th-12th grade girls to learn coding, robotics, and web design while building sisterhood and exploring tech careers.
Google Code-in / Code Next
Google's programs for high school students to contribute to open-source projects and learn computer science fundamentals.
Hack Club
Global nonprofit network of 1,000+ high school computer programming clubs (100,000+ students) plus a Slack community active 24/7. Hack Club also funds teen builders directly: Hack Grant ($50-$200 for any project), Highway/Hardware Grant (up to $350), and $500 grants for in-person high school hackathons.
HackTheBox Academy
Industry-leading penetration testing platform with comprehensive learning paths. Free tier provides access to retired machines and foundational courses.
High School Esports League (HSEL / Generation Esports)
One of the largest and longest-running scholastic esports organizations in North America, now operating under Generation Esports/PlayVS. High schoolers compete online in regional, conference, and national tournaments across titles like Rocket League, Valorant, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with scholarships awarded to top performers at HSEL Nationals.
iD Tech Summer Camps - Bay Area
Week-long day and overnight tech camps at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and other Bay Area locations covering coding, game design, robotics, and AI.
Independent Innovator Challenge (IIC) - 2026
The Independent Innovator Challenge (IIC) is an annual national innovation competition that lets K–12 students from anywhere in the U.S. submit invention/innovation projects directly, serving as a pathway into the U.S. National Innovator Challenge (NIC) for students who do not have another qualifying organization. Students develop inventions, create logbooks, pitch videos, slides, and prototypes. Top innovators receive awards including invitations to the U.S. National Innovator Challenge.
Inspirit AI Summer Program
2-week program teaching AI and machine learning fundamentals through hands-on projects. Students build neural networks and work with real datasets.
International Invitational Math Optimization Challenge (IIMOC)
A free, virtual international team competition in which high school and college students tackle algorithmic optimization problems over a multi-week window, submitting solutions to a leaderboard for ranking — introducing techniques used in operations research and computer science.
Jane Street Academy of Math and Programming (AMP)
A free, five-week in-person summer program in New York City for graduating high school seniors who have experienced barriers to advanced STEM education, covering number theory, combinatorics, algorithms, Python programming, data analysis, and game theory, with all costs covered plus a $5,000 scholarship.
Kode With Klossy
Free 2-week coding camps for young women and gender-expansive youth teaching web development, mobile app development, and data science.
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab High School Internship
Paid summer research internship at Berkeley Lab. CS students work on data analysis, machine learning for scientific computing, and visualization.
Lawrence Livermore Labs Biotech Summer Experience
Two-week summer program where HS students perform molecular biology and bioinformatics experiments (PCR, cloning, gels, sequence analysis) and submit sequences to GenBank.
Lockheed Martin Code Quest
Annual programming competition where teams of 2-3 students solve 20-30 algorithmic problems in 2.5 hours using Java, Python, C#, or C++.
Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST® Academy
A free, virtual mentoring program for high school classes. Each fall, teachers register classes to receive four online sessions with Lockheed Martin cyber engineers. The curriculum builds basic cybersecurity skills and prepares students for the annual CyberQuest competition.
Lumiere Research Scholar Program
12-week 1-on-1 research program where students work with PhD mentors from top universities to conduct original CS research and write research papers.
MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI)
Prestigious 4-week STEM program at MIT with courses in AI, cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles, and quantum computing. Requires online prerequisite courses.
MIT MITES Summer
Free, six-week residential STEM program at MIT for rising high school seniors (11th graders) from underrepresented or underserved backgrounds. Students take rigorous math, science, and humanities courses, complete a project, and live in MIT dorms. Highly selective; all costs covered.
MIT Women's Technology Program (WTP)
A free four-week summer program at MIT that introduces rising senior girls with strong math/science backgrounds but little prior exposure to engineering, through hands-on classes and projects in either EECS or mechanical engineering.
NASA L'SPACE Mission Concept Academy (MCA)
Virtual 15-week program where students work in teams to develop mission concepts for NASA. Focuses on systems engineering, project management, and technical design.
