Join us on campus this summer! There are many summer programs at Yale for local middle and high school students in science, art, music, and writing.
This page will continue to be updated as programs finalize dates and application information.
Keep scrolling for Research Internships for High Schoolers and Tuition-based Programs.
Yale Pathways to Science Summer Scholars Program
Program dates: July 7 - 18, 2025
Eligibility: Open to current Yale Pathways to Science Scholars
Applications are sent to Pathways Scholars each January.
The Pathways Summer Scholars program brings 100 high school students from New Haven, West Haven, and Orange public schools to study science for two weeks on Yale’s campus. Summer Scholars provides an intensive, hands-on science curriculum that emphasizes discovery, critical thinking, and problem solving. Rising seniors have the opportunity to live on campus during the program and engage in a variety of college-prep enrichment activities. The curriculum is designed by Yale University faculty, graduate and professional students, as well as teachers from local public schools. Yale students serve a vital role as teaching assistants and mentors.
Yale Pathways to Arts & Humanities Summer Scholars Program
Program dates: July 21 - August 1, 2025
Eligibility: Open to New Haven, West Haven, and Orange (Amity) public high school students
Apply online by April 4. This application requires two teacher recommendations.
Join the Yale community this summer to make and study art, history, and culture! Yale Pathways to Arts & Humanities Summer Scholars Program is a free, two-week academic program for New Haven and West Haven high school students. In Yale’s special collections, museums, and School of Art, you’ll come face to face with historical documents, art from around the world, and new inspiration for your own creativity. Yale faculty and graduate students will offer workshops on a variety of topics, including graphic design, art & protest, painting, sculpture, photography, race & citizenship, ancient languages, and more. The curriculum is designed by Yale University faculty, graduate and professional students, as well as teachers from local public schools. Yale students serve a vital role as teaching assistants and mentors.
Citizens Thinkers Writers
Program dates: July 13 - July 25, 2025
Eligibility: Open to rising juniors and seniors from New Haven public schools
Apply online by March 3. This application requires two teacher/librarian recommendations.
Citizens Thinkers Writers (CTW) is a two-week summer residential program for students from New Haven public schools who are interested in exploring fundamental human questions in a college setting. In seminars led by Yale professors and lecturers, students gain experience in close reading, analytic writing, and college-level discussion. During the program, students participate in a philosophical conversation that dates back to ancient Greece and Rome and link this conversation to their own experiences. After completing the summer program, students become CTW Fellows and continue to meet with the faculty, undergraduate residential teaching assistants, and a graduate coordinator throughout the academic year.
Ulysses S. Grant Program
Program dates: June 23 - July 30, 2025
Eligibility: Open to New Haven public and parochial school students entering grades 6-9
Cost: $75 (Full scholarships available).
Apply online by February 21. This application requires a teacher recommendation.
The Ulysses S. Grant Program is a six-week academic summer program for motivated middle school students from New Haven Public Schools held on the Yale University campus. Since 1953, U.S. Grant has drawn upon the enthusiasm of Yale undergraduates to deepen students’ current interests and explore completely new ones, while developing their critical thinking and collaborative skills.
Music in Schools Initiative Morse Summer Music Academy
Program dates: Check back for 2025 dates
Eligibility: Open to New Haven public school students entering grades 5–11
The application for this program has not opened yet.
The Morse Summer Music Academy is a free music program for intermediate and advanced music students in the band, choir, and/or orchestra programs in New Haven public schools. Over the course of four weeks, students are taught and mentored by a team of music educators from the New Haven public schools and teaching artists from the Yale School of Music. This month-long program offers opportunities for growth in musicianship, technique, and personal achievement.
Yale Summer Debate Program
Program dates: Check back for 2025 dates
Eligibility: Open to middle and high school students
Cost: $599 (Free for all students at New Haven Public Schools and any school with an Urban Debate League; all other students may apply for financial aid)
Fill out this interest form to be notified when applications open.
