Economics programs introduce you to how markets, money, and policy decisions work in real life, not just in theory. You might study topics like microeconomics, macroeconomics, finance, or public policy through discussions, case studies, and applied assignments. Many programs include projects where you analyze data, build simple financial models, or evaluate business and policy decisions. Some focus on quantitative skills, while others emphasize writing, debate, and the clear presentation of economic ideas. In more hands-on formats, you may also get exposure to internships, research, or problem-solving. By the end, you gain a clearer understanding of how economic thinking applies across business, government, and everyday decisions.
Why should you choose a program in Rhode Island?
Rhode Island offers a strong mix of academic and practical opportunities, especially with access to Brown University’s pre-college programs. You can study economics and finance in a setting that closely resembles college while also exploring internships and community-based programs across the state. Rhode Island’s smaller size makes it easier to find programs with more accessible mentorship and greater hands-on involvement. This balance of rigorous coursework and exposure makes it a solid option if you want to explore economics early.
This list contains some of the top economics programs and internships for high school students in Rhode Island, especially curated to help you get started on your finance journey!
15 Economics Programs for High School Students in Rhode Island
1. Summer@Brown (Business, Economics & Legal Studies)
Location: Online, hybrid, or on-campus at Brown University campus, Providence
Cost: Varies by course length; limited financial aid available
Dates: 1 to 6 weeks between June 15 and July 25, depending on the course
Application deadline: May 8
Eligibility: Students completing grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18 by June 15
Summer@Brown gives you access to a broad set of college-level courses that can help you explore economics, finance, accounting, and related fields flexibly. You might study how markets behave, how businesses measure performance, or how financial tools are used to assess risk and opportunity. Class sessions emphasize discussion, close analysis, and project-based learning, so you are expected to engage actively with the material. You may work through case studies, build simple financial models, interpret accounting statements, or examine how debt, growth, and well-being shape economic systems. Outside the classroom, workshops and community events add another layer to the experience by introducing you to peers with varied interests and backgrounds.
2. Summer@Brown Online
Location: Online
Cost: 2 weeks: $3,218; 3 weeks: $4,454; 4 weeks: $5,314; 6 weeks: $6,238
Dates: Multiple 2-, 3-, 4-, and 6-week mostly asynchronous or blended sessions offered between June 15 and July 24
Application deadline: May 8 (rolling)
Eligibility: Students completing grades 9th-12th between the ages of 14 and 18 years by June 15
Summer@Brown Online allows you to explore economics, accounting, finance, and related subjects in a format that is more flexible while still maintaining a serious academic structure. The coursework is designed around readings, written assignments, discussions, and projects, so you are expected to manage your time well and contribute thoughtfully throughout the session. You might analyze financial systems, examine macroeconomic trends, or work through business concepts using quantitative reasoning, depending on the course you choose. Instructors provide feedback on your work as you move through the program, which helps make the experience feel more interactive than a typical self-paced course. In addition to coursework, students can take part in virtual workshops and broader program activities that create a sense of academic community.
3. Brown Pre-College Programs: STEM for Rising 9th and 10th Graders
Location: Brown University, Providence
Cost: $6,052
Dates: July 12 – 24
Application Deadline: May 8
Eligibility: Students completing grades 8 to 9, ages 13 to 15 by June 14
This program is designed for younger high school students who want a more structured introduction to advanced academic work through hands-on projects and collaborative problem-solving. While the broader focus is STEM, some course options connect especially well to economics or financial reasoning by using math, modeling, and practical decision-making as central tools. You spend the program working closely with peers on research activities, design challenges, or applied investigations that require persistence and clear thinking. In some courses, that may mean exploring how algebra can be used to understand entrepreneurship, financial planning, or investment ideas in a more concrete way. The program concludes with a final presentation, giving you the chance to explain your process and communicate what you built or discovered.
4. Brown Pre-Baccalaureate
Location: Online
Cost: $8,973 or $17,935, depending on the number of courses taken
Dates: June 15 – July 31
Application Deadline: May 8
Eligibility: Rising or recently graduated High School Seniors, age 17 by June 14
Brown’s Pre-Baccalaureate program is meant for students who are ready to step directly into credit-bearing undergraduate coursework and handle the pace that comes with it. If you choose an economics-related course, you study alongside Brown undergraduates and work through material that is closer to a real college semester than a typical high school summer program. Classes move quickly and expect serious engagement with reading, discussion, writing, and analytical reasoning from the start. In a course like Principles of Economics, you would examine major economic institutions, learn core vocabulary and frameworks, and apply those ideas to current social and policy issues. The course also requires you to develop strong time management and independent study habits.
