15 Finance Summer Programs for Girls in High School
If you’re a girl in high school who is interested in finance, summer is the perfect time to explore the field.
What do finance programs cover?
Finance summer programs allow you to discover how the industry really works, from investment banking to financial planning. You'll also build essential finance literacy skills, and meet inspiring women finance professionals who can share their journeys, advice and insights.
How are finance programs helpful for high school girls?
Many organizations now offer finance summer programs especially designed to increase female representation in finance and create strong pathways for young women who are passionate about finance. Many programs on the list offer professional skills development, helping you build skill sets in leadership, communication, critical thinking and public speaking that are valuable in any career.
For adjacent opportunities, you might be interested in participating in business programs for girls in high school. For a more international experience, you could also have a look at finance programs abroad.
In this blog, we’ve compiled a list of 15 finance summer programs for girls in high school. This list includes finance courses, mentorship programs, and entrepreneurship bootcamps designed to build confidence, competence and clarity about your future in finance.
15 Finance Summer Programs for Girls in High School
1. Rock The Street, Wall Street
Location: Partner with high schools and financial industry training sites, multiple cities
Cost/Stipend: Not specified
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective
Dates: Varies based on location
Application Deadline: Varies based on location
Eligibility: High school students; female or female-identifying students; interest in finance or investment careers
Rock The Street, Wall Street focuses on providing financial and investment education to young women through structured instruction, industry access, and mentorship. You will gain financial knowledge through lectures, presentations, and workshops that cover investing fundamentals and financial markets. You'll apply what you learn by building investment portfolios, analyzing companies, and even developing mock businesses. The program includes industry visits, where you will see finance in action, meet professionals, and participate in discussions about career paths and workplace culture. A key highlight of the program is the mentorship, which pairs you with a finance professional who provides individualized advice and helps you map out a plan for your academic or career pathway.
2. Young Founders Lab
Location: This program is 100% virtual, with live, interactive workshops
Cost: Varies according to program. There is need-based financial aid
Dates: Varies by the cohort
Application Deadline: There are 3 application deadlines that you can choose between; more details in the brochure!
Eligibility: Open to all high school students
The Young Founder’s Lab is a real-world start-up boot camp founded and run by Harvard entrepreneurs. In this program, you will work towards starting a revenue-generating start-up that addresses a real-world problem, which can include building a non-profit. Throughout the program, you'll be mentored by established entrepreneurs and professionals from companies such as Google, Microsoft, and X. Apart from building the start-up itself, you will participate in interactive classes on business fundamentals and business ideation, workshops and skill-building sessions, case studies, and panel discussions.
Through this mix of instruction and hands-on work, you gain exposure to both the theoretical and practical aspects of entrepreneurial finance. The program invites young, female students looking to develop financial, accounting, and entrepreneurial skills to build their ventures. You can check out the brochure for the program here.
3. Invest in Her: Financial Literacy and Leadership for Women
Location: The Foundry Innovation Hub, Fordham University, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: Not specified
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective
Dates: Summer program (exact dates not specified)
Application Deadline: Applications processed on a rolling basis
Eligibility: Female high school students; interest in finance, business, or leadership
The Invest in Her business program is designed for female high school students looking to strengthen their financial knowledge and develop professional skill sets. During the program, you will study core financial literacy fundamentals, including the workings of financial markets, accounting principles, and financial statements. You will engage in hands-on learning by working on projects and developing critical thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills. Beyond the classroom, you will learn the basics of professional behaviour and workplace etiquette, helping you build the confidence required for the workplace.
4. Ladder Internship Program
Location: Remote
Cost: Varies; Financial aid is available
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Around 10%; 70-100 students
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application Deadline: Varies depending on the cohort
Eligibility: High school students who can work for 8-12 weeks
Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program that places high school students with fast-growing startups across a range of industries. The start-ups offering internships span various fields, including finance, tech/deep tech, AI/ML, health tech, marketing, journalism, and consulting. Ladder’s start-ups are high-growth companies backed by Y Combinator and have raised an average of over $1 million in funding. Beyond your placement, the program includes one-on-one training in communication and time management, as well as group learning sessions with other interns. Startups in the program are often led by founders with experience at organizations such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, offering you mentorship shaped by real industry experience. If you intern at a finance or related firm, you can build financial, accounting, and economics skills in a practical professional environment.
