Writing Programs for High School Students
EC Finder currently lists 64 writing programs for high school students. Of these, 43 are free to participate in and 46 offer virtual participation. Examples include 9th Circuit Civics Contest, Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program, and Adroit Prizes for Poetry and Prose (The Adroit Journal).
- 64
- listed
- 43
- free
- 46
- virtual
- 56
- with a listed deadline
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are writing programs for high school students?
- Writing Programs for High School Students are curated extracurricular listings for high school students interested in writing. 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.
- When are the application deadlines?
- 56 of the 64 programs listed here have a specific deadline month noted. Deadlines vary by program, so check each listing for exact dates.
- Are any of these programs free?
- Yes — 43 of the 64 programs listed here are free to participate in.
- Can I participate virtually?
- Yes — 46 of the 64 programs listed here offer virtual or online participation.
- Are writing programs good for a college application?
- Yes — writing programs are a common way for high schoolers to show sustained interest and initiative in writing on college applications.
Related Categories
64 activities found·Browse by category
9th Circuit Civics Contest
Essay or video contest on "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness," analyzing one core right historically and today.
Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program
An online mentorship pairing high school writers with established authors for individualized feedback on poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction over several weeks each summer, run by the editors of The Adroit Journal.
Adroit Prizes for Poetry and Prose (The Adroit Journal)
Highly selective prizes in poetry and prose for secondary and undergraduate students; winners are published in The Adroit Journal.
AFSA National High School Essay Contest
An annual essay competition co-sponsored by the American Foreign Service Association and the U.S. Institute of Peace that asks high schoolers to write about diplomacy's role in resolving conflict, with a top prize including a Semester at Sea scholarship.
Ayn Rand Institute Essay Contests (Anthem, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged)
Annual international essay contests in which middle and high school students read one of Ayn Rand's novels and write an analytical essay on its themes and characters, with top prizes up to $25,000.
Bennington Young Writers Awards
Prestigious competition from Bennington College with categories in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction; winners/finalists often receive big scholarships if they attend Bennington.
Bread Loaf Young Writers' Conference (Middlebury)
A week-long residential creative writing conference on Middlebury College's Bread Loaf campus in Vermont for students in grades 10-12, featuring small workshops, craft lectures, and readings led by professional writers.
CHSAA Speech & Debate State Championships
Colorado High School Activities Association's annual state speech and debate tournaments (3A, 4A, 5A) covering Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Congressional Debate, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, Extemporaneous, Interpretation events, and more. Compete for a state title via your high school's team.
Cleaver Magazine Editorial Internship
A literary magazine internship in which student editors read and vote on fiction, poetry, and nonfiction submissions, help proofread issues before publication, and write a book review, working 5-10 hours per week.
Columbia University Creative Writing Workshop (Pre-College)
A summer pre-college workshop where high schoolers develop a portfolio of free-verse poetry, short prose, and creative nonfiction through daily craft exercises and peer critique on Columbia's campus.
EmersonWRITES
A free creative writing workshop run by Emerson College for students in grades 8-12 from the Boston area, meeting each fall on campus and online to develop original fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award
One of the world's most prestigious poetry competitions for writers aged 11-17, run by the UK's Poetry Society, offering free entry, publication, and mentoring opportunities to top winners and commended poets worldwide.
Free Expression Essay Competition (PEN America)
An annual essay competition from PEN America in which high school students ages 15-17 write 1,000-word essays on threats to free expression in the U.S. or abroad, with top entries winning cash prizes.
Girls Write Now
A New York City nonprofit that pairs high school girls and gender-expansive youth from underserved communities with professional women writers for a year of one-on-one mentorship, culminating in a published anthology.
Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition (HCGEC)
International essay contest organized with The Harvard Crimson, with multiple prompts and a focus on critical/creative thinking and writing.
Interlochen Arts Camp - Creative Writing
A summer residential writing program at Interlochen Center for the Arts where high schoolers spend one to three weeks focusing intensively on two genres such as fiction, poetry, novel writing, or comics, based at the dedicated Writing House.
International High School Writing Contest
Global analytical and creative writing competition with categories like short story, flash fiction, poetry, critical essay, and dramatic script; no entry fees.
Iowa Young Writers' Studio
A highly selective two-week residential creative writing program at the University of Iowa's Magid Center where high schoolers workshop fiction, poetry, or multi-genre writing under instructors from the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
JASNA Essay Contest
An annual international essay contest from the Jane Austen Society of North America in which high school students write a scholarly essay on an assigned aspect of Austen's novels, with a $1,000 scholarship for the top entry in each division.
JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention
The nation's largest gathering of scholastic journalists, held twice yearly by the Journalism Education Association and National Scholastic Press Association, featuring hands-on workshops plus on-site student media contests across newspaper, broadcast, and yearbook.
John Estey Student Writing Competition (American Writers Museum)
Essay/narrative competition on topics related to American writers, literature, or culture, run by the American Writers Museum.
John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest
An annual essay contest from the JFK Library Foundation asking U.S. high schoolers to research and analyze an act of political courage by an elected official who served in or after 1917, with a $10,000 top prize.
John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize
Analytical essay contest with prompts in philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology, and law; judged for argumentation and writing quality.
Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop
An intensive two-week residential summer workshop at Kenyon College where talented high school writers develop craft across fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction through daily exercises and small-group critique.
LA Times High School Insider
A Los Angeles Times journalism platform where high school students nationwide can publish news, opinion, and feature writing under the Times banner and receive editorial feedback to develop their craft.
Lighthouse Young Authors Collective
Free weekly writers' group for teens at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver where students exchange written pieces and give and receive feedback. Drop-in academic support and writing groups are also available year-round, with a special focus on LGBTQIA+ teens and young people of color.
Marin Poetry Center High School Poetry Contest
Annual poetry contest open to any high school student in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, with winning poems published in an anthology and honored at a public awards reading.
Morristown Festival of Books Teen Writing Contest
Festival‑associated contest celebrating teen writing; winners are recognized at the Morristown Festival of Books.
Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest (Hollins University)
Poetry contest for high‑school girls; winners receive cash, publication in Cargoes, and scholarship opportunities at Hollins.
National High School Mock Trial Championship
Annual national mock trial tournament; only the winning team from each state, territory, or country qualifies. 2026 nationals: May 7-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. To compete, students join their state's mock trial program through their high school team and win at the state level.
NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing
A national program from the National Council of Teachers of English, established in 1957, that recognizes outstanding high school sophomore and junior writers who are nominated by their teachers and respond to an annual national prompt.
NewPages Young Writers Guide to Contests
Curates "legit" contests for youth; includes many teen‑specific poetry and prose competitions.
Norm Strung Student Writing Contest (OWAA)
Outdoor/nature writing prose contest for students; HS division focuses on 500–1,000‑word pieces about the outdoors.
NSDA National Speech & Debate Tournament
Largest academic competition in the world, organized by the National Speech & Debate Association. 2026 tournament held in June in Richmond, Virginia (Altria Theater, Greater Richmond Convention Center, area high schools). To compete, students must be NSDA members with at least 25 honor-society points and qualify through district tournaments.
One Teen Story Contest
Short story contest for teen writers; winner is published in One Teen Story and receives a cash prize.
PlayGround Young Playwrights Project
Bay Area playwriting contest and mentorship program for high school students across all nine Bay Area counties, with winning short plays given professional staged readings at Potrero Stage in San Francisco.
Poets & Writers – Contests Database (Teen‑Accessible)
While not just for teens, Poets & Writers' contest database includes some competitions open to high schoolers (e.g., youth categories, general contests that accept under‑18 with permission).
Polyphony Lit
An international, student-run literary magazine in which high schoolers can submit poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction for publication, or apply to join the editorial board that trains teens to review and select peer submissions.
Princeton Summer Journalism Program (PSJP)
Year-long fully-funded college-prep and journalism program for high school juniors from limited-income backgrounds, run out of Princeton's Emma Bloomberg Center. Includes a multi-week hybrid summer intensive (online plus about 10 days residential at Princeton in late July to early August), tours of the New York Times, Bloomberg, and Huffington Post, sports and arts coverage, and a published student newspaper. All costs (including travel, housing, meals, and equipment) covered.
Project Write Now – Teen Internship Program
Project Write Now's teen internship places high-school students in a writing center where they help run programs, support classes, and develop their own creative and community writing projects.
QuestBridge National College Match
Free college-application program for high-achieving high school seniors from low-income backgrounds. Finalists are matched with full four-year scholarships to one of 50+ partner colleges (including Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Yale). Application due September 30 of senior year.
Quill and Scroll International Writing, Visual and Multimedia Contest
An annual scholastic journalism contest, run by the International Honor Society for High School Journalists, where students submit news, feature, editorial, sports, and photography work across a dozen categories for national recognition.
Reed Magazine Emerging Voices Contest
Creative writing and art contest exclusively for Santa Clara County, California high school students, with winners published in San Jose State University's Reed Magazine.
