15 Investment & Trading Programs for High School Students
If you are a high school student exploring an interest in finance, you may want to try an investment or trading program. These programs introduce you to the steps behind market decisions, the role of data in investing, and the factors that influence price changes.
What do investment & trading programs for high school students involve?
Many investment and trading programs are run by universities, financial companies, and online learning platforms that introduce you to the basic tools used in finance. You may try equity research tasks, look at how people make financial decisions, or test simple trading approaches. Through this work, you develop skills in analysis, communication, and collaboration that are helpful across all areas of finance.
Why should you do investment & trading programs for high school students?
These programs can support your future applications. You finish projects that demonstrate your interest in finance, gain examples you can talk about in essays or interviews, and start understanding what a career in the field might look like. It gives you early exposure without requiring a long-term commitment.
If you’re interested in business analytics internships, you can check here, or go here for investment banking opportunities.
To help you explore your options, here are 15 investment and trading programs for high school students!
Disclaimer: The list below includes programs as well as internships for high school students.
15 Investment & Trading Programs for High School Students
1. Venture Analyst Internship – 1435 Capital Management LLC
Location: Hybrid (in-person and remote, based in Princeton, NJ)
Cost: Paid internship
Acceptance Rate: Highly Competitive; 3 - 4 interns selected each year
Dates: 10 weeks during the summer
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions (apply early as only 3-4 interns are selected annually)
Eligibility: Rising juniors or seniors (age 16+); must be able to commute to Princeton, NJ.
The Venture Analyst Internship at 1435 Capital Management LLC offers an exclusive opportunity for high school students to gain firsthand experience in venture capital and early-stage investing. Over 10 weeks, interns work closely with the firm’s investment team to analyze market trends, conduct due diligence, and evaluate startup opportunities. You’ll assist in sourcing deals, researching potential portfolio companies, and tracking financial performance while learning how investment decisions are made. With only 3–4 interns selected each year, the program provides close mentorship and real exposure to the fast-paced world of venture finance.
2. JP Morgan & Chase High School Internship
Location: Various JP Morgan & Chase offices nationwide
Cost: Paid internship
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: Part-time during the academic year; full-time in the summer
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school students (priority for New York City residents)
The JP Morgan & Chase High School Internship is a selective, year-round opportunity for students interested in finance, investment banking, and corporate leadership. You will rotate through departments such as corporate finance, operations, client services, and risk management, gaining hands-on experience with real projects and exposure to senior leadership meetings. Each participant is paired with a professional mentor who provides guidance, feedback, and career insight. The program emphasizes financial literacy, business communication, and analytical problem-solving while helping students understand how global banking institutions function.
3. Young Founders Lab
Location: 100% remote
Cost: Varies according to program type (need-based financial aid available)
Dates: Several cohorts throughout the year, including fall, winter, summer & spring
Application Deadline: Varies according to program type
Eligibility: 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 building a revenue-generating start-up that addresses a real-world problem. You will also have the opportunity to be mentored by established entrepreneurs and professionals from Google, Microsoft, and X. Apart from building the start-up itself, you will also participate in interactive classes on business fundamentals and business ideations, workshops and skill-building sessions, case studies, panel discussions, and more. You can check out the brochure for the program here.
4. Ladder Internship Program
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Cost: Varies according to program type (need-based financial aid available)
Application deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort
Program dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
The Ladder Internship Program is a selective remote internship that connects high school students with fast-growing startups in fields such as finance, consulting, health tech, and AI. You work directly with founders or senior team members on real projects, which may involve research, data analysis, market strategy, writing, or product development. Each intern is paired with a Ladder Coach who provides ongoing mentorship, feedback, and guidance. The program includes weekly training sessions focused on communication, time management, and professional skills, and it concludes with a final project presented to your host company.
5. Fidelity Investments Internship
Location: Various Fidelity offices nationwide
Cost: Paid internship
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: June – August (exact dates vary by location)
Application Deadline: Not specified; sign up online for updates
Eligibility: Open to high school students
The Fidelity Investments Internship provides high school students with a professional introduction to the world of finance, investing, and wealth management. As an intern, you’ll work on real financial projects and observe how portfolio management, market research, and client advisory services operate within a major investment firm. You will gain exposure to diverse areas, including asset management, financial planning, and risk analysis, all while building key professional skills like communication and teamwork. Through mentorship and guided training sessions, interns learn how financial strategies are developed and applied in real markets.