5. PrepareRI High School Internship Program
Location: Various sites in Rhode Island
Stipend: $17/hour up to $4,700
Dates: July 6 – August 14
Application Deadline: January 14
Eligibility: Current high school juniors in Rhode Island public, charter, or home schools who are at least 16 years old by March 30 and eligible to work in the U.S.
PrepareRI places high school students in workplace settings where they can build practical experience while learning how professional environments actually function day to day. Before the internship begins, you complete a work-readiness boot camp that introduces expectations around communication, professionalism, and collaboration. Once placed with an employer, you take on real responsibilities and begin learning how teams manage projects, solve problems, and operate within an organization. Depending on your site, you may be exposed to finance-related work, administrative systems, business operations, or other roles that develop transferable professional skills. Seminars and coaching throughout the experience help you reflect on what you are learning and how it connects to future goals.
6. Bank of America Student Leaders
Location: Nationwide (the Leadership Summit is held in Washington, D.C.)
Stipend: Paid; all expenses towards the trip to Washington, D.C. are also covered
Dates: 8 weeks between June and August, with the Summit held in July
Application Deadline: January 15
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors who have authorization to work in the U.S., live in an eligible area, and have not participated in the program before
Bank of America Student Leaders combines community-based internship work with a broader look at leadership, civic engagement, and how organizations manage resources to serve the public. During the internship, you work with a nonprofit organization where your responsibilities may include operational support, program coordination, fundraising-related tasks, or other activities tied to day-to-day management. Through that experience, you begin to see how financial decisions shape what community organizations are able to accomplish. The program also includes a national leadership summit that introduces students to larger conversations around public policy, social impact, and cross-sector problem-solving.
7. CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) High School Internship Program
Location: Multiple CLA locations across the U.S.
Stipend: Paid
Dates: Summer (starts June; 6–8 weeks)
Application Deadline: Typically January
Eligibility: Current high school juniors or seniors (ages 16–18) authorized to work in the U.S.
CLA’s high school internship introduces students to accounting, finance, and professional services through a structured workplace experience built around observation, collaboration, and applied learning. You spend time learning how firms support clients through financial reporting, advisory work, and other business functions that depend on accurate analysis and communication. The experience may include team projects, case-based activities, and job shadowing that expose you to different roles within the firm. In some placements, you might also help with internal tasks or documentation that shows how financial information is organized and used in real business settings. Interaction with staff at different levels also helps you understand how teams operate and how career paths within the field can vary.
8. Apprenticeship USA
Location: U.S-wide placements,
Stipend: Typically paid
Dates: Varies
Application deadline: Varies
Eligibility: High school students (specific eligibility may apply)
Apprenticeship USA is best understood as a gateway to varied training opportunities, which makes it useful for students exploring different professional paths. Through the platform, you can search for apprenticeships in areas such as banking, accounting, insurance, and business operations, depending on what is available in your area. These opportunities combine paid on-the-job experience with a formal learning component, so you are developing skills while working in a real employment setting. Each listing varies, so you need to look closely at the responsibilities, timeline, and entry requirements before applying.
9. Intern Abroad HQ
Location: Online
Cost: Starts at $1,099 for remote internships
Dates: Available year-round
Application deadline: Varies by specific internship
Eligibility: High school students
Intern Abroad HQ gives high school students the opportunity to take part in business-related internships that can be completed remotely. If you are interested in finance, accounting, business development, or related areas, the program helps match you with a host organization based on your interests and goals. The work itself will vary by placement, but students generally contribute to ongoing projects while building professional communication and workplace skills. A built-in experiential learning curriculum encourages you to reflect on what you are learning, and remote options make it more accessible for students who want international exposure without traveling.
10. Dartmouth Precollege Online Program’s Finance: Investing & Market Insights Course
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,895 (scholarships available)
Dates: Multi-length sessions available throughout the year
Application deadline: Varies by program
Eligibility: High school students ages 13+
Dartmouth’s Finance: Investing & Market Insights course gives you a structured introduction to how financial markets work and how investors evaluate companies. Lessons cover topics such as risk and return, valuation, financial statements, market structure, and the role of institutions like investment banks. As you move through the course, you learn to interpret company performance using financial data and begin to understand how investment recommendations are built. The program also introduces concepts like cash flow analysis and discounted cash flow valuation in a way that is meant to be accessible to high school students. The final capstone project asks you to step into the role of an analyst and make a reasoned investment recommendation, which helps bring together the course’s technical content in a more applied format.