NASA SEES (STEM Enhancement in Earth Science) Internship
Free virtual NASA internship where students use real NASA satellite data and computational tools to study Earth science phenomena.
NASEF Scholastic Esports Clubs
A national nonprofit offering free scholastic esports clubs, tournaments (including the Minecraft-based Farmcraft and Beyond the Game Challenges), STEM/social-emotional-learning curriculum, and career pathways for middle and high schoolers. Broader than and distinct from its California-specific CIF Esports Initiative partnership.
National Cyber League (NCL)
An annual online cybersecurity challenge for high school and college students. NCL presents realistic tasks in forensics, pentesting, cryptography, and more to develop cyber skills. Runs in Fall (regular season) and Spring (all-star game) on the Cyber Skyline platform.
National Cyber League (NCL) High School Division
Biannual competition with real-world challenges: forensic analysis, packet capture analysis, password cracking, and ransomware recovery. Performance-based scouting reports provided.
NCAR Pre-College Internship Program (PRECIP)
Six-week summer internship at the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado where high school students work on real research projects in atmospheric, climate, and earth-system science with scientists, plus workshops on writing scientific abstracts. Out-of-area students must have a parent/guardian/chaperone with them for the duration.
NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing
National recognition program celebrating women and gender-expansive students for their computing accomplishments and career aspirations.
Neel Somani Young Innovators Scholarship
Scholarship recognizing students who led innovative projects, often in STEM or entrepreneurship.
NIST NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework
Free resources mapping cybersecurity careers, skills, and learning pathways. Essential for understanding the breadth of cybersecurity roles.
NorCalCyber Mayors Cup
Regional competition for students in Greater Sacramento and Far North California. Features team-based learning and digital forensics challenges.
NSA Codebreaker Challenge
A free annual online coding and cyber puzzle challenge by the U.S. National Security Agency. Students solve mission-oriented tasks in reverse engineering, cryptography, vulnerability research, and scripting in a fictional intelligence scenario. Top performers receive NSA certificates.
NSA Stokes Educational Scholarship Program
A competitive scholarship with summer internships for U.S. high school juniors intending to study cyber, computer science, engineering, or math. Covers full tuition plus stipend and requires service commitment after college. Includes NSA internships in later summers.
NSLC Game Design (National Student Leadership Conference)
A residential summer program held at UCLA where students entering grades 9-12 learn game design fundamentals, prototype original video games, and explore careers in the gaming industry alongside peers from across the country.
NYU CSAW High School Forensics Challenge (HSF)
A cybersecurity competition by NYU's CSAW for U.S. high school teams. In the online qualifier, teams solve a cyber forensics mystery (network analysis, mobile forensics, steganography) to earn points. Top teams advance to live Finals in US, France, and UAE.
NYU Tandon CS4CS (Computer Science for Cyber Security)
A free 4-week summer program for rising 10th–11th graders. Students learn Python programming and cyber fundamentals including white-hat hacking, cryptography, steganography, and digital forensics through lectures and labs. Held on NYU campus in Brooklyn with college credit option.
OverTheWire Wargames
Free online cybersecurity wargames teaching fundamental to advanced security concepts through hands-on challenges. Self-paced progression through difficulty levels.
picoCTF
A free, online capture-the-flag cybersecurity contest created by Carnegie Mellon for middle and high schoolers. Players solve interactive puzzles in reverse engineering, cryptography, web hacking, and forensics to collect flags. Annual contest runs March–April.
picoCTF by Carnegie Mellon University
The largest free cybersecurity hacking competition globally. Solve capture-the-flag challenges in web exploitation, cryptography, forensics, and reverse engineering.
Piedmont Makers Robotics (FTC/FRC Hub - East Bay)
Community nonprofit that runs multiple FIRST teams and an FTC league. Strong option if your school's robotics is limited. Bay Area focused.
Pioneer Academics
Online research program pairing students with university professors for 2-3 month research projects. Computer science track covers AI, algorithms, and theoretical CS.