The Yale Summer Debate Program is Yale’s largest debate program during the summer, an dis open to middle and high school students. Most students are from New Haven and surrounding areas. This five-day program offers students a rigorous, rewarding, and relevant debate experience. YSDP is built on the philosophy that debate is not just an activity, but a set of skills students can use to critically engage with the world, no matter their interests, helping them to become better speakers, students, and, most importantly, thinkers. The program costs can be waived for New Haven public school students who participate in year-round Urban Debate League programming.
Camp Kesem
Program dates: August 2025
Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Camp Kesem is a free, week-long sleepaway camp for kids (age 6 to 18) who are impacted by a parent’s cancer. Run by a dedicated group at Yale University, Camp Kesem provides kids a fun-filled opportunity to connect with others who understand what they are going through. We seek to support our campers through and beyond their parent’s cancer, and create a space where these kids can be kids again while processing their unique life experiences with peers who understand! This year, camp will be at Camp Wah-Nee.
Research Internships for High Schoolers
Yale Pathways Research Internships
(formerly Summer Science Research Institute - SSRI)
Program dates: June 30 - August 15, 2025
Eligibility: Open to current Yale Pathways to Science Scholars
Applications are sent to Pathways Scholars each January.
The Yale Pathways Research Internships (formerly SSRI) connects highly qualified Yale Pathways to Science students with science research internships at Yale. During the summer, students participate in a series of workshops and activities that supplement their internship experiences and enhance their scientific research skills. Students are paired with Yale student mentors, who provide one-on-one-one guidance throughout the six-week internship experience.
Yale Neuroscience Summer Scholars Program
Program dates: June 24 - August 23, 2025
Eligibility: Open to New Haven public school students who reside in New Haven and will be 16 years old by June 24, 2025.
Apply online by February 24. This application requires two STEM teacher recommendations.
Scholars will participate in an eight-week session that includes didactic education, hands-on training in laboratory techniques, and completion of a supervised research project. Scholars will participate in scientific writing workshops and receive instruction on course selection and preparation for future applications to college science programs. They will gain experience in reviewing scientific literature, conducting research in a laboratory, writing research summaries, and presenting research findings.
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YCCI Exposures Program
Program dates: Check back for 2025 dates
Eligibility: Open to high school students in the New Haven area
The application for this program has not opened yet.
The YCCI Clinical and Translational Research Exposures Summer Pilot Internship Program, launched in the summer of 2021, offers a unique opportunity for high school students aged 15 and older, to delve into the fields of healthcare, medicine, and clinical research. This four-week virtual program immerses participants in the world of technology, mobile apps, patient engagement, healthcare disparities, and data science. Under the guidance of renowned scientists, this internship blends coursework, lectures, collaborative projects, and engaging interactions with clinical and research leaders, providing an enriching educational experience.
Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP)
Program dates: Summer 2025
Eligibility: See program website
Apply online by February 28. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Yale’s Program in Physics, Engineering & Biology and the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences will offer research opportunities for high school students in the areas at the interface of physics and biology. The high school student apprentices will develop DEM simulations to investigate the stress history of packings of frictional and non-spherical particles in 3D. The students will learn to use numerical simulations to model geological flows and have significant exposure to scientific programming, the Unix environment, and running large-scale simulations on high performance computation clusters. Apprentices will gain insight into STEM careers, graduate school applications, and DOD graduate fellowships. We expect that the studetns will be coauthors on a peer-reviewed publication and present their work at an internal summer research symposium and scientific conference. Note - there are also other opportunities at labs across the country.
Discovery to Cure High School Internship Program
Program dates: June 30 - August 8, 2025
Eligibility: Open to rising seniors in high school who are at least 16 years old
Apply by February 14. Student must be nominated by their school to be considered. Speak to your guidance counselor about nominations.
Discovery to Cure exposes students to laboratory research and promotes interest in science and medicine. Rising high school seniors spend six weeks working in a laboratory with a research scientist utilizing research techniques such as gel electrophoresis, RTPCR, and electron microscopy. Since its inception in 2003, more than 260 high school students, undergraduates, and high school teachers have successfully completed the program. Several interns have presented their research work at science fairs and approximately 20% of student interns have published their findings in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Email ruthann.ornstein@yale.edu for more information.
Tuition-based Programs
For tuition-based programs happening on campus, please see the bottom of this Yale Conference and Events page.