Summer programs offer high school students the chance to explore academic interests beyond what is typically offered in school while developing skills that translate well into college-level work. These programs provide you with structured learning, guided mentorship, and exposure to how subjects are studied in university settings, helping you build confidence in advanced academic environments. You also gain practical experience through discussions, projects, and collaborative work, all of which strengthen critical thinking, communication, and analytical skills.
Linguistics summer programs are especially valuable if you’re curious about how language works, from syntax and phonetics to sociolinguistics, language acquisition, and computational linguistics. Studying linguistics early helps you understand language as a system shaped by culture, cognition, and society, while also building practical skills valuable in fields such as computer science, psychology, education, law, and international studies.
Why choose a structured linguistic program?
Well-designed linguistics programs go beyond casual language learning and focus on formal analysis, theory, and research-based inquiry. You engage with real linguistic data, learn how to analyze language patterns, and practice presenting arguments clearly and logically. Many programs also emphasize academic writing, discussion-based learning, and exposure to university-style coursework, making them strong preparation for future studies in linguistics or related disciplines.
If you are interested in Linguistics research opportunities, you can check this blog.
15 Linguistics Summer Programs for High School Students
1. National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) (Summer Abroad)
Location: Multiple locations across the globe or online
Cost/Stipend: Fully funded
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective
Dates: 6 – 7 weeks starting mid-late June
Application Deadline: November 12
Eligibility: U.S. citizens in grades 9–12; ages 15–18 at program start; minimum 2.8 GPA. Check more details here
NSLI-Y is a highly competitive, fully funded U.S. Department of State scholarship that allows you to study a critical world language abroad through intensive immersion. You’ll live with a host family, attend daily language classes, and practice speaking through cultural activities, community engagement, and peer language exchanges. The summer program lasts 6–7 weeks and includes at least 120 hours of classroom instruction, designed to rapidly build listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. No prior experience is required, making the program accessible to beginners as well as students with some background in the language. Beyond language learning, you’ll gain firsthand exposure to another culture while serving as a student ambassador, developing global awareness and cross-cultural communication skills.
2. Columbia Pre-College Programs – Exploring Topics in Linguistics
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: $2,880 / unpaid
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: August 3 – 7
Application Deadline: Early registration: February 2, General application: April 2
Eligibility: Rising 9–12 grade students
Exploring Topics in Linguistics is a one-week pre-college course that introduces you to linguistics as the scientific study of human language and communication. You’ll study core areas such as phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics while learning how language reflects culture, identity, and social behavior. Through lectures, hands-on analysis, fieldwork activities, and multimedia materials, you’ll examine topics ranging from dialects and accents to slang, taboo language, and figurative speech. The course also explores how the brain processes language, including research using MRI and other cognitive tools. Guest speakers and collaborative discussions help you think critically about how language evolves and why it matters across academic fields and everyday life.
3. Ohio State University Summer Linguistic Institute for Youth Scholars (SLIYS)
Location: Online (hosted by The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH)
Cost/Stipend: $550 per session; $1,100 for both sessions; need-based financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive admissions
Dates: SLIYS 1: June 8 – 12 or July 6 – 10, SLIYS 2 (optional): June 22 – 26 or July 20 – 24
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions begin February 1
Eligibility: Open to students entering grades 9–12; ages 13–18; minimum recommended GPA of 3.0
SLIYS is a one- or two-week online summer program that introduces you to linguistics as a scientific field through live, interactive instruction. You’ll study how languages are structured and understood, covering areas such as phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and meaning. Through daily sessions with Ohio State faculty and graduate students, you’ll analyze real language data rather than just learning theory. A key part of the program involves hands-on fieldwork, where you work directly with native speakers of underrepresented languages to uncover sound patterns and sentence structures. You’ll also engage with researchers discussing real linguistic experiments, giving you a clear picture of how linguists conduct and evaluate language research.
4. Johns Hopkins CTY – Linguistics: The Science of Language
Location: Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Cost/Stipend: Tuition: $6,717 – $7,549, In-person registration fee: $75, CTY joining fee: $55
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 16 students per class
Dates: Summer A: June 28 – July 17 and Summer B: July 19 – August 7
Application Deadline: Summer A: May 11 and Summer B: June 8
Eligibility: Students in grades 7–11
Linguistics: The Science of Language is an academically rigorous course from Johns Hopkins CTY that introduces you to linguistics as a formal, research-driven discipline. You’ll study the four foundational components of language—phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics—while examining how language functions as both a biological instinct and a cultural system. The course draws on psychology, vocal anatomy, media studies, and history to help you analyze how language shapes politics, advertising, identity, and social power. You’ll gain hands-on skills such as using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), tracing word origins, and comparing linguistic patterns across languages. A unique creative element of the course allows you to design your own constructed language, reinforcing both analytical and theoretical concepts. Overall, the program emphasizes critical thinking and demonstrates how linguistics intersects with fields like psycholinguistics, pragmatics, and computational semantics.