Pioneers in Engineering Robotics Competition (UC Berkeley PiE)
Berkeley student-run competition providing low-cost robot kits, control system, and mentoring to Bay Area high schools. Very NorCal-specific and robotics-focused.
PlayVS High School Esports - California
PlayVS is the CIF-recognized platform powering official California high school esports leagues. Students compete on their school's varsity/JV teams across seasonal titles such as League of Legends, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Madden NFL.
Polygence - Computer Science Research
1-on-1 mentorship with graduate students and PhDs to conduct original computer science research over 10-20 sessions.
Presentation High School Robotics (FRC 2135, all-girls)
San Jose all-girls FRC team, strongly focused on hands-on robot build and leadership development.
Project SEED Summer Research Program (CS Track)
ACS-sponsored paid summer research program for economically disadvantaged students. Some labs focus on computational chemistry and bioinformatics.
Regeneron STS / ISEF (Computer Science Category)
Nation's most prestigious pre-college science competitions with dedicated computer science categories for original research projects.
RoboCupJunior USA
A student robotics competition open to teams up to age 19 who design, build, and program fully autonomous robots to compete in soccer, rescue, or theatrical performance (OnStage) leagues, with top teams advancing to the international RoboCup.
Sacramento State Cyber Security Academy
Part of Sac State's Summer Youth Academies, a 1-week in-person program covering cyber basics, ethical hacking, and forensics. Offered via CCE (College of Continuing Education) as a paid summer program in Sacramento.
SANS Cyber Foundations
Free online cybersecurity fundamentals course covering networking, operating systems, and security concepts. Self-paced with optional certification exam.
SANS Holiday Hack Challenge
A free online cybersecurity CTF by SANS Institute held every December. Open to participants worldwide including high school teams. Each year's challenge is holiday-themed with diverse challenges over ~2 weeks. Leaderboards and prizes for top scorers.
School Cybersecurity Club Formation Resources
Organizations like ISSA, ISC2, and (ISC)² provide free resources, speakers, and curriculum for starting high school cybersecurity clubs.
Simons Summer Research Program
A highly selective six-week residential research program at Stony Brook University pairing rising high school seniors with faculty mentors for hands-on original research in science, math, or engineering, culminating in a poster symposium.
SJSU Cyber-AI Summer Camp
A free week-long summer program (July 21–25, 2025) at San José State University for Bay Area high schoolers. Students delve into cybersecurity and AI through hands-on labs and projects. Hosted by SJSU's cybersecurity and AI departments.
SJSU Cybersecurity Summer Camp
San José State University week-long camp covering Linux commands, network security, threat detection, and ethical hacking. Collaboration among SJSU engineering and information programs.
Space Grand Challenge (California Cybersecurity Institute)
Gamified satellite cybersecurity competition designed by Cal Poly for middle and high schoolers. Features space-themed challenges in a Unity WebGL platform.
Stanford AI4ALL
Free 2-week virtual AI program for rising 10th graders focused on increasing diversity in AI. Covers machine learning, ethics, and hands-on projects.
Stanford Applied Cyber Summer Workshops
Stanford's cybersecurity club hosts workshops covering practical skills in analyzing, exploiting, and defending computer systems. Open to Silicon Valley high school students.
Stanford Computer Science Academy (SCSA)
Multi-week online CS courses taught by Stanford students covering Python, Java, web development, and data structures.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes - Computer Science
Intensive summer program with computer science courses in AI, data science, cybersecurity, and web development taught by Stanford instructors.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes – Introduction to Natural Language Processing
An online Stanford Pre-Collegiate course for students in grades 10-11 that teaches Python and the Hugging Face Transformers library to apply pretrained language models, covering how GPT-style systems are trained and issues of bias and data quality in NLP.
SUMMET – Summer Mines Engineering and Training
Free residential program at Colorado School of Mines for rising high school seniors who are prospective first-generation college students, providing a college-life preview through engineering, science, and technology workshops on the Mines campus in Golden, Colorado.
