Top 14 History Summer Programs for High School Students in 2025–2026

The top history summer programs for high school students introduce you to analytical methods historians use to interpret primary sources, debate interpretations, and learn how past events shape modern policy and decision-making. Programs like the National History Academy take this a step further by placing you in college-style seminars and site-based learning experiences where you examine historical events in the locations where they happened. 

These programs strengthen your research and analytical skills while showing colleges that you’re serious about engaging with the humanities outside the classroom. In this blog, we’re exploring some of the most exciting history programs available for high school students in 2025 and 2026. You’ll get a sense of what each program offers, who they’re designed for, and how they can strengthen your critical thinking, writing, and research skills.

• What Are the Best History Summer Programs for High School Students?
• Telluride Association Summer Seminar
• Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS)
• National History Academy
• Stanford Humanities Institute (SHI)
• Anson L. Clark Scholars Program
• Iowa Young Writer’s Studio
• Kenyon Review Young Writer’s Workshop
• UC Santa Barbara’s Research Mentorship Program
• Georgetown University Summer Academy – American Politics
• New York Historical Society’s Student Historian Internship Program
• The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History – History School
• The Met High School Internship Program
• Sotheby’s Summer Institute – Art History
• Davidson THINK Summer Institute
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Takeaways

What Are the Best History Summer Programs for High School Students?

History summer programs allow you to explore the past interactively—reading historical documents, visiting sites, and contributing to the preservation of museums. These programs emphasize historical reasoning and source-based analysis, skills that are foundational for students interested in law, public policy, and government.

These experiences also help your college applications stand out to the best history schools, like Princeton and Harvard, since you have proof that you’re interested in history and that you actively pursue it.

Below is a table of some of the best history summer programs for high school students, including each program’s name, location, and 2026 dates.

Let’s discuss them one by one.

1. Telluride Association Summer Seminar (TASS)

• Dates: June 21 – July 25, 2026
• Location: Various college campuses (TASS rotates among partner universities)
• Cost: Completely free

Telluride Association Summer Seminar is one of the rare history summer programs for high school students that is fully funded. You spend five weeks in the summer exploring how power, privilege, and social structures shape the world around you. You choose one from two tracks when you apply: 

• TASS-CBS, which looks at history, politics, art, and culture through the experiences of people of African descent
• TASS-AOS, which studies how different forms of power are built, maintained, and challenged across societies.

You’ll also live in a democratic residential community, where you help run the house, make group decisions, and take responsibility for how the space functions. To apply, you need to be a rising junior or senior and 15–17 years old by the program end date. TASS is selective, usually hosting only a small cohort to keep the seminars intimate.

If you’re aiming for Ivy League schools with strong history and humanities programs, places like Harvard, Princeton, or Columbia, TASS can add meaningful weight to your application.

We laid out the full TASS experience; take a look for more details.

2. Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS)

• Dates: (Session I) June 21 – July 3, 2026 | (Session II) July 5 – July 17, 2026 | (Session III) July 19 – July 31, 2026
• Location: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
• Cost: $7,000

Yale Young Global Scholars is a two-week academic experience shared with peers from more than 150 countries. You choose one focus area for your session: 

• Innovations in Science & Technology
• Politics of Law & Economics
• Solving Global Challenges

Even though these tracks lean STEM or policy, each one pulls in history, ethics, and global context. Days mix seminars, breakout discussions, simulations, and research-based projects, all guided by Yale-affiliated instructors. You’ll also join workshops and collaborate on a capstone project with your group.

To apply, you must be 16–18 years old by the start of Session III, fluent in English, and ready for a fast-paced academic setting. YYGS is competitive, with the 2024 session having roughly an 18% acceptance rate. Applications require essays, transcripts, and a $75 fee (with waivers available).

You can read our complete breakdown of YYGS here.

3. National History Academy

• Dates: June 28 – July 24, 2026
• Location: Middleburg, Virginia (with site visits across VA, MD, WV, PA, and Washington, D.C.)
• Cost/Benefits: $9,995

National History Academy is a four-week residential experience that mixes classroom discussion with place-based learning, allowing you to study American history where it happened. You’re walking the grounds where presidents debated, soldiers marched, and civil rights leaders organized.

