If you are a high school student interested in finance, then a summer program in the field is worth considering!
Finance is a broad field and a crucial part of not just businesses, but every organization. It covers subjects like investment, risk management, accounting, banking, and more. A finance program can help you explore money management and learn about concepts like investing, saving, borrowing, lending, and budgeting money. Additionally, certain finance programs cover the fundamentals of stockbroking, global money markets, financial planning, personal finance, and corporate finance.
Besides learning about finance and related concepts, you may get to work on assignments that will give you hands-on experience in the field by participating in a finance program. You may be able to acquire key professional skills like teamwork, problem-solving, and financial literacy. The experience can also be an opportunity to explore your interests before committing to a college degree.
To help you get started, here we have listed 12 summer finance programs for high school students:
1. Horizon Academic Research Program (HARP) - Finance Track
Subject areas: Multidisciplinary—organizational behavior, theoretical mathematics, and behavioral economics, among many other subjects
Location: Virtual
Cost: There is a fee. You can get the exact cost by raising an interest form here.
Eligibility: High school students with good academic standing (at least 3.67/4.0 GPA) can apply. Most accepted students are 10th/11th graders! Only a couple of tracks require formal prerequisites, more details of which can be found here.
Application deadline: May 21, 2024, for the summer cohort
Program dates:
- The summer session runs from June 24, 2024–September 2, 2024
- Horizon lab dates are flexible, but you must apply 4 weeks in advance.
Horizon Academic offers trimester-long research programs for high school students. If selected, you can choose from subject areas such as behavioral economics, network science, organizational behavior, and more! It is one of the very few research programs for high school students that offers a choice between quantitative and qualitative research.
Once you select a subject track, you will be paired with a professor or PhD scholar (from a top university) who will be your mentor throughout your research journey. You will work on a 20-page university-level research paper that you can send to prestigious journals for publication. If you choose behavioral economics, you can work on topics formulating an investment strategy that avoids losses due to biases in decision-making.
This program is an opportunity to explore highly specialized fields in great detail under the guidance of a top scholar. The program also provides a letter of recommendation for each student, as well as detailed project feedback that you can use to work on future projects and college applications. You can find out more about the program and apply on the official page here!
Subject areas: Investing, banking, personal finance, economics, financial markets
Location: University of California, Los Angeles campus
Cost: $2,947
Eligibility: High school students who can commute to the program site can apply.
Application deadline: Applications typically close in June.
Program dates: The program typically runs for three weeks from June to July.
UCLA’s Summer Institutes are designed to cover a subject area in detail and offer high schoolers some hands-on experience in the field. Their Introduction to Investments Summer Institute is a three-week commuter program covering the fundamentals of financial markets, personal finance, and investing landscape. As a participant, you will attend lectures, participate in class discussions, and work on assignments that will help you develop financial literacy and a personal financial plan. The program will also cover financial crises, the structure of US and global financial markets, efficient market hypothesis, and risk versus reward.
Other key concepts covered are investment styles, valuation techniques, simple quantitative analysis, the power of compound interest, private equity, venture capital, start-ups, personal financial advisors, and more. The program will end with a final exam. You will also get a letter grade based on your exam results, homework assignments, and class participation. Finally, the program also covers careers in finance and investing, helping you plan your academic and professional paths.
Subject areas: Personal finance, corporate finance, equities investing
Location: The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania campus, Philadelphia, PA
Cost: $7,599—includes program fees, accommodation, and meals
Eligibility: Students in grades 9–11 can apply.
Application deadline: Applications typically close in April, but the priority deadline is in January.
Program dates: The two-week program typically has multiple sessions in the June–August period, letting applicants choose dates that work for them.
The Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania’s business school, organizes the Global Youth Program each year inviting high school students to explore business and related fields. It covers the fundamentals of finance and goes beyond the stock market, exploring investment avenues like venture capital. Some of the key concepts the program covers are personal finance, corporate finance, fixed income, equities and impact investing, risk and the cost of capital, capital structure, and valuation models. During lectures, you will explore the real-world application of these concepts.
You will also get to interact with university lecturers and PhD students and attend attend Wharton Global Youth Speaker Series, which features presentations by Wharton faculty. Also part of the program experience is hands-on group work on an analysis project. At the end of the program, you will receive a Wharton Global Youth Program Certificate of Completion.
Subject areas: Personal finance, economics, investing (including equity and cryptocurrency), and risk management
Location: Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, New York, NY
Cost: $1,100 (housing is not provided or covered by the program) | Financial aid is available.
