Curious about a subject and what working as a professional would mean? Consider an internship! Summer internships here give you an accessible chance to step into professional settings, tackle real projects, and develop advanced skills that textbooks alone can’t teach. From sharpening your communication to building technical expertise, these experiences help you gain the kind of in-depth knowledge that sets you apart early on. If you’re based in or around Los Angeles, CA, you’re in luck!
What makes LA stand out is the sheer range of organizations and universities that open their doors to high school interns each year. Whether it’s working alongside doctors, journalists, engineers, or business leaders, you get access to world-class mentorship. And for students already living in Los Angeles, opting for a local program is a smart move as it delivers top-tier experience without the added costs of travel or housing. These internships combine growth, access, and affordability, making them a powerful step toward your future.
Here is a list of 15 Summer Internships for High School students in Los Angeles, CA:
1. Ladder Internship Program
Cost: Varies depending on program type. Full financial aid available.
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort. Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program for ambitious high school students! In the program, you work with a high-growth start-up on an internship. Start-ups that offer internships range across a variety of industries, from tech/deep tech and AI/ML to health tech, marketing, journalism, consulting, and more. Ladder’s start-ups are high-growth companies on average, raising over a million dollars. Interns work closely with their manager at the startup on real-world projects and present their work to the company. The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long.
2. NASA OSTEM High School Internship Programs
Location: Virtual and NASA centers across the country, including NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Pasadena
Stipend: Paid based on their academic level and session duration
Dates: Spring: 16 weeks (mid-January – early May); Summer: 10 weeks (late May – August); Fall: 16 weeks (late August – mid-December)
Application Deadline: Fall: May 22; Spring: September 12; Summer: February 27
Eligibility: Full-time high school students | Over 16 years of age | Cumulative 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale | U.S. citizens
Through NASA’s OSTEM High School Internship Program, you get the chance to contribute to real projects that support the agency’s work in science, engineering, and space exploration. Depending on your placement, you might help code for spacecraft systems, analyze satellite data, design robotics, or work on environmental monitoring projects. You’ll be paired with a mentor who guides you through your assignments and introduces you to how teams at NASA approach complex problems. Beyond technical work, the program includes professional training to prepare you for federal careers and STEM pathways..
3. Horizon Academic Research Program (HARP)
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies depending on program type. Financial aid available.
Application Date: Multiple deadlines throughout the year for the Spring, Summer and Fall cohorts.
Program Dates: The spring and fall cohorts run 15 weeks, while the summer cohort runs 10 weeks (June-September).
Eligibility: High school students with good academic standing (>3.67/4.0 GPA) can apply. Most accepted students are 10th/11th graders! A few tracks require prerequisites, see here.
Horizon offers trimester-long research programs for high school students across subject areas such as data science, machine learning, political theory, and more! Horizon is one of the few research programs for high school students that offers you the choice to engage in either quantitative or qualitative research. Once you select a particular subject track, Horizon pairs you with a professor/PhD scholar who acts as a mentor throughout your research journey. As a participant, you will be expected to develop a 20-page research paper that you can send to prestigious journals for publication as a high school student. The program also provides a letter of recommendation for each student and detailed project feedback that you can use to work on future projects.
4. Tech360
Location: New York City, Los Angeles, Miami (virtual + in-person sessions)
Stipend: $500
Dates: June – August (exact dates vary by location)
Application deadline: Priority deadline: May 4 | Final deadline: May 25
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors attending a New York City (all boroughs), Los Angeles County, Miami-Dade/Broward County, or Atlanta high school
TECH360 introduces you to computer science and artificial intelligence through hands-on lessons and team-based projects. During the program, you’ll learn coding basics such as HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap while also exploring how machine learning and predictive models work in real-world contexts. Ethical questions like bias in AI and the social impact of technology are built into the discussions, so you think about both the technical and human sides of the field. The highlight of the experience is a group project where you design either a website or an AI-driven solution and then present it to judges at Demo Day.