11. Wharton Global Youth Program: Financial Decision Making
Location: Virtual
Cost: $4,099
Dates: June 15 – 26 | July 6 – 17
Application deadline: Rolling; Priority deadline: January 28
Eligibility: High school students currently enrolled in grades 9–12
Wharton’s Financial Decision Making course introduces high school students to the financial concepts that shape both personal choices and larger economic systems. Over the program, you work through topics such as budgeting, credit, investing, inflation, and financial markets while learning how to evaluate choices using evidence rather than instinct. The curriculum is built around real examples and datasets, which helps connect the material to situations you may already recognize. You also practice using Excel as a tool for organizing and analyzing financial information, an important skill that adds practical value to the course. Discussions and exercises push you to think about how people borrow, spend, save, and invest within larger systems shaped by policy and market conditions.
12. Wharton Global Youth Program’s Moneyball: Training Camp
Location: Online
Cost: $2,299 (plus $100 non-refundable application fee)
Program Dates: June 22 – June 26; July 20 – July 24
Application Deadline: Priority: January 28; Final: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students with strong math skills and an interest in sports; International applicants welcome
This is a one-week intensive designed to build foundational statistical intuition through sports-based datasets. You’ll engage with concepts such as distributions, histograms, box plots, correlation, simple regression, and introductory probability, all applied within real-world analytical contexts. The program also introduces you to coding in R, a statistical programming language widely used in econometrics and applied economic analysis. Each day combines instructor-led sessions, TA-supported coding labs, and collaborative project work, culminating in a group presentation where you develop your own sports analytics study. This involves data preprocessing, exploratory analysis, model construction, and interpretation of results.
13. Wharton Pre-Baccalaureate Program: Introduction to Behavioral Economics
Location: Online
Cost: $4,230 per course
Program Dates: Session 1: May 26 – July 2; Session 2: July 2 – August 7
Application Deadline: Session 1: March 25; Session 2: May 6
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors with a minimum 3.5 unweighted GPA, strong academics, and English proficiency for international students
Introduction to Behavioral Economics is a credit-bearing course that explores how psychological factors intersect with economic decision-making. The curriculum covers topics such as welfare economics, market power, externalities and internalities, asymmetric information, taxation, and policy formulation in the presence of behavioral biases. You’ll examine how bounded rationality and recurring cognitive patterns influence consumer choices, firm strategies, and regulatory interventions, using analytical models typical of early undergraduate economics. The course involves active engagement through live sessions, problem sets, and a cumulative final assessment. A strong emphasis is placed on constructing arguments within policy-driven contexts.
14. Economics for Leaders Virtual (EFL Virtual)
Location: Online
Cost: $900; Scholarships available
Program Dates: Multiple sessions in the summer
Application Deadline: Early: February 11 | Priority: March 18 | International Student: March 18 | Final: April 15
Eligibility: High school sophomores and juniors
The EFL Virtual program focuses on developing applied microeconomic thinking alongside leadership and policy analysis skills. You’ll work through structured case studies, economic modeling exercises, and marginal decision-making problems that reflect real trade-off analysis. The curriculum includes simulation-based scenarios where you evaluate incentives, predict outcomes, and design policy responses. Learning is delivered through a combination of guided lectures and small-group workshops, allowing for iterative practice and discussion.
15. Brown University Pre-College: Principles of Economics
Location: Online
Cost: $8,973 per course; Financial aid offered
Program Dates: June 15 – July 31
Application Deadline: Varies by session
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors with a minimum 3.5 GPA; Strong academic record and English proficiency required
Brown’s seven-week online course provides a comprehensive introduction to both microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. You’ll study core topics such as supply and demand dynamics, price determination, market structures, labor economics, inflation, and national income accounting. The course incorporates formal analytical tools used in higher-level economics, including marginal analysis, comparative statics, and equilibrium modeling. Assignments typically involve interpreting economic data, working with graphical representations, and applying theoretical frameworks to current policy questions.
One more option—Horizon Academic Research Program
If you are looking for a competitive mentored research program in economics, econometrics, global trade, you can consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs! It is a selective virtual research program that allows you to engage in advanced research and come up with a research paper on a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1,000+ high school students so far, offering 600+ research specializations to choose from. You can find the application link here!
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