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10–12 can apply.
Application deadline: Applications typically open in January and close at the beginning of April.
Program dates: The one-week program typically runs in the June–July period.
Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business holds Summer Business Programs each year, of which the Finance Institute: Wall Street in the Classroom is a one-week opportunity to explore the basics of finance. In addition to attending lectures held by university faculty, you will get to interact with guest speakers who are finance professionals and university alumni. During the program, you will explore concepts like economics, the time value of money, financial markets, personal finance, and investment basics, including stocks, bonds, monetary policy, and hedge funds. Investing fundamentals like risk management, cryptocurrency, and management theory are also covered under the program.
This program might be worth considering if you are trying to learn about finance as a field and determine if it is something you want to pursue in college.
Bonus: If interested in learning about the global financial markets and trade, you can consider applying to Fordham University’s Global Finance Program. This is a hybrid program, and you can choose between in-person and virtual formats.
Subject areas: Personal and global finance, macroeconomics, investment
Location: University of California, Irvine campus, CA
Cost: $1,295
Eligibility: All high school students can apply.
Application deadline: TBA
Program dates: The week-long program usually runs in July.
The Investments, Financial Planning & You (IFPY) is a one-week program organized by Todd and Lisa Halbrook Center for Investment and Wealth Management at UCI Paul Merage School of Business. The program covers the basics of wealth development through macroeconomics and the international financial system, and analysis of investment options like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs. You will learn about these key concepts in finance through case studies, group projects, online simulations, and presentations by industry professionals and university faculty. You will also create investing portfolios and perform backtesting—a common method used by investors to see how well a strategy or model performed in the past. Also part of the program experience is a capstone project, for which you will work on a personal wealth management plan and get started on a long-term financial strategy.
You will also get to explore careers in finance and learn about personal financial planning, which can help you develop money management skills and financial literacy before you start managing your finances.
Subject areas: Courses are available across disciplines, including finance, business, economics, and investing
Location: Virtual
Cost: Starts at $2,700
Eligibility: All high school students can apply.
Application deadline: TBA
Program dates: One- to two-week sessions typically held between June and August
Columbia University offers multiple pre-college programs, of which the Online Summer Program is worth considering for those who do not live near the university campus and still want to explore their interests before committing to a college degree. The Online Summer Program has an extensive course list, from which you can choose relevant courses like “Introduction to Business, Finance, and Economics,” “Introduction to Corporate Finance,” or “Introduction to Finance & Investment Management.” These courses cover the basics of stocks, bonds, and stock markets as well as valuation models of investments, firms, and securities. You will also explore the best investment strategies, sources of risk, and the mechanics and history of financial markets. The Introduction to Finance & Investment course, in particular, involves hands-on work, including developing investment strategies and portfolios. Through this experience, you will have a better understanding of how financial markets work and how corporations make and fund business decisions.
Subject areas: Financial technology (including AI), macroeconomics, investment (including cryptocurrency)
Location: Online, hybrid, and in-person options are available. The program site for commuters and residential participants is Bentley University campus in Waltham, MA
Cost: $1,490 for the online format | $2,250 for the commuter program | $3,180 for the residential format
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors can apply. Check the detailed eligibility criteria here before applying.
Application deadline: Applications typically close in June.
Program dates: One- to five-week sessions are held in the June–July period.
Bentley University’s Wall Street 101 Program is meant for students interested in learning about key concepts like global finance and investing, including stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The program curriculum has five week-long courses, covering concepts like macroeconomics, valuation of securities, investment and trading strategies, and financial technology concepts, to help students enhance financial literacy. Check out the detailed course description here before applying. These concepts are covered through college-level classes led by university faculty, interactive simulations, and presentations by Wall Street professionals. You get some hands-on experience with industry-standard databases (Bloomberg, FactSet, and the Financial Trading System), work on stock pitches, assess investment strategies, and explore the use of FinTech and AI. A highlight here is getting to work in the Trading Room, which has a trading floor and business suite. Here, you will get firsthand exposure to concepts like trading, portfolio construction, corporate finance, and risk management.
You will also learn about financial analysis and the relationship between macroeconomics and capital markets. The program also involves group work, helping you develop key skills like leadership, presentation, and collaboration.
Subject areas: Investment
Location: Wake Forest University campus, Winston-Salem, NC
Cost: $2,800 | Financial aid is available.
Eligibility: High school students are eligible.
Application deadline: None. Applications open in November and are accepted on a rolling basis till the program is full.
