20 Business Internships for High School Students in 2025
- Estelle Reardon
- Jun 2
- 10 min read
Updated: Jun 12
Topics We Cover:
Why Do Internships in High School?
How to Find Business Internships for High School Students
20 Business Internships for High School Students
Cold Outreach Strategy for Business High School Internships
Email Template for Finding a High School Internship
High school internships have become increasingly popular in recent years. Whether during the school year or through a summer internship for high schoolers, these opportunities help students gain real-world experience, develop valuable skills, and explore potential career paths.
Why Do Internships in High School?
Before jumping into a long list of business internships for high school students, it is important to understand why these opportunities could matter for your future. According to consultancy PRISM, 70% of students attending a US News Top 50 University have completed at least one internship while in high school. These opportunities serve as a way to distinguish yourself in the admissions process by showing that you have gone out and verified your future goals through experience.
High school internships help you enter college with a clearer idea of the professional environments you enjoy or don’t enjoy, which makes it easier for you to pursue a job you love after graduation. Students who have completed at least one internship in high school also typically have an easier time securing college internships and pre-professional organizations, such as finance or pre-law clubs.
How to Find Business Internships for High School Students
Are you wondering, where I can find high school internships near me? The best way to find official programs to apply to is through online search tools and lists. The StandOutSearch database provides the largest free resource that lists almost every internship program for the high school age group and allows you to search by interest area. MIT Admissions also provides a helpful list of High School Internships, as does the CollegeVine blog.
However, official programs tend to be very competitive, so if you are serious about finding a business internship for high school students, you should also prepare a cold outreach strategy. You can learn more about how to form a cold outreach strategy to find a business high school internship at the end of this article. We also include email templates to make finding an internship through cold outreach less daunting.
20 Business Internships for High School Students
Most of the high school business internship opportunities below have an acceptance rate of 20% or lower, given that there are many more high school students looking for internships than official programs that provide them. We recommend choosing at least five opportunities to apply to. If you see an opportunity that excites you, take a moment to write the deadline on your calendar!
Ages: 15-19
Location: Virtual
Timeline: Summer, Spring, Fall, or Winter
Deadline: Various Deadlines
StandOut Connect is a program that helps match gifted high school students with online internships in their industry of interest. Potential sectors include finance, STEM, medicine, law, arts, and more. StandOut Connect is funded by StandOutSearch, the largest free database for high school internships. The program has been featured in Forbes and was created with the help of investment from the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Ages: 16-18
Location: Locations Across the US
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: January 15
This eight-week paid summer internship for high school students places you at a local nonprofit organization where you’ll learn first-hand about the needs of your community and the critical role nonprofits play. In addition, you will develop valuable civic, social, and business leadership skills. Each Student Leader will attend the Student Leaders Summit held in Washington, D.C., where you’ll learn how government, business, and the nonprofit sector work together to address critical community needs.
Ages: 15-16
Location: Menlo Park, California
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: February 14
Externs of Meta Summer Academy (also known as Facebook Summer Academy or the Facebook High School Internship) have the opportunity to learn about the day-to-day operations of one of the world’s leading social media networks by being part of a dynamic workforce. Applicants must be sophomores in high school and full-year residents of either East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, North Fair Oaks, or Redwood City. Check out our Definitive Guide to the Facebook High School Internship to learn more about this fantastic summer internship for high school students.
The Microsoft Discovery Program is another excellent summer internship opportunity for students interested in a tech career.
Ages: 17-18
Location: Locations Across the US
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Early January
Whether you’re interested in being a producer, a journalist, a web developer, an engineer, a business executive, a PR agent, a sales representative, or any other career in media or tech, the EBF Internship is here to help you get your start. If selected, you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in these organizations so you can learn, grow, and put yourself on the fast track to career success.
Ages: 13-18
Location: New York City, New York
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
BALI believes that all youth, including female-identifying and gender expansive-youth, are destined for greatness. This summer leadership program’s mission is to inspire them to become effective, dynamic, and visionary 21st-century leaders as well as active and creative participants in civic, political, corporate, and community life. The program provides the skill set and the social-emotional learning needed by the current generation of young women to gain the knowledge and confidence required to become leaders in all circles of life.
