Free online electrical engineering programs allow you to explore the engineering field without commuting to a physical campus or lab. You’ll learn about circuits, robotics, microcontrollers, signal processing, and basic electrical system design from home and at your own pace. These programs typically include virtual labs, step-by-step instructions, and beginner-friendly tools to help you practice problem-solving and develop practical technical skills.
Why Online Electrical Engineering Programs Are Worth Trying
If your school doesn’t offer engineering classes or you prefer learning remotely, online programs make it easy to explore the field with minimal commitment. Another big perk is that many of these programs use software and workflows similar to those used by professional engineers, giving you early exposure to the field. Since these programs are free, you can experiment with different areas and figure out what you enjoy without worrying about cost. These programs are a great starting point for learning what electrical engineering involves.
Here are 15 online + free electrical engineering programs for high school students worth exploring! If you want summer opportunities, you can also look at Electrical Engineering Summer Programs for High School Students here.
15 Online + Free Electrical Engineering Programs for High School Students
1. MITES Semester
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate: Around 3-5%
Dates: June – December (6 months)
Application Deadline: February 1
Eligibility: High school juniors who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents
MITES Semester begins with the STEM Immersion Phase (June to early August), where you’ll take two challenging STEM courses in fields like thermodynamics, astrophysics, and machine learning. You’ll complete one project-based course and one core course in subjects such as computer science, physics, calculus, or science writing. Courses like Embedded Systems and Robotics include strong electrical engineering content and offer hands-on practice applying theory to real systems. You’ll collaborate in teams on a final project and present it at the MITES Semester Conference. During the College and Career Prep Phase (August to December), you’ll write blogs, join weekly webinars and cluster meetings with faculty and professionals, and participate in essay reviews, mock interviews, and other college prep workshops.
2. sci-MI Electrical Engineering Mentorship Program (EEMP)
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Cohort Size: Limited cohort size
Dates: June 23 – August 8
Application Deadline: May 1
Eligibility: High school students; Preference is given to students who are underrepresented in electrical engineering or higher education
The Electrical Engineering Mentorship Program (EEMP) is a virtual, five-week summer program that introduces you to electrical engineering and allows you to explore your own research interests. You’ll study topics like circuits, embedded systems, computer architecture, signal processing, and software engineering. You’ll participate in interactive labs, lectures, and journal clubs that will improve your understanding of core EE concepts. These activities will help you work on an independent project and present it by the program’s end, along with a written report. You’ll work with volunteer mentors and use open-source tools and research papers to develop an independent project of your choice. Some alumni have also submitted their work to student journals.
3. NASA Johnson Space Center’s Texas High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS)
Location: Online (top teams will be invited to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX)
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate: Selective
Dates: This is a year-long program; You can check out important dates here
Application Deadline: September 27
Eligibility: High school juniors who are U.S. citizens living in Texas
Texas High School Aerospace Scholars is a three-part program that starts with a TEKS-aligned online course covering engineering design, technical writing, CAD modeling, coding, and NASA topics. You’ll participate in design challenges, discussions, and math and science quizzes, and join virtual conversations with NASA engineers and scientists. If you finish the online course with at least a 70 percent overall average, you’ll be invited to a five-day virtual summer experience called Moonshot. This team-based program will pair you with NASA mentors as you work on an Artemis-themed mission focused on Moon to Mars exploration and engineering challenges. The top teams from Moonshot will be invited to a fully funded residential experience at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. This program can also support your interest in electrical engineering, since many of the coding, CAD, and engineering challenges relate to systems used in spacecraft and other aerospace technologies.
4. MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI)
Location: Online (also in-person at MIT, Cambridge, MA)
Cost: Free for students from lower-income households; $2,350 for those with a family income above $150,000
Acceptance Rate: Around 20%
Dates: July 6 – August 2
Application Deadline: March 2 – March 30
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9-11 who live and attend school in person in the United States
The Beaver Works Summer Institute is a hands-on STEM program where you’ll work on real projects in engineering, AI, robotics, cybersecurity, and similar areas. You’ll develop your programming skills, learn from MIT Lincoln Laboratory instructors, and collaborate with other students. If you’re interested in electrical engineering, the online course options include MicroElectronics & Hardware Development and Basics of ASICs. The MicroElectronics and Hardware Development course will teach you how to design and build PCBs, microchips, and hardware systems. You’ll also learn to design hardware using microcontrollers to build practical electronics. Basics of ASICs will introduce you to the core building blocks of modern electronics and allow you to design semiconductor components at the nanometer scale. You can check out the current course listings here.