Program dates: Week-long sessions typically held in June
The Finance and Investing Institute is part of Wake Forest University’s Summer Immersion program. Here, students get to learn how investing works by exploring concepts like stocks, bonds, mutual funds/exchange-traded funds, and investing strategies. The program also introduces students to topics like market analysis, benefits and risks of investing, financial statement analysis, power of compounding, and the time value of money.
The program is structured to let students get some hands-on experience. For instance, as a participant, you get to visit financial institutions and trading floors, learn from university faculty and financial leaders, and create your portfolio. You also get to participate in a mock investment competition pitch prospective investments, and develop public speaking skills and financial literacy.
Subject areas: Finance and accounting
Location: Various KPMG locations in the country.
Cost: None. Students are offered a stipend of $20–$25 an hour
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors who can commute to a local KPMG office are eligible.
Application deadline: None
Program dates: The program consists of three-week internships that typically run in the summer between July and August.
KPMG is one of the Big Four accounting firms in the world. Its Empower High School Experience is a three-week paid internship meant to introduce high school students to careers in accounting and the services that KPMG provides. During the program, you may get to develop a better understanding of fundamental accounting principles, auditing practices, tax concepts, and financial advisory services, building a foundation for a career in finance and accounting. You will also work in teams, develop problem-solving skills, and enhance your critical thinking abilities.
As an Empower intern, you will work in a professional setting and get to work on skills like collaboration, leadership, and communication. The program is also a solid way to interact with professionals in the field and work with KPMG staff, who also act as mentors.
Subject areas: Banking, investment, global and personal finance
Location: New York City
Cost: Starting at $3,399 plus airfare
Eligibility: High school students can apply.
Application deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Program dates: The one- to two-week program typically runs in July.
The New York Institute of Finance (NYIF) was founded by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1922. It offers financial training certification and other educational programs like the Wall Street Stock Market and Investment Experience. Its goal is to provide high schoolers with the know-how and skills needed to pursue a degree in business or finance. As a participant, you will learn about Wall Street, the financial quotient, the global financial system, private equity, venture capital, commercial banking and credit, and business and finance ethics. You will also explore the role of tech in finance, cryptocurrency, blockchain, wealth management, portfolio creation, financial statement analysis, and hedge funds. Also part of the program is a communication skills workshop, which can help you in the future if you decide to pursue a career in finance.
Additionally, you will participate in a group project competition each week. Here, you might have to work on tasks like creating a pitch to raise money, coming up with ideas to make a business sustainable, and taking on the role of an equity analyst to select stocks for a winning portfolio. This can help you get some solid hands-on experience and understand key finance concepts better.
Subject areas: Business, finance, marketing, communication
Location: Warner Bros. Discovery Studios, Burbank, CA
Cost/Stipend: No cost. A $5,000 scholarship will be paid directly to the college/university of the recipient.
Eligibility: Graduating high school seniors in Burbank or LA County with a minimum GPA of 3.0 who are planning to attend an accredited college or university can apply.
- Be passionate about a career in the business of media and entertainment
- Have effective verbal and written communication skills
Application deadline: TBA
Program dates: TBA
The Warner Bros. Discovery Reach Honorship Program awards internship-scholarship packages to eligible students interested in the business of media. To get some hands-on work experience in financial management involved in the entertainment industry, you can choose the Business Honorship Track while applying. Here, you will have access to finance, marketing, communications, and other corporate and administrative roles in the entertainment industry. In the past, program participants have been awarded internships where they could explore the basics of accounting, finance, business ethics, and economics. Check out participant experiences here to know what to expect from the experience. The program also offers professional support and mentorship to enhance your college readiness.
Subject areas: Investment, financial technology, finance
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,795 | Financial aid is available.
Eligibility: Anyone over the age of 13 can apply.
Application deadline: Varies as per the session
Program dates: Multiple 1–4-week sessions are offered throughout the year.
This is an online pre-college program offered by Georgetown University. It is meant for students interested in exploring the field of finance and investing, building their portfolios, and learning about asset valuation. The program involves 20 to 30 hours of instruction and coursework, consisting of video lessons, simulations, and assignments for which you will receive guidance from your mentors. This experience can also help you learn about wealth creation and management, FinTech and the future of finance, stock trading, and the working mechanism of financial markets. You will also work on a capstone project, in which, you will analyze a public company and determine its potential for investors. Here, you will assess the returns and risks for investors, the valuation of the company, and future opportunities for the company.
David Wilkinson is a freelance writer for Horizon and currently resides in the United States.