5. Stanford Summer Session — Greek and Latin Roots of English
Location: Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Cost/Stipend: Estimated cost starts at $5,312 for the commuter program and $18,771 for the residential program. Check the fee calculator here
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive application
Dates: June 23 – August 17 (tentative, based on previous years)
Application Deadline: January 20
Eligibility: Current high school sophomores, juniors, or seniors who are between 16 and 19 years old and not planning to start as first-year students at Stanford
Stanford Summer Session’s Greek and Latin Roots of English is a linguistics-oriented course designed to help you understand how English vocabulary is formed and why words mean what they do. You’ll study Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes, and learn how these elements shape large parts of modern English. The course focuses on recognizing patterns in word formation, which can improve reading comprehension and support stronger performance on standardized tests. You’ll also explore terminology commonly used in fields such as medicine, law, business, education, and the humanities, building practical academic vocabulary. Along the way, the program introduces core ideas in language history and etymology, helping you see how English has evolved over time. No prior knowledge of Greek or Latin is required, making the course accessible while still offering a solid foundation in linguistic analysis.
6. Summer@Brown Online – Introduction to Linguistics
Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: Varies. Check details here
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 15 – July 31 (tentative, based on previous years)
Application Deadline: May 8
Eligibility: Students who have completed grades 9–12 and are aged 14–18 by June 15
This course introduces you to linguistics as the scientific study of how language works beneath the surface of everyday communication. You’ll explore core areas of the field, including phonetics (speech sounds and transcription), phonology (sound patterns), morphology (word structure), syntax (sentence formation), and semantics (meaning). The course emphasizes how these systems are rule-governed and unconsciously mastered by speakers, helping you think analytically about language structure. Through examples and exercises, you’ll learn how linguists model language and explain similarities and differences across languages. The curriculum may also touch on topics like historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and the links between language and cognitive science, showing how language connects to thought and society.
7. Indiana University Summer Language Workshop
Location: Indiana University, Bloomington, IN (with some online and study abroad options)
Cost/Stipend: Varies based on the course
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Varies based on the course
Application Deadline: January 30
Eligibility: Courses are available for high school students. You can check more details here
The Indiana University Summer Language Workshop is one of the most comprehensive intensive language programs in the U.S., offering accelerated study in over two dozen languages through online, in-person, and abroad immersion formats. You’ll receive four hours of daily instruction from experienced instructors, with opportunities for one-on-one practice with native speakers, conversation tables, and cultural activities that reinforce real-world language use. Programs typically run 8–9 weeks for immersion options and about two months online, with a rigorous workload designed to build proficiency rapidly. With its strong academic structure and deep cultural engagement, the program is well-suited for high school students serious about advancing their language skills and exploring global or linguistics-related pathways.
8. UM Summer Language Institute
Location: Residential College South, Oxford, MS
Cost/Stipend: Varies based on multiple aspects. Check the exact details here
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive admissions
Dates: June 26 – July 25 (tentative, based on previous years)
Application Deadline: April 1
Eligibility: High school students in grades 11 and 12 with a minimum GPA of 3.0
The University of Mississippi Summer Language Institute allows high school students to earn college credit while studying critical languages like Arabic or Chinese through an intensive, immersive program. You’ll live on campus, attend daily language classes, and take part in evening cultural and co-curricular activities that build real-world communication skills. The Arabic program is a competitive, beginner-focused course offering six college credits and emphasizing reading, writing, and conversation. The Chinese program places students by skill level and strengthens conversational and written abilities through themed courses and cultural experiences. Throughout the program, you’ll also explore career and academic pathways where language skills are highly valued.
9. UChicago’s Pre-College Summer Language Institute – Summer Intensive Intermediate Ancient Greek
Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: $8,550 / None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Unspecified
Dates: June 15 – July 24
Application Deadline: Priority deadline: February 11, Regular deadline: March 12
Eligibility: Current high school juniors and seniors (only a select number of places are reserved for advanced high school students)
This program offers advanced high school students the opportunity to study Ancient Greek in a rigorous, college-level environment alongside University of Chicago students. This intensive course focuses on deepening your command of Classical Greek grammar and syntax through extensive reading and regular sight translation practice. You’ll work with original texts by major authors such as Plato, Herodotus, Thucydides, Homer, Sophocles, and Euripides, gaining experience with both prose and poetry. The program blends synchronous and asynchronous instruction and requires a full-time commitment, with significant daily preparation outside of class. By the end of the course, you’ll be prepared for advanced Greek coursework or independent research using original Ancient Greek texts. Notably, the course covers the equivalent of a full year of University of Chicago Greek instruction, making it an academically demanding and rewarding summer option.