5. BWSI Saturday Programs
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Cohort Size: Limited cohort size
Dates: Saturdays in the Fall and Spring; October 11 – December 6 (Fall) | March 8 – April 26 (Spring; tentative)
Application Deadline: September 30 (Fall); February 26 (Spring; tentative)
Eligibility: U.S. female high school students in grades 10-11 (Fall Girls Who Can Saturday Program); U.S. high school students in grades 9-10 (Spring Yes, You Can Saturday Program)
The BWSI Saturday Program allows you to work on projects that use STEM concepts to solve real problems. You’ll dive into new technologies, develop practical skills, and explore what advanced STEM work is like. You’ll get experience with tools like drones, autonomous vehicles, and cybersecurity systems. You’ll also take one course in robotics, coding, or AI, join engineering challenges and design activities, hear from guest speakers, and meet STEM professionals. If you’re interested in electrical engineering, you can choose the Program Autonomous Cars course, where you’ll use Python, command-line tools, and sensor data to build autonomous controllers that race a virtual car through obstacles. You can also try the Digital Logic and Computer Design course, which will teach you how to design logic circuits, build basic memory elements, and understand machine language through lectures and hands-on projects.
6. Stanford Online Introduction to Internet of Things
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not mentioned
Dates: Self-paced; 60-day access
Application Deadline: Not applicable
Eligibility: Anyone who is interested in IoT, including high school students
Stanford Online’s Introduction to Internet of Things is a short, non-credit course that gives you a clear look at the core technologies behind modern IoT. This course is taught by six Stanford faculty members who will walk you through five modules covering Sensors, Embedded Systems, Cool Applications, Networking, and Circuits. This course can help you learn concepts relevant to electrical engineering, as IoT is an interdisciplinary field closely connected to electronics and electrical systems. You’ll learn how recent tech advances are driving wider use of IoT, such as smart sensors that monitor farm conditions, pill-shaped micro-cameras that capture detailed images inside the body, and smart home devices that are becoming more common. The course also serves as an introduction to the Internet of Things Graduate Certificate.
7. MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW): Thermodynamics and Climate Change
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not mentioned
Dates: Self-paced
Application Deadline: No deadline
Eligibility: High school students
MIT OCW’s Thermodynamics and Climate Change course covers the three laws of thermodynamics and concepts such as entropy and enthalpy, while examining global warming through a thermodynamic lens. You’ll apply these concepts to modern energy conversion and storage technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells, heat pumps, metal air batteries, molten salt storage, artificial photosynthesis, and concentrated solar power. The course can help you learn about electrical engineering by focusing on energy systems, efficiency, thermal management, and renewable technologies. While it does not delve into topics like circuit design or electromagnetism, it will help you build foundational knowledge that directly connects to current electrical engineering applications.
8. Georgia Institute of Technology: Introduction to Electronics
Location: Online
Cost: Free to audit
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not mentioned
Dates: Self-paced; 5 weeks
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions
Eligibility: All with no prior experience, including high school students
The Introduction to Electronics course allows you to learn the basics of electronic components, including transistors, diodes, and op amps, including how they work and where they are used. The course is divided into seven modules. You’ll start by going over the syllabus and course procedures, along with key ideas from linear circuit theory that will help you understand the lessons. From there, you’ll learn how operational amplifiers work, explore their common applications, and practice analyzing different op-amp circuits. You’ll study the PN junction diode and examine how it behaves in circuits. You’ll also explore additional diode applications and learn to analyze circuit behavior using voltage transfer characteristics. You’ll learn about the MOSFET, its uses, and how to analyze MOSFET circuits. You’ll also study the NPN BJT, explore how it is used, and develop the skills to analyze BJT circuits.
9. MITx: Circuits and Electronics 1: Basic Circuit Analysis
Location: Online
Cost: Free to audit
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not mentioned
Dates: Self-paced; 5 weeks
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions
Eligibility: All with no prior experience, including high school students
The Basic Circuit Analysis course covers core techniques used in circuits powering devices like self-driving cars, smartphones, and computers. You’ll learn to design and analyze circuits using the node method, superposition, and the Thevenin method, and use lumped circuit models to build intuition. You’ll also build simple digital gates with MOSFET transistors and measure circuit variables with virtual oscilloscopes, signal generators, and multimeters. This is a core introductory course required for all MIT EECS majors. It covers resistive circuits, KCL and KVL, independent and dependent sources, Thevenin and Norton equivalents, digital abstraction, combinational logic gates, MOSFET switches, and small-signal analysis.
10. Introduction to Electrical Wiring Systems by Alison
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not mentioned
Dates: Self-paced
Application Deadline: Not applicable
Eligibility: All with no prior experience, including high school students
The Introduction to Electrical Wiring Systems course gives you a hands-on look at electrical wiring. The course begins with device boxes, exploring the main types that electricians use and how they fit into a wiring setup. You’ll study safe handling, key components, and basic installation and storage practices, and also learn about hand bending, the tools involved, and how to use hand-operated conduit benders on the job. You’ll explore how raceways protect wiring and help with wire identification, and you’ll learn about fasteners, conductors, anchors, and cables. The course also explains how conductors carry current, what tools electricians use to pull and feed them through conduit, and how their insulation works.