5. BrainSPORT Summer High School Research Internship at UCLA
Location: University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: Free of cost
Dates: June 9 – August 1
Application deadline: April
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors intending to mentor interns in the next year
At the UCLA BrainSPORT internship, you take part in research focused on concussions and brain injuries in young athletes and students. You’ll work with doctors, medical students, and research staff on projects such as CARE4Kids, a large study investigating symptoms and long-term effects of head trauma. Your role might involve recruiting participants, collecting data, or observing different forms of testing, such as cognitive assessments or imaging procedures. Weekly lab meetings give you the chance to see how researchers discuss findings and refine their studies. To wrap up the internship, you present a project based on what you learned.
6. Inspire at Cedars-Sinai
Location: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Stipend: Paid
Dates: 6- to 10-week internships in the summer
Application deadline: Rolling; early applications recommended
Eligibility: High school students ages 16+ with work eligibility in the U.S.
The INSPIRE program at Cedars-Sinai introduces you to biomedical research in a professional healthcare setting through a six- to ten-week paid internship. You’ll train under faculty mentors and gain exposure to multiple types of research, from clinical studies to lab-based projects. Part of your work includes learning research fundamentals such as safety regulations, study design, data collection, and the scientific writing process. Workshops are built into the program to help you strengthen skills like presenting results, reviewing scientific literature, and understanding how protected health information is handled. You’ll also participate in lab meetings and Journal Clubs, as well as career-focused sessions that help you explore future paths in science and medicine.
7. The Intern Project
Location: Mostly virtual, with some in-person opportunities in Los Angeles
Stipend: Paid
Dates: June 17– August 9
Application deadline: March 15
Eligibility: Students in grades 10-12 enrolled in an LA County High School
Through The Intern Project, you spend the summer gaining hands-on experience in industries across Los Angeles, ranging from healthcare and business to government, media, and the arts. Over the course of eight weeks, you’ll work on real projects at your placement site while also attending workshops designed to build professional skills such as communication, project management, and planning. The program pairs you with mentors and provides opportunities to connect with industry professionals through informational interviews. In addition to a stipend, you can also earn college credit for your participation.
8. Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program
Location: Available across all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, and the Pacific Islands. Participants are assigned to locations within a 45-minute commute of where they live
Stipend: $3,000
Dates: June – August (flexible)
Deadline: January 19
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors and rising college freshmen who are at least 16 years old by the internship start date
As a Hutton Scholar, you spend eight weeks exploring careers in fisheries biology and aquatic science through paid, mentor-guided research. Your placement is tailored to your local area, so your work might involve field studies like fish population surveys, water quality monitoring, or habitat restoration, as well as lab-based tasks such as specimen analysis and data processing. Depending on your mentor’s projects, you could find yourself electrofishing, snorkeling, or contributing to conservation outreach. Besides hands-on activities, you are expected to log hours and write reports reflecting your progress. A highlight is the Hutton Scholars Summit, where you gather with other students to share experiences.
9. Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science Project Stride
Location: Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Stipend: Paid
Dates: 10 weeks in the summer
Application deadline: February 15
Eligibility: 11th-grade high school students with 3.0+ GPA (overall and in math/science); US citizen/permanent resident; priority given to students from King/Drew Magnet High School, Alliance Health Sciences Academy, and other Watts community schools in South LA
Project STRIDE at Charles R. Drew University introduces you to clinical research through a mentored summer internship. The program runs for ten weeks and immerses you in the process of designing and carrying out a research project. You’ll learn good clinical practices, practice leadership skills, and receive training in scientific writing and abstract preparation. Throughout the program, you develop a research poster and present your findings at the Research Day symposium, which gives you experience in professional communication. The program also includes SAT prep, writing support, and resume-building workshops to strengthen your academic preparation.
10. Samuels Family Latino and African American High School Internship Program (LA-HIP)
Location: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Stipend: Paid
Dates: June 16 – August first week (tentative)
Application deadline: February 7
Eligibility: Current junior in high school from an underrepresented minority in medicine and science with a Social Security Number or DACA Number and a keen interest in STEM
The Samuels Family LA-HIP combines summer research training with year-round college preparation for high school juniors in Los Angeles. Over the summer, you’ll work in a biomedical research lab at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, learning how to maintain a lab notebook, design experiments, and present scientific results under the guidance of faculty mentors. You’ll also practice writing abstracts and share your work at the Science Symposium. During the school year, the program supports you with SAT prep, college counseling, and application workshops. The internship provides a stipend, meals, and Metro passes to support participation.