6. Wharton Global High School Investment Competition
Location: Virtual competition with Global Finale at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania
Cost: Free
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: Trading runs from September 29 – December 5; Semifinals in March; Global Finale in April
Application Deadline: Advisor registration closes September 12; team setup due September 18
Eligibility: Open to high school students in grades 9–12 (teams of 4–6 with a teacher advisor)
The Wharton Global High School Investment Competition is one of the world’s leading experiential learning challenges in finance, designed to introduce students to investment strategy, portfolio management, and teamwork. You will work in small teams, guided by a teacher advisor, to develop investment strategies for a simulated client using the Wharton Investment Simulator (WInS), a real-time stock trading platform. Over 10 weeks, students analyze industries, research companies, and balance risk through $500,000 in virtual funds. Teams submit midterm and final reports, with top scorers advancing to the semifinals and Global Finale at Wharton.
7. Young Investors Society (YIS)
Location: Hybrid (virtual programs and local school chapters)
Cost: Free for most programs; select events and certifications may include nominal fees
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: Year-round, with competitions and events scheduled throughout the academic year
Application Deadline: Varies by program and competition
Eligibility: Open to middle and high school students worldwide
Young Investors Society (YIS) offers programs that help you build financial literacy and practical investing skills. Through the Money Skillz Bootcamp, you learn the basics of budgeting, saving, and credit. If your school has a YIS Club, you can join to study investing with peers and take part in regular discussions about financial decision-making. YIS also gives you opportunities to apply what you learn. You can enter the Stock Pitch Competition or the Finance Knowledge Bowl, where you research companies, analyze markets, and present your ideas. The Dollar-a-Day Challenge encourages you to practice consistent saving and investing, and the Global Youth Investment Summit connects you with students from around the world who share similar interests.
8. UC Santa Barbara – Research Mentorship Program: Economics Track
Location: University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), California
Cost: Residential: $13,274 | Commuter: $5,675; need-based financial aid available
Acceptance Rate/Cohort Size: Selective; approximately 80 students admitted
Dates: June 15 – July 31
Application Deadline: March 9
Eligibility: High school students who have completed at least 10th grade and are 16 years or older by the program start date
The Research Mentorship Program (RMP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara is a prestigious six-week residential experience where students conduct original research alongside UCSB faculty and graduate mentors. In the Economics Track, you’ll explore advanced topics such as market behavior, public policy, and financial modeling, applying economic theory to real-world data. You will spend 35–50 hours per week in research, literature review, and analysis, culminating in a professional research paper and presentation at a final symposium. You’ll also take two college-level interdisciplinary research courses (worth eight credits) that emphasize academic writing, methodology, and presentation.
9. University of Chicago – Economics From An Experimental Perspective
Location: University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Cost: Varies. Need-based financial aid available
Acceptance Rate: Selective
Dates: June 15 - July 2
Application Deadline: March 5
Eligibility: Open to current high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors
University of Chicago’s Economics From an Experimental Perspective is offered through the university’s Summer Immersion Program and introduces you to how economists study decision-making using experimental and behavioral methods. You work with peers and faculty to run market simulations, trading games, and exchange experiments that bring economic theories into real situations. The course teaches you how to design hypotheses, interpret data, and use basic statistical tools to study how people and firms respond to incentives. Through a mix of lectures and lab activities, you examine cooperation, competition, and strategic behavior from both theoretical and practical viewpoints.
10. Finance Institute: Wall Street in the Classroom
Location: Hybrid – Fordham University, Rose Hill Campus (Bronx, NY) or online
Cost: $1,200 (includes $100 deposit; refundable before May 1)
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: June 16–20, June 23–27, July 21–25, or July 28–August 1
Application Deadline: Priority consideration for applications received before April 1
Eligibility: Open to all high school students; international students may attend virtually
Finance Institute: Wall Street in the Classroom, hosted by the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University, gives you an introduction to core concepts in economics, investing, and financial markets. Over one week, you study topics such as the time value of money, asset allocation, stocks and bonds, hedge funds, private equity, and cryptocurrency. The program combines lectures with discussions, case studies, and sessions led by finance professionals and Fordham alumni. The course is taught by Jim Gannon, a Certified Financial Education Instructor and former Wall Street equity trader, who guides you through financial strategy and personal wealth management.