Ages: 16-18
Location: Locations Across the US
Timeline: School Year or Summer
Deadline: Various Deadlines
The U.S. Department of State’s Pathways Internship Program includes both the Internship Experience Program (IEP) and the Internship Temporary Program (ITEP). Both programs are targeted toward U.S. citizens enrolled in a wide variety of educational institutions, from high school to graduate school and professional academic levels. Both programs provide students with opportunities to explore Federal careers while being paid for the work performed.
Ages: 16-18
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Rolling
This high school business internship is aimed at juniors and seniors interested in gaining a deeper understanding of fields like finance and entrepreneurship. Interns work for a specialized venture capital firm located about an hour outside of New York City. The position is for a hybrid internship, and the applicant must be able to commute to Princeton, NJ, on a limited basis.
This summer business internship is looking for talented individuals with a strong desire to learn and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Ages: 14-18
Location: San Francisco, California
Timeline: Summer, School Year
Deadline: February 17
The City and County of San Francisco offers various internships and summer programs for high school students through several departments and programs. Internships are open to current high school juniors and seniors, as well as college-bound freshmen. Over the course of the eight-week summer internship, students will work 20 hours a week and are paid $19.25 per hour.
Ages: 15-18
Location: New York
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: January 8
While not exactly a high school business internship, high school students will want to check out the Hk Maker Lab, an intensive six-week summer program concentrated on the foundations of design. Focusing on addressing a health problem, participants design, prototype, and test a biomedical device and develop an associated business plan. The program culminates in a presentation to leading executives from the biomedical community. The Hk Maker Lab projects might then be incubated using the state-of-the-art facilities at Harlem Biospace.
Ages: 15-18
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: February 17
This program provides paid, in-person summer internships for high school students in grades 11 and 12. Interns gain real-world experience at local companies while learning about entrepreneurial thinking and developing soft skills that will benefit them no matter what career path they follow. Interns are expected to work 30 hours a week during the four weeks of the program.
Ages: 16-18
Location: Hartford, Connecticut
Timeline: Summer, School Year
Deadline: Rolling
The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology offers engaging, paid high school internship opportunities available across all departments—engineering, operations, workforce, marketing, and communications. Their summer internship program includes firsthand industry experience, professional development, networking opportunities, and personal growth.
Ages: 14-18
Location: New York City, New York
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: April 15
The Athena Institute—a business internship for high school students in NYC—sees entrepreneurship as a powerful way to build the world we want to inhabit. They take an approach to entrepreneurship that’s creative, collaborative, and conscious of impact on others as well as on ourselves. The Athena Summer Innovation Institute is an intensive, three-week boot camp that provides young women with the practical skills and knowledge essential to developing ideas that will make a difference in the world.
Ages: 14-18
Location: San Francisco, California
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
SF YouthWorks provides job readiness workshops, training, and internships at different SF City Departments like the Public Utilities Commission, the Public Library, and the SF International Airport. Interns are paid a wage of $19.18 per hour and are paired with a city department employee mentor. SFYW provides professional training to equip participants with the skills necessary to enter the workforce and leadership development through their Youth Leadership Team (YLT) program.
Ages: 15-17
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: March 31
CSBI is a summer business internship that pairs students with internships in leading companies in Chicago. Their goal is to supply students with the skills and connections needed to begin their careers as working professionals. Students make connections with industry experts in fields like finance, law, government, and more.
Ages: 15-18
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Timeline: Summer, School Year
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
This is a great opportunity for students looking for business internships in Boston. Today’s Interns, Tomorrow’s Professionals (TIP) is the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s paid work and learning internship program for eligible high school students who have completed their sophomore year in the Boston Public Schools.
The program starts with a developmentally rich summer work experience that includes job coaching and skill-building workshops. Then, based on available openings and individual interest, effort, and performance, some students are selected for an extended year-round internship program that can last up to three years.