11. The Museum of Contemporary Art Teen Program
Location: The Museum of Contemporary Art
Stipend: Paid, amount not specified.
Dates: Not specified
Application deadline: June 1
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors
The MOCA Teen Program is a paid opportunity for juniors and seniors to engage with contemporary art through direct collaboration with artists and museum staff. You’ll meet weekly on Thursday evenings and some weekends to plan and carry out projects, including Teen Night and Virtual Teen Night, which bring together art, performance, and community engagement. As part of the group, you also manage social media content and contribute ideas to exhibitions or events. The program emphasizes teamwork and creative problem-solving while giving you an inside view of how museums operate. Discussions often address challenging themes in art, with guidance to help you think critically and respond constructively.
12. LA Times HS Insider Summer Internship
Location: Los Angeles Times, LA
Stipend: $16.90/hour
Dates: June 16 – August 1
Application deadline: February 26
Eligibility: High school students graduating in the next three years, residing in Los Angeles County and Orange County, California
As a participant in the LA Times HS Insider Summer Internship, you step into the role of a working journalist over a seven-week period. You’ll pitch and report stories, interview sources, write drafts, and revise your work with guidance from LA Times editors. The program covers real-world reporting, so you may find yourself covering breaking news, writing features, or experimenting with multimedia storytelling. Training sessions led by professional journalists give you insight into ethics, editorial standards, and the tools used in modern newsrooms. The pieces you produce are published on HS Insider, giving you a portfolio that reflects your work in a professional setting.
13. Eve and Gene Black Summer Medical Career Program
Location: Various medical centers across California
Stipend: $500 scholarship is awarded upon completion
Dates: Online Program 1: July 7–17 | Online Program 2: July 21–31 | In-person Program: Varies by facility
Application deadline: February 14
Eligibility: Open to high school juniors and seniors
The Eve and Gene Black Summer Medical Career Program introduces you to pediatric medicine through structured sessions and clinical exposure. Across the program, you’ll observe a wide variety of healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, surgeons, pharmacists, and therapists, through shadowing, Q&A sessions, and live demonstrations. The goal is to help you understand how different specialists collaborate to deliver care, particularly for children. Daily programming may include interactive lectures, presentations, or opportunities to observe aspects of clinical practice. You’ll also learn about less familiar but essential roles in healthcare, such as dietitians, radiologists, and child life specialists.
14. KP Launch High School Program
Location: You can intern at a Kaiser Permanente Medical Center or business office closest to where you are. Find a location near you.
Stipend: Paid opportunity (up to $24/hour)
Application deadline: Check the website for updates
Dates: June 16 – August 1
Eligibility: High school students aged 16–19 with work eligibility in the U.S. and permanent residence in a Northern California Kaiser Permanente designated service area
The KP Launch High School Program is a seven-week paid internship that focuses on the business side of healthcare rather than direct patient care. You’ll be placed in areas like administration, finance, human resources, or operations, where you’ll learn how hospitals and healthcare systems function behind the scenes. Along with day-to-day work in a professional office environment, you’ll attend weekly workshops to develop workplace skills such as project management, communication, and problem-solving. Supervisors and mentors guide you through projects and give feedback to strengthen your professional development. Networking opportunities are built into the program, giving you access to people working in different non-clinical healthcare roles.
15. CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) High School Internship Program
Location: Multiple CLA locations across the U.S.
Stipend: Paid
Dates: June 17 – July 19
Application deadline: Rolling until full
Eligibility: High school students (16+) authorised to work in the U.S. without an employment visa
The CliftonLarsonAllen High School Internship Program gives you a summer-long paid placement in a professional services environment focused on business and accounting. You’ll take part in activities such as case studies, team projects, and job shadowing to see how firms serve clients in areas like auditing, finance, and operations. Depending on your site, you might assist with documentation, observe client meetings, or contribute to internal projects that support professional staff. Alongside practical experience, you’ll be paired with mentors who help you understand the career options within professional services.
Image source – CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA)