STEM Programs for Students

Learn more about science, technology, engineering and math through an in-person or virtual camp, internship, or competition.

Free and Low Cost Minnesota Summer Opportunities

Minnesota STEM Camps with Financial Aid Available

free national STEM Camps

STEM Tutoring

STEM Competitions, Leagues and Symposiums

STEM Internships and Programs for Teens

STEM Awards

Is your family eligible for free or reduced lunch? If you’re a 3-11 grader, you are eligible to apply for a $1,000 grant toward summer camp form the Minnesota Department of Higher Education’s Summer Academic Enrichment grant.

Biomedical Engineering Summer High School Internship Program, University of Minnesota
Gain hands-on experience in biomedical engineering the summer before your senior year through a paid, award-winning, six-week internship program in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota.

CAV Career Pathways Camp
The CAV Career Pathways Camp is a one-week day camp for high school students interested in vehicles and the latest technology. Students learn about connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technology and explore career opportunities in a cutting-edge industry that will help shape the future of transportation. The camp is free to attend, and lunch is provided.

Discover STEM, University of Minnesota
A week-long summer day camp for students entering 11th and 12th grades that offers a hands-on introduction to STEM opportunities.

Eureka!
Eureka! is a 5-year STEM program for girls to build friendships and explore career interests and dreams. Eureka! is a free program, there are also monetary stipends for those who complete the program.

EX.I.T.E. Camp (EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering)
EX.I.T.E. Camp is a free, five day camp that empowers middle school girls and gender expansive youth with disabilities in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). EX.I.T.E. Camp provides a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for fun, hands-on learning, as well as a place to meet new friends and create lasting memories.

Go4Brains
A week-long Neuroscience Program at the University of Minnesota for students underrepresented in science and medicine.

MathCEP Math Modeling Camp, University of Minnesota
How is math used to solve important problems facing our world today? Mathematical models help us to study the effects of traffic on a bridge, predict trends in population and disease, or estimate the climate’s impact on natural resources. Students should currently be enrolled in high school and have completed a year-long course in single variable calculus by the end of the school year.  High school seniors who will have graduated by July are still eligible!

National Summer Transportation Institute, University of Minnesota
Free two-week summer day camp at the University of Minnesota introduces 7-9 graders to the many aspects of the transportation field.

Next-Gen: AI & Data Science Summer Camp, St. Catherine University
Free week-long summer camp designed to encourage the next generation of high school young women to explore how to harness the power of data and AI to solve real-world problems in a wide range of applications. These innovative and interactive byte sized lessons are created age-appropriately to cover topics on the relations of AI & the Art, AI & Facial Recognition, AI & the Environment, and AI & Ethics, how to tell stories with data using Data Visualization. We will also use data to analyze climate and social issues using Data Analytics. 

Nitro-X
Nitro-X camps are designed for middle or high school students and are hosted by Minnesota State Colleges and Minnesota High Schools. This camp offers students the opportunity to explore careers in transportation through hands-on activities with radio controlled cars.

Relentless Academy
Relentless Academy provides a free, full-day S.M.A.R.T. Summer Program in Brooklyn Center for youth in grades K-12 which includes music lessons, coding/robotics, and financial literacy.

<RUN>:\THE\WORLD Machine Learning Summer Day Camp
These camps are for 11th and 12th graders interested in exploring machine learning. Learn cool programming and math techniques to work on hands-on projects with real world data. Basic and advanced camps are offered, and a girls only (girl-identifying or non-binary students regardless of sex assigned at birth) session is available.

STARBASE
Summer campers plan a mission to Mars by learning about 3D printing, robotics, and virtual reality. For children entering grades 4-6 whose whose parents work for one of STARBASE Minnesota’s corporate partners and the Minnesota Guard.

STEPS, University of St. Thomas
One-day no-cost engineering program for girls who are currently in 6th or 8th grade.