11. WIE Rise Summer Research Program at the University of Maryland
Location: Online
Cost: $25 per student; Full scholarships are available based on financial need
Acceptance Rate: Competitive
Dates: July 27 – July 31
Application Deadline: April 25; Rolling admissions
Eligibility: Rising 9th-12th graders
The WIE Rise Summer Research Program is a one-week online program that introduces you to engineering research. It is offered through Maryland Engineering’s RISE Program and Women in Engineering Program. As a participant, you’ll use basic household materials for hands-on activities, and the program will share the supply list in advance. During the week, you’ll learn about research labs at the University of Maryland, try simple at-home experiments, practice reading and writing scientific papers, and talk with current Maryland Engineering undergraduates. You’ll explore different engineering fields like Bioengineering, Electrical and Computer, Materials Science, Chemical, Aerospace, Civil & Environmental, Fire Protection, and Mechanical.
12. NASA and UT Austin’s STEM Enhancement in Earth Science (SEES) Summer High School Intern Program
Location: Online (also in-person at the University of Texas, Austin, TX)
Cost: Free
Cohort Size: 100 students participated virtually and 80 students in person in the previous year
Dates: May 15 – July 1 (distance learning modules); June – July 21 (remote project work with mentor guidance); July 20 – 21 (SEES Virtual Science Symposium)
Application Deadline: February 22
Eligibility: U.S. current high school sophomores or juniors (16+) applying to SEES for the first time
NASA and UT Austin’s SEES High School Summer Intern Program gives you hands-on experience with real NASA research. You’ll work on data analysis and visualization with NASA experts, and project topics change each year. UT’s Center for Space Research runs studies in engineering, remote sensing, astronomy, Earth systems, and planetary science. If you’re interested in electrical engineering, the program allows you to work on hands-on projects that involve designing and testing hardware, such as microphone systems for sonic boom research, and working with scientists and engineers on tasks with engineering elements. Even though the program focuses on Earth and space science, the engineering projects, like studying the X-59 aircraft and designing a Mars habitat, connect well with electrical and aerospace engineering. You’ll also develop skills in Python programming and data analysis, which are useful in electrical engineering.
13. Harvard University: Electrochemistry
Location: Online
Cost: Free to audit
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Not mentioned
Dates: 10 weeks; Self-paced
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students
Harvard’s Electrochemistry course teaches you why electrochemistry matters and how electrical, mechanical, and chemical energy connect. To understand electrochemistry, you’ll work with concepts like electron flow, Gibbs Free Energy, and chemical transformations. You’ll look at how the field has become more important again due to new developments in storage, energy production, and technology shaped by science and public policy. The course also covers acid-base reactions and chemical equilibrium to help you understand how these concepts fit into electrochemistry. By the end, you’ll be able to compare the efficiencies of renewable and fossil fuel energy sources and learn which battery technologies are leading the shift away from fossil fuels.
14. Stanford Program for Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Physics (SPINWIP)
Location: Online
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate: Highly competitive
Dates: July 7 – July 25
Application Deadline: May 1
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9-11; Preference is given to rising seniors and students from under-resourced backgrounds
During SPINWIP, you will work in small groups led by Stanford undergrads, hear from Stanford professors and researchers, and join workshops on college planning and career paths. You’ll learn about quantum physics, lasers, light, optics, quantum computing, and cosmology, including topics like black holes, dark matter, and exoplanets. It also provides exposure to physics concepts and research methods, which can deepen your understanding of foundational concepts in electromagnetism, a core area of electrical engineering. You’ll also learn Python and use tools like Matplotlib, NumPy, and Boolean logic to complete physics projects. The program will help you develop your coding skills (Python) and apply them to physics projects, which are transferable to electrical engineering fields. You can review the full syllabus here.
15. George Mason University’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program
Location: Online (hybrid & in-person at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA)
Cost/Stipend: $1,299 for 3 college course credits + $25 application fee (Students who get free or reduced lunch at their high school, or who receive any amount of Pell Grant aid for college, qualify for 100% tuition waivers)
Acceptance Rate: Around 10%
Dates: June 18 – August 12
Application Deadline: December 8 – February 15
Eligibility: For computer lab internships, whether remote, in person, or hybrid, students need to be at least 15 years old; For in-person or hybrid wet-lab internships, students must be at least 16 years old
The Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program is a research opportunity for you to work with George Mason University faculty. You’ll develop skills in scientific writing, using research tools, communication, and problem-solving, as well as explore different STEM fields. Research areas include electrical and computer engineering, data science, math, computer science, cybersecurity, and more. Some projects may be published or presented at conferences; you can find past projects from various departments here. If you’re interested in electrical engineering, you can opt to work in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department on topics like AI hardware, microelectronics, energy harvesting and storage, quantum, nanotechnology, logic, and memory. Other possible areas include building light-than-air robots, controlling them, and brain-inspired computing.
One more option – Horizon Academic Research Program
If you’re looking for a competitive mentored research program in subjects like data science, machine learning, political theory, biology, and chemistry, 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!
Image source – George Mason University