If you’re a high school student in New York City and want to explore psychology in-depth, a summer program in the city can be an accessible option! These programs let you work on research projects, analyze data, and build critical thinking, observation, and communication skills.
You can explore clinical psychology, neuroscience, mental health, or human behavior. Some programs pair you with mentors or include lab work, giving you a closer look at how psychology works in practice. These experiences can also help you prepare for future paths in psychology, healthcare, or education.
To help you get started, here is a list of 15 psychology summer programs for high school students in New York City!
15 Psychology Summer Programs for High School Students in NYC
1. Manhattan University’s Psychology Pre-College Camp
Location: Manhattan University, Bronx, NY
Cost: The tuition fee is not listed. There is a $100 registration fee and a $1,800 add-on if you want to live on campus. However, financial aid is available!
Program Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Current high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors
Manhattan College’s Psychology Pre-College Camp lets you explore how the mind works and what psychologists do. You’ll learn about different areas like clinical, developmental, social, sports, and forensic psychology.
You’ll also look at topics like brain science and animal behavior. The program includes lectures and hands-on activities. You can also choose to visit the Empire State Building or see a Broadway show as part of the experience.
2. Columbia University’s Pre-College Programs
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY
Cost: $12,764 for the residential program, $2,830 for a 1-week commuter program, $6,310 for a 3-week commuter program
Program Dates: Varies with each course
Application Deadline: Varies with each course
Eligibility: All rising high school students
Columbia University’s Pre-College Program lets you choose from several courses in social sciences and psychology. If you want to start with the basics, you can take The Science of Psychology to learn about memory, perception, cognitive development, and how the brain supports each of these.
In Psycholinguistics, you’ll explore how language and the mind connect and pick up research methods used in the field. You can also choose Social Psychology to study how people behave in groups and what influences actions like empathy, conformity, prejudice, and bullying.
Other options include animal behavior and childhood development. Courses are offered both online and in person, and some are also available during the fall and spring.
3. Columbia University’s Pre-College Program – Forensic Psychology
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY
Cost: $12,764 for the residential program, $2,830 for a 1-week commuter program, $6,310 for a 3-week commuter program
Program Dates: Session 1 from June 30 – July 18, Session 2 from July 22 – August 8
Application Deadline: Session A from June 30 – July 18, Session B from July 22 – August 8, Session A (online) from July 7-18
Eligibility: All rising high school students
Columbia University’s pre-college program also offers True Crime: Introduction to Forensic Psychology under the Law and Conflict Resolution category. In this course, you’ll learn how forensic psychology connects with criminal investigations.
You’ll study real case studies and news stories to understand psychological principles, research methods, and legal processes. You’ll also explore how experts study the criminal mind. This course works well if you’re interested in psychology, law, social work, or criminal justice.
4. NYU SPS High School Academy – Psychology and the Workplace
Location: NYU, New York, NY
Cost: $50 for the application, $2,579 for the tuition fees, $640 for housing and dining
Program Dates: Four sessions are available. Session 1: June 23-27; Session 2: July 14-18; Session 3: July 21-25; Session 7: August 4-8.
Application Deadline: May 15 for the residential program, June 13 for the commuter program
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9, 10, and 11
The NYU School of Professional Studies High School Academy runs the Career Edge program, which offers one-week summer courses for high school students. One option is Psychology and the Workplace: Social Functions of Emotions.
In this course, you’ll explore how psychology applies to real-life situations, both personal and professional. You’ll learn about the biological roots of behavior and how emotions shape decisions and interactions. The course includes reflective writing, hands-on activities, and guest lectures to help you understand how to use emotional awareness in the workplace.
5. Horizon’s Academic Research Program (HARP) – Psych Track
Location: Online
Cost: $5950. However, financial aid is available
Program Dates: The spring and fall cohorts run 15 weeks, while the summer cohort runs 10 weeks (June-September)
Application Deadline: Multiple deadlines throughout the year for the Spring, Summer, and Fall cohorts. The summer II cohort application deadline is June 22.
Eligibility: High school students with good academic standing (>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.
The Horizon Academic Research Program is an online research opportunity where you work one-on-one with a professor or PhD mentor to complete a 20-page research paper. You choose your topic, build research skills, and learn how to explore questions in depth.
Psychology is one of the available tracks. You can focus on areas like cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, pathology, or data science. Topics include attention, memory, perception, mental health, psychotherapy, and analyzing psychometric data.
Another track lets you study emotion regulation, looking at how emotions are measured, how treatments work, and trends in youth mental health. You can choose to use either qualitative or quantitative methods.
6. Lumiere Research Scholar Program – Psych Track
Location: Remote
Cost: 100% financial aid is available
Program Dates: The summer cohort runs from June to August, the Fall cohort from September to December, the Winter cohort from December to February, Spring cohort from March to June
Application Deadline: Varying deadlines based on cohort. The deadline for Summer Cohort II is June 23
Eligibility: High school students with an unweighted GPA of 3.3 out of 4. No previous knowledge of your field of interest is required!
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program lets you work one-on-one with a PhD mentor over 12 weeks. The program is online and runs several times a year. You meet your mentor weekly, complete research tasks, and finish an independent research paper by the end.
You can choose the Individual Research Program (12 weeks) or the Premium Research Program (15 weeks), which includes a longer paper and extra support. Psychology is one of the subjects you can study. Past students have researched ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, cognitive development, and behavioral neuroscience.
You can publish your work in high school journals, enter competitions like Regeneron STS, and use the experience for college applications. The program accepts students worldwide. Financial aid is available but limited. Apply here.
7. The Rockefeller University’s Summer Neuroscience Program
Location: The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
Cost: Free
Program Dates: August 4-15
Application Deadline: Not specified. Find more details here
Eligibility: High school students who are at least 16 years of age and enrolled in a New York City public school
The Rockefeller University Summer Neuroscience Program is a free, two-week course that gives you hands-on experience in neuroscience. Although it is not a psychology program, neuroscience connects closely with psychology by exploring the biological basis of thoughts and behavior.
You will attend lectures and meet scientists to learn about current research and how the brain works daily. Topics include consciousness, learning, memory, emotions, brain development, and mental illness. You will also visit research labs, design your neuroscience experiment, and take part in a brain dissection.
You can go through a sample schedule of the program here.
8. College Now at CCNY
Location: The City College of New York, New York, NY
Cost: Not specified
Program Dates: June 30 – August 1
Application Deadline: May 10
Eligibility: Public high school students who have attended at least 3 semesters of high school, a minimum major course average of 80, and a score of at least 75 on the English Language Arts. You can go through the prerequisites here.
College Now at The City College of New York lets you take real college classes and earn credits while still in high school. One summer course you can take is Applications of Psychology in the Modern World. In this 3-credit course, you study psychological theories and research, focusing on how they apply to individual and social issues.
You will cover topics like personality, motivation, attraction, aggression, attitudes, behavior, abnormal behavior, and its treatments. You will also write and submit a research paper during the course.
9. Fashion Institute of Technology’s Fashion, Consumers, and Psychology Course
Location: The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
Cost: $430
Program Dates: June 23-26
Application Deadline: Accepted on a rolling basis
Eligibility: All rising high school students
The Fashion Institute of Technology’s pre-college program offers a course that connects fashion and psychology. You will study how trends spread, how colors and styles affect mood and emotions, and how fashion expresses identity, status, and culture. As part of the course, you will create a portfolio of consumer ideas and forecasts. You will also analyze fashion icons, celebrities, and politicians to learn how buyer motivation works.
10. Fordham University’s Intro to Clinical Psychology
Location: Fordham University, Bronx, NY
Cost: $4,758 for the commuter track, $5,885 for the residential track. Need-based discounts are available.
Program Dates: July 6-18
Application Deadline: April 30 for the residential track, May 15 for the commuter track. However, decisions are made on a rolling basis, and it is best to apply early.
Eligibility: Students who have completed at least one year of high school. Preference is given to those with a minimum GPA of 3.0
Fordham University’s Summer Leaders Academy offers the Intro to Clinical Psychology course, a two-week program for high school students. You will learn major approaches to understanding and treating mental illness.