Ages: 14-19
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: April 4
This summer internship program provides paid, part-time internships for middle and high school students across San Antonio, helping participants build career opportunities and goals. Family Service partners with a variety of organizations within various industries to pair every person with the right organization for them.
Ages: 15-18
Location: Lebanon, New Hampshire
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: March 12
The High School Foundations Summer Internship program is a highly competitive and rigorous program designed for high school students to gain real-world experience and insights into various careers. Over the course of several weeks during the summer, interns participate in a range of learning opportunities, such as workshops, lectures, and hands-on projects designed to deepen their understanding of fields like business, medicine, law, engineering, and the arts.
Interns work closely with professionals in their areas of interest, participate in team-building activities, and receive mentorship from experienced advisors to guide their personal and professional growth.
Ages: 14-16
Location: New York City, New York
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: April 14, 2025
Accelerate your STEM skills and dive deeper into the science behind urban infrastructure with Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and the Science of Smart Cities (ieSoSC). ieSoSC is a follow-up to the Science of Smart Cities program for middle school students; it is designed for high school students to take their skills in computer science, engineering, and technology to a new level and gain hands-on experience designing prototypes for smart city solutions.
Ages: 14-18
Location: Virginia
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
Although not technically a high school business internship, Youth Congress is an organization that allows teenagers to experience and gain independence and leadership through paid internships. These internships range from office work to assisting in camp programs to helping someone who works in a highly ranked job, such as marketing. The program is a summer-long commitment of 60 hours. Teens will have the option to set their own hours with their mentor.
Ages: 15-18
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
Get Girls Going (GGG) empowers Black teen girls to create social enterprises that solve problems in the world, and in doing so equips them to be leaders who challenge racial and gender inequities that prevent them from success. Get Girls Going runs a six-week summer incubator for Black high school girls who are interested in entrepreneurship, innovation, and change-making.
Cold Outreach Strategy for Business High School Internships
If none of the opportunities listed above are a good fit, the next step to finding a high school business internship is to develop a cold outreach strategy. This might feel intimidating, but the guide below will help simplify the process. As a reminder, always use caution when contacting professionals you don’t know—virtual meetings or interviews are the safest option.
How to Find Companies to Reach Out to for a High School Internship
LinkedIn is a great resource for discovering small businesses that could benefit from your skills, such as social media, accounting, or website design. Smaller companies often need extra help and are more likely to consider hiring high school students. Try to find a personal connection with the person you reach out to, such as being from the same state or sharing a common interest, like a favorite sports team.
How to Structure and Send Outreach Emails
When it comes to securing an internship in high school, the more attempts you make, the better your odds of success. Aim to send at least 50 emails to potential internship providers and make sure to include a link to your resume. High schoolers should limit their resumes to one page.
If you need to create or refine a resume, the University of Chicago provides a helpful free resume template and guide. StandOut Connect recommends including your resume as a Google Drive link—making sure its sharing settings allow anyone with the link to view its contents. Sending a resume as a Word doc or PDF can sometimes negatively impact the deliverability of your email.
Email Template for Finding a High School Internship
If you are unsure how to structure your outreach emails to potential internship providers, here is a basic template you can customize to your needs.
Template for Finding an Internship
Subject: Student Reaching Out
Dear Mr./Ms.____,
I hope you are having a great day! My name is [your name], and I am a rising [grade] at [your school]. I read about your company on LinkedIn and found the concept quite interesting. For context, [briefly state how the company relates to your interests or experience].
I was wondering if you might be looking for interns. I know I would have a great deal to learn from working with you, and I would love to contribute in any way I can. I have included my resume here. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Conclusion
Whether you’re launching a cold outreach strategy or applying to established business internships, high school students need to remember that persistence is key. These coveted opportunities are often challenging to secure, however, most high school students find it worth the effort in the end to get a head start on building their careers.
If you found this article helpful, be sure to save it for later or share it with a friend. Best of luck with your internship search!