Summer Computing Academy, UMN
One or two week free camps for female middle and high school students. The main goal of this program is to teach computer programming using python.

Bakken Museum Summer Camps
The Bakken offers day camps for students entering grades 2 through 9. Students will develop hands-on STEM skills during each session while practicing creativity, compassion, and persistence as they design inventions. Robust scholarships are available.

Bell Museum Summer Camps
Virtual and in-person camps are available. Check website for dates. Robust scholarship options are available.

Innovation Camp at Hamline University
This camp will introduce high schoolers to basic principles and best practices of the innovation process and provide the opportunity to develop and present an innovation plan. Scholarships are available.

Microscope Adventure Camp at Hamline University
Students will observe and understand an "invisible" microscopic world revealed by light microscopes and Hamline's state-of-the-art scanning electron microscope. Students will also use photomicrography to present and explain your scientific observations. Scholarships are available.

Minnesota Aviation Career Education Camp
This summer program includes a variety of guided tours, guest speakers, hands-on activities, demonstrations, static displays, and the opportunity to pilot a single-engine aircraft, glider, helicopter, and full-motion airline simulator with an FAA Certified Flight Instructor. The purpose of the program is to bridge the gap between classroom and career, helping students visualize themselves in different aviation and aerospace jobs. Financial aid is available.

Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth
Offers a variety of STEM academic programs taught by master teachers. Financial aid is available.

Renewable Energy Camp at Hamline University
The Renewable Energy Camp will enhance high schoolers’ understanding of renewable energy and demonstrate how to design, test, construct, fabricate, and present energy conversion and storage devices. Scholarships are available.

Science Museum of Minnesota Summer Camps
Camps available for ages 6–16. Topics include art, biology, carpentry, chemistry, coding, engineering, magic, media, paleontology, space, and more. Financial aid awards will be available to families for whom registration fees are a barrier.

YMCA Camps
YMCAs in Minnesota offer a variety of summer camps, many of which are focused on ecology or other STEM topics. Bus stops are found throughout the Twin Cities metro, and financial aid is available.

National Youth Science Academy
Free camp with lectures, directed studies, and seminars.

Project Scientist Scholars
Project Scientist Scholars is a free, virtual STEM Mentoring and Leadership development program designed to engage and empower girls ages 13-18 who have an interest in a STEM-focused education and careers.

Living Room Tutors
Living Room Tutors is a free web-based service that connects volunteer student mentors and students who need support. They offer resources for students, families, and educators to improve the learning experience of K-12 students.

TutoringMN
Provides free high-quality classes and small group tutoring. Tutors are primarily high school students who are passionate about teaching and helping students reach their full potential.

Computational Linguistics Olympiad
This olympiad is a contest in which high-school students solve linguistic puzzles. In solving the problems, students learn about the diversity and consistency of language, while exercising logic skills. No prior knowledge of linguistics or second languages is necessary.

Engineering Machine Design Contest
The Engineering Machine Design Contest is an opportunity for teams of students to design and build a complex machine using everyday objects with the guidance of a coach. The completed machine will use multiple steps to complete a simple task. Teams showcase and exhibit their machine at a regional contest with the opportunity to advance to the Engineering Machine Design Championship

ExploraVision
The ExploraVision competition for K-12 students engages the next generation in real world problem solving with a strong emphasis on STEM. ExploraVision challenges students envision and communicate new technology 10 or more years in the future through collaborative brainstorming and research of current science and technology.

Farmcraft
Farmcraft is an educational program that uses Minecraft to enhance the understanding of the challenges faced by agricultural producers and distributors around the world. The program is open to all ages, but is designed to supplement the learning of students ranging from 8-18 years of age. 

Future City Competition
Future City is a project-based learning program where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future.

First Lego League and Tech Challenge
Programs for kids K-12 inspiring kids to build confidence.

Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS)
This research paper competition promotes original research and experimentation in STEM at the high school level and publicly recognizes students for outstanding achievement. JSHS aims to widen the pool of trained talent prepared to conduct vital research and development.