The course covers techniques used to assess, treat, and prevent psychological disorders. It includes lectures, discussions, site visits, and hands-on exercises. You will also explore current debates in clinical psychology and how the field needs to change to serve diverse groups.
11. Fordham University’s Psychology Summer Course
Location: Fordham University, Bronx, NY
Cost: Varies with each course
Program Dates: Varies with each course
Application Deadline: Varies with each course
Eligibility: All high school students
Fordham University’s pre-college program offers several psychology courses for high school students in the summer. You can choose topics like foundations of psychology, social psychology, psychopathology, urban psychology, behavior modification, and cognition. In these courses, you will study the topic in detail, conduct research, and attend demonstrations. You can also earn 3 to 4 college credits. You can go through the course syllabi here.
12. Summer Springboard’s Psychology & Neuroscience Program
Location: Barnard College, New York, NY
Cost: $3,298 for commuters, $5,898 for residents
Program Dates: Session 1 from July 6-18, Session 2 from July 20 – August 1
Application Deadline: May 16
Eligibility: All high school students
Summer Springboard’s psychology and neuroscience program shows you how the mind works and how the brain links to behavior. You will take part in psychology simulations, neurology workshops, and lab visits, and learn from clinical psychologists, neurologists, and researchers.
You will study emotions, personality, and mental illness. For your capstone project, you will create a small psychological theory, run experiments, and present your findings. The program includes hands-on work like experiments and brain dissections. Some students have also seen an fMRI machine in action.
13. Adelphi University’s Pre-College Program – Psychology and Pop Culture
Location: Adelphi University, Garden City, NY
Cost: $50 application fee, $350 program deposit, $5,415 tuition fee for residents, $3,120 tuition fee for commuters
Program Dates: July 13 – August 2
Application Deadline: June 13. Although the applications are accepted on a rolling basis until the program is full
Eligibility: All rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors
Adelphi University’s pre-college summer program lets you explore advanced topics and get help with college prep. One course, Psychology and Pop Culture, shows how psychological ideas apply to music, TV, advertising, social media, and more. You will study cross-cultural communication, creativity, identity development, mental health disorders, and social psychology. The program also offers college credits.
14. Brain Research Apprenticeship in New York at Columbia (BRAINYAC)
Location: Columbia University
Cost: Free. A stipend is provided, but the amount is not specified. Previous cohorts have received $1,000 stipends.
Program Dates: 7 weeks during the summer
Application Deadline: Applications open in October. The deadline has not been specified.
Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors who live in New York City and are enrolled in one of the Zuckerman Institute’s New York City-based partner programs (S-PREP, BioBus, Lang Youth Medical, Columbia Secondary School, or Double Discovery Center).
The Zuckerman Institute’s Brain Research Apprenticeships in New York at Columbia (BRAINYAC) gives you hands-on neuroscience lab experience. The program starts with a spring training where you learn skills like using microscopes, pipetting, coding, dissecting, and handling data.
In summer, you get paid to work on a research project with a Columbia neuroscientist. Past students studied topics like cuttlefish camouflage and how stress affects the brain. If you’re interested in psychology, you can focus on neuroscience’s connection to mental health, trauma, decision-making, or addiction. Your work will end with a research poster and an oral presentation at the program’s final symposium.
15. College Now at Hunter College
Location: Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY
Cost: Free
Program Dates: August 26 – December 22
Application Deadline: July 3
Eligibility: Current 10th and 11th graders who meet the given prerequisites.
College Now is a free program run by the City University of New York (CUNY) and the New York City Department of Education. It lets you take university classes, earn college credit, and join other activities. Right now, they are offering courses for the Fall semester.
One option is Psychology 101, which introduces you to psychology’s methods and key ideas. You will learn about the history of psychology and study topics like perception, motivation, memory, learning, intelligence, personality, and individual differences. The course also covers behavioral disorders and treatments, including group behavior. You can earn 3 college credits from this course.
Image source – Manhattan University