River of Words Poetry & Art Contest (Teen Category)
Global contest on nature and watersheds; strong way to blend environmental themes with poetry.
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Flagship U.S. teen contest with categories in poetry, fiction, personal essay, journalism, drama, etc.; national medals and scholarships are a major flex.
Secondary School Program - Literature Courses (Harvard Summer School)
A 4- or 7-week Harvard Summer School program offering college-credit literature courses such as Beginning Fiction, Introduction to Film, and Popular Culture and Social Theory, taught by Harvard faculty for motivated high schoolers on campus, online, or by commuting.
Sewanee Young Writers' Conference
A two-week summer conference at the University of the South where roughly 85 high school writers take small workshops in poetry, fiction, playwriting, or creative nonfiction alongside faculty from the adult Sewanee Writers' Conference.
Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest
An annual essay contest from Penguin Random House open to high school juniors and seniors, who write on a themed prompt tied to a classic novel for a chance at a $1,000 scholarship and a library of Signet Classics for their school.
Stanford National Forensic Institute (SNFI)
A summer speech and debate training program run by the Stanford Debate Society, offering camps in policy debate, forensics, and public speaking for middle and high school competitors.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes - Creative Writing & Literature
A two-week, fully online Stanford summer program offering intensive single-subject courses in creative writing and literature for academically advanced students in grades 8-11.
Stossel in the Classroom Essay Contest
Libertarian-leaning economics/policy essay contest on videos/topics by John Stossel; strong for persuasive writing at the econ/policy intersection.
Student Poetry Award (Poetry Society of America)
An annual national award, endowed under the Whitbread and Bourne bequests, for the best unpublished poem submitted by a student in grades 9-12, judged anonymously by the Poetry Society of America.
Student Writing Contest (The National WWII Museum)
An annual national essay contest from The National WWII Museum open to U.S. students in grades 7-12, who submit a 500-750 word essay on an assigned WWII-era topic using at least five sources, judged separately in Junior (7-9) and Senior (10-12) divisions.
Telluride Association Summer Seminar (TASS)
Free, fully-funded summer humanities seminar for high school sophomores and juniors hosted by the Telluride Association. Two tracks: TASS-CBS (Critical Black Studies) and TASS-AOS (Anti-Oppressive Studies). About five weeks of intensive seminars with college instructors plus democratic community life. All tuition, books, room, board, and field trips covered.
The Concord Review
Quarterly academic journal that publishes the best high school history research papers in the world (4,000-6,000 word essays). Rolling submissions across four issue deadlines: August 1 (Winter), November 1 (Spring), February 1 (Summer), May 1 (Fall). Acceptance is highly selective.
VFW Voice of Democracy
A nationwide audio-essay scholarship competition sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars since 1947, in which high schoolers record a 3-5 minute essay on an annual patriotic theme for a share of over $1.6 million in scholarships.
World Historian Student Essay Competition (World History Association)
An international essay competition from the World History Association open to students in grades K-12, who submit an approximately 1,000-word original essay on an assigned world history theme for a chance at a $500 cash prize and a one-year WHA membership.
WriteGirl
A free, year-round creative writing and mentoring organization for teen girls and gender-expansive youth, offering online and in-person workshops, one-on-one mentoring with professional writers, and publishing opportunities open to participants nationwide.
Writers Week (Sarah Lawrence College)
A one-week residential or virtual summer program at Sarah Lawrence College in which high school students take daily creative writing and performance workshops taught by MFA candidates and faculty, earning one transferable college credit.
Writing and Literature Track - NextGen Leadership Institute (Barnard College)
A three-week New York City summer institute in which students take a faculty-led seminar pairing close reading and literary criticism with craft work in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, journalism, or drama, alongside weekly leadership workshops.
Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP) - GrubStreet
A Boston-area creative writing organization's teen program offering free Saturday writing sessions, seasonal writing classes, and a paid three-week Summer Teen Writing Fellowship in which teens work with published authors and receive an $800 stipend.
Young Writers Workshop (Unterberg Poetry Center, 92NY)
A summer creative writing workshop for students in grades 10-12 hosted by the 92nd Street Y's Unterberg Poetry Center in New York City, pairing writing instruction with access to the Center's renowned author reading series.
YoungArts National Arts Competition – Writing
National program with categories like fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, plays/scripts, and spoken word; winners join the YoungArts network and may be nominated for U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts.
Youth Communication - YCteen Magazine
A New York City nonprofit youth media organization where teen writers receive paid work experience and mentorship from professional editors as they turn personal experience into published stories for YCteen magazine.
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.