The program is for rising 10th–12th graders. Across the month, you’ll spend three days a week visiting historic sites and three days in the classroom. Expect trips to major landmarks in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Yyou’ll study themes like colonial life, the founding ideals of liberty and equality, the political and moral conflicts around slavery, industrialization, and the long struggle for civil rights.

In class, you’ll engage in case discussions, parliamentary debates, and workshops. If you’re planning to apply to Ivy League or top-20 schools with strong history or humanities programs, this kind of immersive learning can stand out on your application.

4. Stanford Summer Humanities Institute (SHI)

• Dates: (Session 1)June 21 – July 10, 2026 | (Session 2) July 12 – July 31, 2026
• Location: Stanford University, Stanford, California
• Cost/Benefits: $8,850 tuition; residential program with access to Stanford faculty, libraries, and campus resources

Stanford’s Summer Humanities Institute is a three-week exploration into humanities subjects where rising juniors and seniors can choose from eight seminar-style courses: 

• Ancient Rome and Its Legacies
• Books to Bollywood
• Colonial Extractions of African Cultural Treasures
• The Greeks and Beyond
• Happiness and the Good Life
• Magical Realism: One Hundred Years of Solitude
• Racial Identity in the American Imagination
• Revolutions

SHI also includes guided conversations with professors and graduate students, plus an independent research project during the final week.

To apply, you must be in grades 10–11 at the time of applying and under 18 when the program begins. Admissions is holistic, and you’re placed into the course that best matches your background and interests.

Want the specifics on SHI? We organized everything in one place.

5. Anson L. Clark Scholars Program

• Dates: June 21 – August 6, 2026
• Location: Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
• Cost/Benefits: Free for selected scholars

The Anson L. Clark Scholars Program is one of the most selective research opportunities that accepts only twelve juniors and seniors. You work directly in a lab or academic department, researching different fields, including History. 

You’ll spend the summer developing a research project that reflects your interests under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Participants are typically at the top of their class; average test scores hover around the 99th percentile, and selection is based on academic performance, recommendations, essays, and your long-term goals.

To apply, you must be at least 17 by the program start date and will graduate in 2026 or 2027. Transcripts, standardized test scores, and several short essays are required. Clark Scholars is one of the strongest signals you can send to research-heavy schools.

Check out our full overview of the Clark Scholars Program to get the complete picture.

6. Iowa Young Writers’ Studio (IYWS)

• Dates: (Session 1) June 14 – 27, 2026 | (Session 2) July 12 – 25, 2026
• Location: University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
• Cost: $2,500 per two-week residential session; $475 for six-week online courses

The Iowa Young Writers’ Studio is your chance to write in one of the most iconic literary communities in the country. You spend two weeks on campus and choose a core course in fiction, poetry, creative writing, TV writing, or playwriting.  You’ll attend workshops and readings by published authors and plenty of writing-focused activities.

If you prefer something more flexible, IYWS also offers six-week asynchronous online courses taught by graduates of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. These classes require 3–4 hours a week and include writing assignments, reading, peer critiques, and online discussions.

While this isn’t a dedicated history program, it can allow you to explore history through storytelling. You can use historical topics or settings in fiction, or read personal essays written in the past (which can help bring history to life more).

Admissions focus on your enthusiasm for writing, your willingness to engage with the course, and the potential shown in your submitted work. To apply, you must currently be in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade. If you’re applying for fiction, poetry, or creative writing, your writing sample should be no more than ten pages of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, or any combination of the three.

We put together a breakdown of IYWS; feel free to explore it.

7. Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop

• Dates: (Online Workshop) June 14–19, 2026 | (Residential Session 1) June 21 – July 4, 2026 | (Residential Session 2) July 12 – 25, 2026
• Location: Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio
• Cost: $2,575

The Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop is a two-week exploration focused on creative writing. Workshops are generative, which means you’re writing constantly and producing pieces in fiction, poetry, essays, and hybrid forms. With small groups of 12–14 students, you get regular feedback from instructors and peers. The online one-week workshop offers a shorter, multi-genre version of this experience.