KidWind Challenge
The KidWind Challenge is a hands-on design celebration that engages students through the lens of wind and solar energy. Student teams design, construct, and test small scale wind turbines and solar structures at events all over the world.

Med City Youth Institute
The Med City Youth Institute is a life-changing experience at the University of Minnesota Rochester where high school students engage with local leaders and experts on critical global challenges, participate in hands-on activities, and explore exciting ways to make a difference in Minnesota and around the world.

Minnesota Science Olympiad
Team competition is patterned after track tournaments with challenging and motivational events ranging from earth science through physics. Events range from hands-on labs to student built machines, from outdoor events to paper and pencil tests.

Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair (MSSEF)
Each year, more than 500 of Minnesota's best and brightest students qualify for MSSEF out of more than 3,000 students competing at Regional Science Fairs. Through this annual, project-based competition, we aim to help students become informed citizens who are well versed in scientific research methods, and to inspire them to pursue STEM majors and STEM careers.

Minnesota Youth Institute (MNYI)
MNYI is an interactive daylong program where teens from across the state come to the St. Paul campus of the U of M for an immersive science experience and they have the opportunity to connect with research and industry leaders. Students are also eligible for scholarships, paid internships, as well as potentially being selected to represent Minnesota at the Global Youth Institute and World Food Prize.

Morris Challenge Youth Institute
The Morris Challenge Youth Institute is a life-changing experience at the University of Minnesota Morris where high school students engage with local leaders and experts on critical global challenges, participate in hands-on activities, and explore exciting ways to make a difference in Minnesota and around the world.

Northern Great Plains Youth Institute
The Northern Great Plains Youth Institute is a life-changing experience at the University of Minnesota Crookston where high school students engage with local leaders and experts on critical global challenges, participate in hands-on activities, and explore exciting ways to make a difference in Minnesota and around the world.

Real World Design Challenge
The Real World Design Challenge (RWDC) is an annual competition that provides high school students, grades 9-12, the opportunity to work on real world engineering challenges in a team environment.

Science Bowl
The Science Bowl is a regional academic competition among Minnesota schools in a rapid-fire, question-and-answer format.

Supermilage Challenge
The objective of the competition is to provid a challenging project that allows practical experience in design, fabrication, and testing.

Best Buy Teen Tech Centers
Best Buy Teen Tech Centers are a place where youth can develop critical skills through hands-on activities that explore their interests in programming, film-making, music production and design. Multiple centers are located in the Twin Cities.

Code Next Connect from Google
An online program for high school students across the United States. Code Next Connect consists of various clubs that students can apply to be a part of, where they engage in lessons with real Google employees. Club topics range from game design to hardware development. Programming is open to high school students anywhere in the United States, though we specifically target 9th-10th grade students. Clubs happen three times a year: fall term, winter term, and spring term.

Conservation Corps in Minnesota Youth Programs
Opportunities are for students 15-18. Summer Youth Corps is a residential program where participants work on a crew, camp in State Parks throughout Minnesota, and work to restore natural areas by maintaining hiking trails, building boardwalk, planting trees, and removing invasive plants. Youth Outdoors is a after-school program for Saint Paul, Ramsey County and Minneapolis teens. Participants meet at neighborhood parks and lead neighborhood volunteers to improve parks and restore natural resources.

Dream STEM Lead
Dream STEM Lead is a six-week virtual and tech-centered entrepreneurial experience for 200 young women of color, ages 16 to 24.

Environmental Stewardship Institute
The Friends of the Mississippi River’s Environmental Stewardship Institute (ESI) fosters a diverse next generation of environmental leaders through an immersive program of local river issues and professional development that supports an interdisciplinary exploration of the environmental field. ESI provides a paid job experience and foundational learning to a group of students curious about environmental career paths. Upon completing the program, fellows are more prepared for continued schooling in environmental subjects and have work experience to lean on for future job opportunities across a variety of disciplines in the environmental field.

