Ever find yourself paying attention to how buildings are designed or how spaces make people feel? If so, exploring architecture might be a great next step. High school architecture programs give you a chance to see the world through a designer’s lens, understanding how structures are planned, how materials come together, and how design shapes daily life.
These programs often blend studio work with mentorship, helping you practice essential skills like sketching, model-making, and digital visualization. You’ll also get hands-on experience with professional tools such as AutoCAD, Rhino, SketchUp, and Adobe Illustrator, while learning to think critically about design choices and how they impact communities.
Whether you’re building your portfolio for college or just testing your interest in the field, participating in an architecture program can help you translate creative ideas into tangible designs.
Below, we’ve compiled a list of 14 architecture programs for high school students that offer both technical skill development and real-world insight into the profession
14 Architecture Programs for High School Students
1. Pratt Summer Pre-College: Architecture Track
Location: Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Cost: $8,136 (residential) | $5,452.00 (commuter) + application fee: $65
Dates: July 6 – 31
Application deadline: May 31; courses are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Eligibility: High school students, ages 16 – 18, who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or international students with valid U.S. F1 visas
Pratt’s pre-college program offers high schoolers various courses in the arts. You can choose the architecture course to explore the art and science of architecture through technical drawing, model building, design projects, and problem-solving exercises. You will work in a studio environment, learning about 2D and 3D structures, carving solids, manipulating space, and designing at multiple scales. Sessions covering freehand and technical drawing, conceptual model building, and material explorations will help you develop complex three-dimensional spatial systems.
2. SCAD Pre-College Rising Star Architecture Track
Location: Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) campus in Savannah
Cost: $6,490
Dates: June 28 – July 24 (programs often run in multi-week blocks)
Application deadline: No deadline; payment is due on May 29. Applications open on September 1.
Eligibility: High school seniors
SCAD’s Rising Star is a credit-bearing pre-college program for high schoolers interested in pursuing creative careers. You can choose courses in architecture/design that combine demonstrations, lectures, studio work, and field trips to help you explore basics and advanced concepts in architecture. As a participant, you will work on drawing, model making, and digital visualization. You will receive tailored feedback from SCAD faculty to build and refine your creative portfolio for art and architecture college applications.
3. Cornell University’s Introduction to Architecture Summer Program
Location: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Cost: Commuter fee: $1,940/credit; residential fee: $2,879 for three weeks + $75 application fee
Dates: June 23 – August 1
Application deadline: Residential students: May 1; Commuter students: May 19
Eligibility: High school students (typically rising juniors and seniors); no prior portfolio required for introductory track.
A part of Cornell’s pre-college program, the Introduction to Architecture course combines studio instruction with technical workshops, offering high schoolers practical experience and insights into drawing and digital modelling. You will study architectural ideas, principles, and methods of tackling architectural problems. You will explore hand drawing and CAD, undertake studio projects, and participate in critiques that mirror college studio culture. The course focuses on concept development, material exploration, and the development of early portfolio pieces.
4. Chicago Architecture Center’s Teen Fellows Program
Location: Harold Washington College, Chicago, IL
Stipend: Paid
Dates: June 22 in the current year – May 8 the following year (15-month program with two summer sessions)
Application deadline: March 31
Eligibility: Rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors in Chicago and the surrounding areas
The Chicago Architecture Center offers high school students opportunities to develop design skills, explore careers in architecture, and engage in paid internships through its Teen Fellows program. You will learn how to work with design software and tools like Revit, Photoshop, SketchUp, InDesign, AutoCAD, Rhinoceros, and Illustrator. Visits to architecturally significant sites and local architecture firms in Chicago are key parts of the experience. During your second summer, you will intern at an architecture or design firm in the city, gaining work experience in the field. The program also offers you insights into Chicago’s architecture, along with opportunities to start building design skills and your own design portfolio.
5. USC Pre-College Program: Exploration of Architecture
Location: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: Residential: $11,570 | Commuter: $8,130 + $85 application fee
Dates: June 22 – July 17
Application deadline: May 8
Eligibility: High school students who have completed grade 9 when the program begins
This USC program combines studio projects with instruction covering representational techniques and introductory digital tool training. You will engage in assignments, lectures, and discussions to explore design and composition, sketching, drawing, modeling, design methods, three-dimensional spatial awareness, and graphic analysis. You will also work on applying architectural concepts to a design problem, come up with architectural representations, and create a design portfolio for college applications.
6. Texas A&M University’s Camp ARCH
Location: Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Cost: $1,500; scholarships available
Dates: July 6 – 11
Application deadline: March 1
Eligibility: High school students
Camp ARCH at Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture is a week-long program designed to introduce high schoolers to design and basic drafting/model-making techniques. Here, you will attend sessions that combine hands-on workshops with tours and faculty talks. Based on your preferences and learning goals, you can choose from four tracks: architecture, construction science, urban planning, and landscape architecture. Each track covers the basics of the chosen theme with studio sessions or practical learning to help you explore real applications of architectural concepts. You will also work on building skills in design, visualization, data analysis, construction management, architectural thinking, and teamwork during the program.