Admissions focuses heavily on your 300-word statement and teacher recommendation, and the program is highly selective; they look for students who combine talent, curiosity, and the ability to thrive in a collaborative residential setting.

Similar to the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, although the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop is primarily a writing program, it also allows you to explore historical themes through the pieces you write and read.

You’re eligible to apply if you’ll be 16–18 years old at the time of the program. Most participants are rising juniors and seniors, though exceptionally strong applicants who have just graduated are also considered.

We laid out the Young Writer’s Workshop experience; take a look for more details.

8. UC Santa Barbara Research Mentorship Program (RMP)

• Dates: June 15 – July 31, 2026
• Location: UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California
• Cost/Benefits: (Commuter) $5,675; (Residential) $13,274

UC Santa Barbara’s Research Mentorship Program is a six-week experience for high-achieving students. You’ll choose a research project from a long list of disciplines, everything from engineering and physics to social sciences and humanities, and spend 35 to 50 hours each week exploring what you chose. RMP also includes the GRIT Lecture Series, in which leading UCSB researchers present their latest breakthroughs and academic work.

To apply, you must be in 10th or 11th grade (exceptional 9th graders may be considered), have at least a 3.80 weighted GPA, and submit transcripts, AP scores (if available), and a 500-word personal statement outlining a process-based research question. Once matched to a project, you begin the research the very next day.

You can read our complete breakdown of RMP here.

9. Georgetown University Summer Academy – American Politics

• Dates: June 7 – 13, 2026
• Location: Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
• Cost/Benefits: (Residentia) $3,725 |  (Commuter) $3,095

Georgetown’s American Politics Academy lets you spend a week studying how the U.S. government works. There will be lectures, debates, and small-group discussions that cover Congress and the presidency, the judiciary’s influence, public opinion, interest groups, foreign policy, and even tax and spending authority.

The program is fast-paced and immersive, allowing you to participate in congressional simulations and explore current political issues alongside Georgetown faculty.

To apply, you’ll need to submit a 300–500-word personal statement explaining why you want to attend, show a minimum 2.0 GPA, and be in 8th–12th grade during the school year before the program. Successful participants receive a Certificate of Participation at the end of the week.

10. New York Historical Society Student Historian Internship Program

• Dates: October 29, 2025 – June 24, 2026
• Location: New York Historical Society, New York, NY
• Cost/Benefits: Free internship with $700 stipend

The Student Historian Internship at the New York Historical Society puts you in museum work for several weeks during the summer, where you’ll partner with curators, archivists, and education staff to help research and present history to public audiences. The program is selective, accepting only 25 interns per cohort.

You’ll also participate in professional development workshops that teach you how to build resumes and talk about history professionally. Interns often build portfolios of original research, exhibit support materials, or visitor resources that showcase their contributions.

Eligibility generally requires strong academic performance, an interest in history or museum work, and a thoughtful application with writing samples or project proposals. All interns receive a $700 stipend after completing the program. Participation can also be used to fulfill the extracurricular requirement for the NYSED Seal of Civic Readiness.

11. Gilder Lehrman History School

• Dates: Offered each summer (live online courses; recordings available year-round)
• Location: Online, live via Zoom
• Cost: Completely free

The Gilder Lehrman History School allows you to join live, interactive classes taught by Gilder Lehrman master teachers. Each session focuses on a specific idea, event, document, or turning point in American history.

You’ll explore topics through real-time lessons, Q&A, and document analysis, and you can revisit recorded sessions anytime. Courses from past summers include the following:

• AP US Government and Politics: An Overview
• AP US Government and Politics: American Government and You
• AP US Government and Politics: Foundational Documents.

Since the program is free and open to all high school students, there’s no formal application—just sign up and show up.

12. The Met High School Internship Program

• Dates: Summer session (exact 2026 dates released annually)
• Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
• Cost/Benefits: Free and paid internship

The Met High School Internship Program is a paid opportunity to explore how one of the world’s greatest museums operates from the inside. This program is for students in grades 10 and 11 who live and attend school in NY, NJ, or CT. Throughout the summer, you’ll meet one-on-one and in small groups with staff across departments and learn how museum professionals do their work.