Girls Dream Code
Girls Dream Code provides free tech workshops to young minority girls in the Twin Cities to empower them to pursue an interest in technology and aim to decrease the gender & diversity gap that exists in tech.

Medtronic Biomedical Exploring Post
Medtronic’s Biomedical Exploring Post program is geared toward young adults interested in math and sciences. Each meeting aims to provide students with hands on activities or discussions and presentations given by expert engineers and scientists. Anyone who is 14-20 years old, has completed 8th grade, and has an interest in possible careers in STEM is invited to join the Exploring Post program.

Minnesota State IT Center of Excellence
Part of an initiative created by the MN state legislature to encourage engagement among students, teachers, IT professionals, and employers in order to advance IT education, the IT Center offers several programs for students.

Mississippi River Fellowship
This 10-week fellowship is a paid opportunity for diverse and underrepresented young adults ages 18-25 to explore the different branches of the National Park Service including Visitor Services, Interpretation & Education, Natural & Cultural Resource Management, and the Volunteer Program. The fellows work directly with National Park Service Rangers, Mississippi Park Connection staff, and other park partners to facilitate educational programs, habitat restoration events, and wildlife monitoring on the Mississippi River.

Phoenix Internship Program
The Phoenix Program is a partnership between MnDOT and Project Lead The Way which provides student jobs and paid internships for high school students enrolled in science, technology, engineering or mathematics courses at area Project Lead the Way high schools.

Project PEACE (Promote Environmental Action and Community Empowerment)

Rise Challenge
Rise is a program that finds brilliant people who need opportunity and supports them for life as they work to serve others. The program starts at ages 15–17 and offers a lifetime of benefits including scholarships, mentorship, access to career development opportunities, funding, and more as Global Winners work toward solving humanity’s most pressing problems.

Rooted in STEM
Rooted in STEM is a UMN-Twin Cities program for 11th and 12th grade students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM. Each month, participants will network with peers while learning about current topics in research and academic programs, and explore potential careers. There will be presentations, laboratory tours, science and technology demonstrations, and Q&A sessions.

Saturday Morning Math
Saturday Morning Math programs usually take place on the UMN-Twin Cities campus, where students participate in interactive activities, conduct hands-on experiments, and work closely with outstanding instructors and University student mentors.

Stanford Neuroscience Journal Club
The Stanford Neuroscience Journal Club’s intent is to mentor high-school scientists in the critical analysis of a scientific paper and encourage participants to consider a career in the Neurosciences. Our once-per-month meetings offer students an opportunity to read and discuss scientific literature and newsworthy developments in the field of neuroscience in a low-pressure environment with expert Stanford scientists. There are no coursework prerequisites for participation, just a curiosity for science and a desire to learn how to understand scientific literature.

STEMGLOW
STEMGlow is the first STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) mentorship program for girls of color (Guided Learning for Girls of Color) in the Rochester Public School district. STEMGlow allows middle school students to engage in real, hands-on research. The program has been launched as an after-school club in the middle schools in collaboration with the science teachers and the Rochester Regional STEM Fair leadership. Students will receive 1:1 coaching for pursuing a research project and developing leadership skills.

Tutoring MN
If you are a high school student passionate about STEM, consider serving with Tutoring MN, an organization that matches students in need of tutoring with students in order to bridge the opportunity gap.

Yes! Eco Youth Solutions
The Minnesota YES! program is a model for both youth engagement and social change, empowering youth to drive the vision for YES! towards achieving sustainable best practices in their community.

Youth Environmental Activists (YEA), Climate Generation
Join Youth Environmental Activists to take climate change action in your school, community, and local-elected body, and build youth power.

YEA! Campaigns leader, Climate Generation
Become a climate leader in your community by learning about, and leading a local campaign in your town/city/district, Includes a stipend.

Minnesota Scholars of Distinction Award Program
Paused until the 2022-2023 school year