5. Girls Who Start
Location: Virtual events and school-based chapters coordinated through Girls Who Start international programming
Cost/Stipend: Not specified
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Moderate
Dates: Varies based on program
Application Deadline: Applications processed on a rolling basis
Eligibility: Middle school, high school or college girls; interest in entrepreneurship or leadership; open internationally
Girls Who Start offers an experiential learning opportunity for girls that simulates a professional internship environment while helping you to build entrepreneurial and career-ready skills. During the experience, you’ll explore entrepreneurship-focused topics, develop professional skills such as communication, collaboration and time management, and work on your college applications. You’ll be attending webinars hosted by professors, exploring different academic pathways, and engaging in community service that broadens your perspective. By the end of the program, you’d have refined your resume, worked on college essays and participated in college counselling sessions. A key highlight of the program is the opportunity to develop your own business idea and pitch it to an audience, thus learning entrepreneurship and finance in action.
6. Kelley Women’s Leadership Institute (KWLI)
Location: Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Cost/Stipend: Tuition-based program; need-based financial assistance available
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective
Dates: 1-week summer institute (exact dates vary)
Application Deadline: Typically spring (exact deadline varies)
Eligibility: High school female students (typically rising juniors/seniors) interested in business
The Kelly Women's Leadership Institute offers a leadership program for women looking to pursue a career path in business. The Institute provides mentorship, and real-world experience where you will build leadership and communication skills and receive guidance from successful women business professionals. During the program, you will take part in lectures, engage in hands-on learning through a business case project, and work alongside like-minded peers. The program includes career exploration, where you'll learn about different areas within business, from finance and marketing to operations and entrepreneurship, network with professionals, and understand which areas align with your strengths and interests.
7. Girls With Impact Innovation Academy
Location: Virtual program
Cost/Stipend: Tuition-based
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective
Dates: Multi-week summer or semester-format programs (exact dates vary by cohort)
Application Deadline: Cohort-based deadlines
Eligibility: High school girls interested in business, entrepreneurship, and leadership
Girls With Impact offers a hands-on entrepreneurship program for young girls to work on their own business project while building leadership and professional skills. The program takes place over nine sessions, where you work on a business plan and learn core business concepts through lectures and presentations. You'll put into practice what you've learnt by working on business budgeting, market analysis, prototyping, creating a minimum viable product, and a pitch deck that clearly communicates your vision. Instructors within the Academy help you navigate different stages of building a business. You receive ongoing guidance and feedback throughout the process, helping you build confidence and develop leadership and public speaking skills.
8. Council for Economic Education (CEE) Invest in Girls
Location: Invest in Girls partner schools with virtual options available
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective
Dates: Academic year + summer programming options (exact dates vary by offering)
Application Deadline: Varies by partner program or cohort
Eligibility: High school girls interested in financial literacy, investing, and careers in finance
Invest in Girls offers a financial foundation series for high school girls looking to strengthen their financial knowledge and plan for their future. The series is divided into three parts, each focusing on a core area of financial growth. You'll begin with personal finance fundamentals, learning how to create budgets, navigate taxes, and understand credit and interest rates. From there, you'll explore investing basics, learning how to build an investment portfolio, and understanding stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The final component emphasizes career readiness, covering professional skills such as interviewing, presenting yourself in a workplace, and building a financial safety net. Investment Girls also offers a mentorship program where you will be paired with women in finance who will provide guidance and help you through your academic and career trajectory.
9. Young Women in Finance Programme
Location: Financial institutions and partner finance organizations in the U.S and U.K.
Cost/Stipend: Not specified
Acceptance Rate/Cohort size: Selective
Dates: Primarily summer based internships with the main programme extending to multiple academic years (exact dates not specified)
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Female students; high school or early university level; interest in finance careers
The Young Women in Finance program offers a long-term experiential learning opportunity for women looking to pursue a career in finance. The program starts from your senior year of high school and extends till university. A key component of the program is practical experience. You'll undertake two internships at various financial institutions such as banks, where you'll work on financial models and real-world analysis. You'll also work towards earning the CISI corporate finance and capital markets qualification, strengthening your technical credibility early in your career journey. After completing the program, you’ll receive continued guidance and support in securing a permanent position, with connections with banks, funds, and institutional investors.