Swift Student Challenge (Apple)
Apple's annual challenge for students to showcase creativity and coding capabilities through app playgrounds built with Swift.
Tech companies - High School Intern Programs
Companies like Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon offer select high school internship programs. Extremely competitive but provide real-world software engineering experience.
Technovation Girls Challenge
Global technology entrepreneurship competition where girls and non-binary students build mobile apps to solve community problems using coding and app development skills.
The Godwin Ogbeide Scholarship Foundation
Scholarship for Black HS seniors pursuing STEM, requiring academic achievement, community involvement, and commitment to STEM in college.
TryHackMe
Gamified cybersecurity learning platform with hands-on labs and challenges. Learn penetration testing, web exploitation, and network security through interactive rooms.
TSA Board Game Design
A Technology Student Association high school competitive event in which participants develop, build, and package an original board game with instructions, pieces, and cards, then demonstrate and explain their design process to judges in a semifinal interview round.
U.S. Cyber Challenge (Cyber Quests & Camps)
A national STEM initiative to identify cyber talent. High school students compete in Cyber Quests (online CTF-style rounds) to qualify for free week-long Cyber Camps at federal cyber centers. Camps include lodging and are by invitation.
UC Berkeley ATDP - CS Courses
Summer academic program offering computer science courses including Python, web design, data science, and computer programming on the Berkeley campus.
UC Berkeley Cybersecurity Clinic Summer Intensive
Advanced program for high school students covering network security, cryptography, ethical hacking, and hands-on labs with Berkeley mentors.
UCLA Game Lab High School Summer Institute
A UCLA Summer Institute where students ages 15-18 approach game-making as a form of artistic and technical practice, culminating in original playable games. Offered in both virtual and residential formats, with participants earning UC college credit.
Under the Hood: A Data Science & AI Experience (University of Minnesota)
A two-tiered summer program at the University of Minnesota for rising 11th and 12th graders that teaches Python fundamentals and predictive modeling in its beginner week and neural networks, computer vision, and generative AI with PyTorch in its advanced week.
University of San Diego GenCyber Summer Camp
A free GenCyber-funded day camp at USD (San Diego, July 25–29, 2025) for incoming 10th–12th graders. Campers learn cybersecurity basics including network security and cryptography through lectures and labs. Also open to STEM teachers.
US Cyber Challenge - Cyber Quests
Online cybersecurity competition serving as a qualifier for virtual Cyber Camps. Challenges include forensic analysis, packet capture analysis, and vulnerability assessment.
US Cyber Challenge Cyber Quests
Online qualifier for virtual Cyber Camps. Challenges include forensic analysis, packet capture analysis, and vulnerability assessment. Pathway to summer camps and scholarships.
USA Bebras Computing Challenge
A free, low-stakes national computational thinking competition where students in grades 5-12 solve short informatics puzzles in a 45-minute online session, designed to build interest in computer science regardless of prior coding experience.
USA Computing Olympiad (USACO)
The most prestigious algorithmic programming competition in the U.S., serving as the pathway to the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). Four divisions (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) allow students to progress based on performance.
USF High School CyberCon
A week-long summer cybersecurity camp held in Tampa at University of South Florida. Teens attend workshops and panels by USF faculty and industry (FBI, Cisco) with hands-on labs in networks, vulnerabilities, and OS. Features an ongoing Capture-The-Flag contest among campers.
VEX V5 Robotics Competition (VRC - HS Division)
Largest global competitive robotics program for middle and high school students. Teams design and build V5 robots for a yearly game with extensive competition opportunities.
Zero Robotics
MIT/NASA competition where students program SPHERES/Astrobee satellites aboard the International Space Station using C-like programming.
Zero Robotics High School Program (Astrobee on ISS)
Robotics programming competition using real robots aboard the International Space Station, focused on autonomous behavior. Extremely strong prestige.
ECFinder provides links to outside extracurricular opportunities for informational purposes only. Students and families should research each program before applying. ECFinder does not operate or control the listed organizations and is not responsible for their actions or policies.