10. University of Virginia Summer Language Institute
Location: University of Virginia campus, Charlottesville, VA/Some online options are also available
Cost/Stipend: Varies based on credit hours. Check details here
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Unspecified
Dates: June 15 – August 7 (Full 8-week program), two 4-week sessions: June 15 – July 11 and July 13 – August 7
Application Deadline: March 27
Eligibility: Rising junior and senior high school students
The University of Virginia Summer Language Institute (SLI) offers intensive four- or eight-week immersion courses in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. Designed for rapid language acquisition, the program allows you to complete up to two years of college-level language study in just eight weeks through daily, high-intensity instruction focused on speaking, listening, reading, and writing. You’ll learn in small, fast-paced classes that emphasize active language use and consistent practice. It’s a strong option if you’re preparing for study abroad, research, or future academic and professional work that requires advanced language proficiency.
11. UPenn Pre-College Online Program – Introduction to Linguistics
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: $8,462 for one college credit course unit and $13,858 for two units
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Unspecified
Dates: Session I: May 26 – July 1, Session II: July 2 – August 7
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis
Eligibility: High school students
The UPenn Pre-College Online Program’s Introduction to Linguistics lets you take a credit-bearing college course from home while learning alongside Penn undergraduates. Taught by Penn faculty and visiting scholars, the course offers a broad, rigorous introduction to how human language works, covering its biological foundations, sounds, structure, meaning, history, and social use. You’ll explore topics such as language evolution, dialects and standardization, language and gender, how children and adults learn languages, brain disorders affecting language, and writing systems. Designed for students new to linguistics, the course provides a strong foundation for further study in linguistics, cognitive science, or related fields.
12. Stony Brook University Summer Youth Camp for Computational Linguistics
Location: Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Cost/Stipend: Residential: $4,250, Commuter: $2,000–2,500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Moderately selective
Dates: July 12 – 24
Application Deadline: Round 1: March 3; Round 2: May 1
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors (ages 15–17); U.S. residents only; good academic standing required
This two-week summer program introduces you to computational linguistics through a hands-on study of how human language works and how it is processed by technology. You’ll explore core areas of linguistics, such as syntax, morphology, semantics, phonetics, and phonology, while learning how these concepts power tools like voice assistants and AI chatbots. Guided by Stony Brook faculty and PhD instructors, you’ll use software and analytical methods to examine speech, text, and language structure across multiple world languages, including lesser-studied ones. The program emphasizes team-based projects in which you investigate real research problems such as speech recognition, parsing, and language generation. By the end, you gain foundational exposure to linguistics, natural language processing, and computational thinking relevant to future study in linguistics, AI, or computer science.
13. Boston University Summer Term’s Linguistics Courses
Location: Boston University, Boston, MA
Cost/Stipend: $3,380 per course
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Summer 1: May 19 – June 26 and Summer 2: June 29 – August 7
Application Deadline: Varies by session. Check details here
Eligibility: Rising 9–12 graders
Boston University’s Summer Term offers high school students the chance to study linguistics through real, credit-bearing university courses during the Summer. In CAS LX 250: Introduction to Linguistics, you explore how languages are structured, covering sound systems, word formation, syntax, meaning, language acquisition, and how languages change over time. The course also examines variation across spoken, written, and signed languages, helping you understand both universal patterns and cultural differences in communication. If you’re more interested in practical applications, WED LS 565: Applied Linguistics focuses on how linguistic theory is used in real-world contexts such as education, translation, and speech-related fields. Together, these courses offer a strong academic foundation in linguistics while giving you firsthand exposure to college-level expectations.
14. University of Washington Linguistics Summer Courses
Location: University of Washington, Seattle, WA, or online
Cost/Stipend: Not specified
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not mentioned
Dates: Varies by course
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students
The University of Washington’s Summer Sessions lets you take real, college-level linguistics courses for academic credit as a high school student. In LING 200: Introduction to Linguistics, you study how language works across sounds, words, grammar, and meaning, while also exploring topics like language acquisition, sociolinguistics, neurolinguistics, and signed languages. If you’re more interested in how language connects to culture and identity, LING 234: Language and Diversity takes a broader sociolinguistic approach, examining multilingualism, language politics, education, and how language shapes individual and group identity. LING 234 is offered online in an asynchronous format, making it accessible from anywhere. Whether you study on campus or online, you earn official University of Washington credit and experience the rigor of a university linguistics course.
15. STARTALK at the University at Buffalo
Location: University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Cost/Stipend: Fully funded
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: 3 weeks in summer
Application Deadline: TBA
Eligibility: Rising 9–12 grade students residing in Western New York
STARTALK at the University at Buffalo is a free, three-week intensive summer program designed for high school students in grades 9–12 with little or no prior experience in Chinese. You’ll take part in daily Mandarin language classes alongside hands-on cultural workshops such as calligraphy, cooking, and interactive activities that bring language learning beyond the classroom. Taught by experienced Chinese language educators, the program emphasizes practical communication, cultural understanding, and active participation. As an added academic benefit, you earn three undergraduate credits from the University at Buffalo, along with daily lunch and snacks. Funded by the National Security Agency, STARTALK focuses on building early proficiency in critical languages through engaging, high-quality instruction.
One more option – Horizon Academic Research Program
If you’re looking for a competitive mentored research program in subjects like syntax, phonetics, phonology, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and language acquisition, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs! This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper on a subject 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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