The Met looks for applicants who demonstrate enthusiasm, reliability, and a willingness to learn, rather than prior art knowledge. To apply, you’ll submit an online application, short essay responses, and one recommendation letter from a teacher, administrator, or trusted adult who can speak to your strengths.

Interns receive a $1,100 stipend at the end of the program, aligned with New York State minimum wage requirements. This paid summer program is a strong experience to highlight on applications to Ivy League or top-20 universities, especially those with strong programs in history, art history, humanities, or museum studies.

13. Sotheby’s Summer Institute – Art History

• Dates: (Term 1) July 5–19, 2026 | (Term 2) July 19–31, 2026
• Location: New York City
• Cost/Benefits: (Residential) $7,695 | (Day Program) $6,195

Sotheby’s Summer Institute gives you a two-week, in-person introduction to art history in New York. Sotheby’s is one of the most famous and respected art institutions in the world. They’re known for their auction houses, expertise in the art market, and work with museums, collectors, and artists. As a result, they bring insider experience to the program. Their connections and expertise make them the perfect place to show you how art is studied, curated, and shared.

Designed for rising 10th–12th graders and graduating seniors, the course mixes lectures with access to museums, galleries, and artists’ studios. You’ll study artworks, movements, and global cultures that shaped the history of art. While the curriculum overlaps with AP Art History, it extends well beyond it, particularly through in-person exposure to significant works and artistic traditions.

To apply, you’ll complete an online application and show readiness for fast-paced academic work, though no prior art history experience or knowledge is required.

14. Davidson THINK Summer Institute

• Dates: (Session Three) July 5–9, Ages 11–13 | (Session Four) July 12–16, Ages 11–13
• Location: University of Nevada, Reno
• Cost/Benefits: $4,350

Davidson THINK Summer Institute is a three-week academic program where you take college classes at the University of Nevada, Reno and earn transferable credit. THINK lets you choose two university courses taught by UNR professors while you live in university housing and work closely with instructors.

The program builds a strong community through evening activities, study sessions, and weekend events. THINK seeks students who are ready for college coursework and can manage the responsibilities that come with taking college classes. Admission typically requires strong grades, test scores, and evidence that you’re prepared for advanced academic work.

Because THINK offers actual university credit and gives you a chance to perform in a college environment, it stands out on applications to Ivy League and top-20 universities.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the best history summer programs for high school students in 2025–2026?

Some of the strongest and most respected options include the Telluride Association Summer Seminar (TASS), Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS), National History Academy, Stanford Summer Humanities Institute (SHI), and the New York Historical Society Student Historian Internship. These programs offer college-level seminars, archival work, museum research, and immersive site visits.

2. Are there free history summer programs for high school students?

Yes. Several top programs are free or offer full funding, including TASS, the Gilder Lehrman History School, and the New York Historical Society Internship, which also provides a stipend. Many others offer financial aid.

3. What subjects do history summer programs typically cover?

Depending on the program, you might study U.S. history, global history, political movements, art history, cultural studies, social justice, or historical research methods. Some programs also include museum work, archival training, or policy-focused topics like American government.

4. How can history summer programs help with college admissions?

Programs like TASS, SHI, YYGS, and National History Academy show Ivy League and top-20 schools that you can already handle college-level humanities work. These experiences prove you can think critically, use evidence well, and engage with complex historical questions—which are skills that admissions officers look for in future history, political science, IR, and art history majors.

5. When should I apply for history summer programs?

Most applications open in the fall and close between December and March. Competitive programs like TASS, SHI, and YYGS require essays, transcripts, and recommendations, so it’s smart to start preparing materials early in the school year.

Takeaways

• History summer programs allow you to explore the past in a hands-on way—reading real documents, debating ideas, visiting historic sites, and seeing how the past connects to what’s happening today. You also get to learn from professors, museum curators, and historians.
• Programs like TASS, SHI, National History Academy, and the Met Internship give you college-style learning, and some are even free or come with a stipend.
• If you love history or the humanities, checking out these programs with the help of a college admissions expert is one of the easiest ways to grow your skills and build a strong portfolio for your future college applications.