7. University of Maryland’s Terp Young Scholars: ARCH150 course
Location: University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Cost: Campus: $1,791 | Online: $1,420; partial scholarships available
Dates: July 13 – 31
Application deadline: June 1
Eligibility: High school students (rising 10th graders to graduating seniors
UMD’s Terp Young Scholars offers residential and online college-level courses to high school students. Its ARCH 150 course offers foundational lessons in architectural thinking, site study, and basic digital/analogue representation. You will undertake studio work and small group projects that help you learn spatial reasoning and model-making. The course also offers opportunities to build visual thinking, representational, and analytic design thinking skills while introducing you to the conventions of architectural representation. You will also get a glimpse into UMD’s undergraduate architecture program. You will earn three university credits upon completing the program.
8. Washington University in St. Louis Architecture Discovery Program
Location: Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Cost: $4,361; full scholarships available
Dates: July 12 – 25
Application deadline: March 31
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors
Open to 50–60 students each year, the Architecture Discovery Program at WashU offers an introduction to architecture and design to high schoolers. Here, you will have access to concentrated studio time while working on concept development, hand drawing, and model making. You will also engage in short design exercises to explore the design thinking process. Your experience will culminate in an architectural project followed by faculty-led critiques. You will leave with completed designs that you can add to your architecture portfolios.
9. Pre-College Architecture Studio @ Georgia Tech (College of Design)
Location: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Cost: $3,500
Dates: Session 1: June 14 – 26 | Session 2: July 5 – 17
Application deadline: May 1; first-come, first-served enrollment starting from January 15
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors
Georgia Tech’s College of Design offers workshop-style sessions covering architectural and design concepts to high school students. Here, you will engage in studio-based sessions to learn about architectural representation and digital design tools. The program focuses on introducing you to architectural problem-solving. You will participate in team projects, site visits, and sessions led by guest speakers to explore different aspects of design. This is also an opportunity to explore undergraduate-level architecture before committing to a college degree.
10. Sasaki Foundation’s Summer Exploratory Experience in Design (SEED) Internship
Location: Construction sites in MA; exact location varies every year
Stipend: $16.25/hour
Dates: Early July – mid-August (six weeks)
Application deadline: TBA; applications open in the spring.
Eligibility: High school students in Boston or the Metro North region; priority is given to students residing in Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Cambridge, Medford, Revere, and Somerville, MA.
Sasaki Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the design firm Sasaki, offers high schoolers paid opportunities to work on design projects under the mentorship of urban design, architecture, planning, and landscape architecture professionals. Over the course of six weeks, you will work on a site, developing design concepts and ideas to enhance the utility and layout of the assigned space. Your project work may involve conducting cultural, environmental, and social analysis of any given site, along with learning how to work with design software and tools to create visual renderings of your site plans. The program also offers opportunities to practice computer drawing and hand sketching.
11. ArcStart @ University of Michigan
Location: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Cost: TBA; cost will include a deposit of $495
Dates: July 14 – August 1
Application deadline: February 28
Eligibility: Rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors, as well as rising college freshmen
ArcStart, offered by the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, is an opportunity to explore the built environment, architectural design principles, and college-level architectural study. Here, you will learn how to use drawing, drafting, and modeling tools and explore architectural history. Through studio projects, you will gain insights into the design process—from research and site study to modelling and presentation. You will also visit an architecture firm and create original design proposals during the program. Workshops focusing on analytical and conceptual problem-solving skills are also part of the experience.
12. Tulane University Pre-College Program: Explorations in Architecture & Design
Location: Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Cost: $995 – $6,595, based on the format, course, and credits you choose; financial aid available
Dates: Multiple sessions with varying lengths between June and July
Application deadline: April 3 (regular); April 24 (extended)
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors
Tulane University offers high schoolers various architecture-focused college-level courses through its pre-college program. Here, you can choose from multiple options to explore the fundamentals of design and thinking at the architectural scale. As a participant, you will engage in lectures, studio work, field trips, discussions, and critiques to explore topics like analog design, digital design, AI-led architectural design, and ideas, methods, and issues of the built environment. You will find opportunities to develop observational skills, conceptual design work, and introductory modelling and drawing projects.
13. University of Illinois Chicago’s High School Architecture Program (HiArch)
Location: University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Cost: $450 for one week | $650 for two weeks; scholarships available
Dates: Week 1: July 21 – 25 | Week 2: July 28 – August 1
Application deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school students
UIC’s HiArch is a one- to two-week opportunity to work in a studio and explore architecture and design. You will engage in studio projects, learning how to work with handmade and digital media, plans, and elevations. Fellow participants and the faculty will offer feedback to help you assess your work. You will also attend lectures led by guest faculty members and practicing architects to gain exposure to the architectural work being done in Chicago and around the world. You will submit a building design and drawings of a given structure.
14. UT San Antonio’s Summer Career Academy in Architecture & Interior Design
Location: University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
Cost: $650 (includes all materials, tools, supplies, snacks); financial assistance available
Dates: June 2 – 13
Application deadline: May 15
Eligibility: High school and college students, ages 15 and up
This UTSA program is an opportunity to spend two weeks exploring the fields of architecture and interior design. You will engage in lectures and exercises that mimic the experiences typically found in first-year design school courses. You will learn about the career opportunities in architecture and interior design, build skills in design, sketching, and model construction, and engage in studio work. You will also build a portfolio for college applications and visit active construction sites, architecture firms, and interior design offices.
One more option – Horizon Academic Research Program
If you’re looking for a competitive mentored research program in architecture, design, or urban planning, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs! This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced architecture research and develop a research paper on a topic of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from. You can find the application link here!
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