10. Athena Summer Innovation Institute
Location: Athena Center for Leadership, Barnard College, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: Tuition-based
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Competitive
Dates: One summer session in July (exact dates not specified)
Application Deadline: Rolling until full
Eligibility: High school students; female or female-identifying students; rising 10th–12th grade typically targeted
The Athena Summer Innovation Institute is a three-week program that helps you turn your ideas into action. During the course of the program, you'll work in teams to create a startup, nonprofit, or advocacy-based business from the ground up. You will receive mentorship from instructors throughout the program and explore fundamental entrepreneurship concepts through workshops and classes on negotiation, financing, branding, customer research, startup finances, branding, and marketing. You'll also have opportunities to visit successful women entrepreneurs and witness startups in action, gaining insights into how the founders navigate real-world challenges. The experience culminates in a final pitch presentation where you will pitch your venture to peers and faculty.
11. Girls Inc. of NYC Financial Literacy Programs
Location: Girls Inc. of New York City program sites and partner community locations, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: Varies based on program
Acceptance Rate/Cohort size: Selective
Dates: Varies based on program
Application Deadline: Applications processed on a rolling basis
Eligibility: Girls; school-age students; NYC community participants
Girls Inc. of NYC introduces teen girls to financial education through an experiential finance curriculum designed to reshape how you think about and manage money. The program breaks down everyday finance topics into clear, practical lessons, helping you learn about investing, financial planning, saving for college, applying for loans, and strategies to improve your credit. In addition to financial education, the Girl Boss program focuses on preparing young women for leadership and entrepreneurship. You'll explore ideation, business planning, prototyping and pitching, while strengthening your professional skills such as communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and leadership.
12. Girls for Econ Programs
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: $0
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Moderate
Dates: Varies based on course
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students ages 11–18; no prior economics or finance knowledge required
Girls for Econ offers virtual courses in economics and finance designed specifically for high school girls interested in exploring these subjects more deeply and pursuing related academic pathways. You can enroll in introductory courses in economics, microeconomics, and macroeconomics. Classes take place virtually, where you'll explore fundamental concepts such as fiscal policy, supply and demand, production costs, imperfect competition, aggregate supply, loan numbers, funds, and financial markets. The classes are held weekly and run for a little over a month, making them flexible and easy to balance with your school commitments.
13. Enterprising Women Foundation Mentoring Program
Location: Cleveland, OH (hybrid program with virtual components)
Cost/Stipend: Not specified
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Competitive
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: Applications processed on a rolling basis
Eligibility: High school girls; interest in entrepreneurship and business; application-based selection
The Enterprising Women Foundation Mentoring Program offers a personalized learning experience for high school girls by pairing them with successful women entrepreneurs. If you are interested in working on your leadership potential and mapping out a pathway to careers in finance, business, STEM, or entrepreneurship, this program provides direct access to professionals who have navigated those paths successfully. Beyond career guidance, the program will help you strengthen your confidence, leadership potential and long-term planning skills.
14. Inspiring Girls Finance Seminars
Location: Multiple partner school and event sites; virtual and in-person seminars
Cost/Stipend: Free
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Moderate
Dates: Varies based on the program
Application Deadline: Application processed on a rolling basis
Eligibility: Girls and young students; school or partner program participation; no prior finance knowledge required
Inspiring Girls USA offers financial literacy and personal finance seminars that introduce young women to the fundamentals of money management in a practical format. Although these are not long-term programs, the seminars provide a clear starting point if you want to understand how finance works in everyday life. Through the seminars, you explore essential topics such as investing, taxes, and saving. The seminars also allow you to network with professionals and explore career pathways in finance-aligned fields. You will meet women in the financial industry, learn from their experience and possibly receive individualized career advice.
15. Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!)
Location: Downtown Chicago business training classrooms and event venues, Chicago, IL
Cost/Stipend: $695
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective
Dates: October–April (weekly sessions; 6-month program)
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Middle and high school students; girls ages 11–18; able to attend in person
The Young Entrepreneur's Academy is a six-month course focused on helping high school girls build the necessary confidence and skills to thrive in business. Through weekly classes, you will explore the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, learning how to generate an idea, conduct market research, validate your concept, develop a product or service, and successfully market your business. You will receive guidance from mentors throughout the process, who will advise you and help you refine your entrepreneurial strategy. The experience culminates in pitching your venture to an investor panel.