11. UCLA Introduction to Investments Summer Institute
Location: University of California, Los Angeles (in-person and virtual options)
Cost: $2,985 (Commuter) | Virtual: $2,170; financial aid available
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: June 23 – July 11
Application Deadline: June 13
Eligibility: Open to students in grades 9–12 (must be at least 15 years old by June 23)
The UCLA Introduction to Investments Summer Institute is a three-week pre-college program designed to help students explore finance, economics, and investing fundamentals while earning college credit from one of the nation’s top-ranked economics departments. You will gain a foundational understanding of the structure and purpose of U.S. and global financial markets, learning how money, banking, and investments influence personal and economic decision-making. Through interactive lectures and small discussion sessions led by UCLA faculty and economics majors, you’ll analyze case studies and examine topics such as valuation, financial cycles, quantitative analysis, venture capital, and hedge funds.
12. Wake Forest Summer Immersion Program – Finance and Investing Institute
Location: Wake Forest University Reynolda Campus, Winston-Salem, NC
Cost: $3,500 (includes housing and meals; certificate of completion awarded)
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: Week of June 14–19 and Week of June 21–26
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions until spots are filled
Eligibility: Open to current 9th–12th grade students
The Wake Forest Summer Immersion Program: Finance and Investing Institute gives high school students a firsthand look at how professional investors analyze, value, and manage assets. Over six intensive days, you’ll learn key finance concepts such as fundamental analysis, time value of money, market strategy, and financial statement analysis. Guided by Wake Forest School of Business faculty and financial professionals, you will explore topics including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and portfolio management. You’ll visit financial institutions, simulate trading on a mock investment floor, and even compete in a stock-picking challenge.
13. Wall Street 101 – Bentley University
Location: Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts (in-person program)
Cost: $1,490 (online); $2,450 (commuter); $3,380 (residential)
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: Multiple one-week sessions offered during the summer
Application Deadline: Rolling until classes fill
Eligibility: Open to rising high school juniors and seniors
Wall Street 101 at Bentley University is one of the most respected investment and trading programs for high school students, offering an immersive and practical introduction to global finance. Through a range of focused tracks, including Personal Finance, Stock Market & Investment Research, FinTech Startups, Macroeconomics & Financial Markets, and Global Finance & Trade, you will explore the fundamentals of markets, risk, and valuation. Each course combines faculty-led lectures with simulations, policy debates, and teamwork-based stock pitch projects. You will gain hands-on experience using industry-standard tools such as Bloomberg and FactSet terminals in Bentley’s state-of-the-art trading room.
14. Invest in Girls (IIG)
Location: Hybrid (online workshops, local mentorships, and in-person opportunities available)
Cost: Free (select mentorships and internships may require applications)
Acceptance Rate: Not specified
Dates: Year-round programs; mentorship and internship applications open in January and Spring, respectively
Application Deadline: Varies by course and program type
Eligibility: Open to high school students who identify as girls
Invest in Girls (IIG) is a national program by the Council for Economic Education designed to empower young women with financial literacy, investing knowledge, and career confidence. Through its three-part Financial Foundations Series, you’ll start as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Your Life, advance to Chief Investment Officer (CIO), and finish as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). You’ll learn budgeting, credit, saving skills, investing principles, leadership, and financial independence. You can also participate in the Exploring Finance course, which features guest speakers from corporate finance, venture capital, and portfolio management.
15. Bulls Finance Camp
Location: University of South Florida, Muma College of Business, Tampa, FL
Cost: $650 (for the day-camp session); Residential add-on cost: $995 for 5 days/4 4-night option
Acceptance rate: Maximum capacity of 50 students
Dates: July 14-18 and July 21-25
Application Deadline: Applications open February 1; rolling basis until filled
Eligibility: Open to students entering grades 9–12
The Bulls Finance Camp at the University of South Florida (USF) offers high school students a practical, hands-on introduction to finance, fintech, and investing. Designed and led by USF faculty, including Dr. Jung Chul Park, this immersive camp covers key topics such as personal finance, financial planning, investments, corporate finance, and financial technology. You will engage in workshops, case studies, and interactive projects that strengthen your financial literacy and decision-making skills. The program also features guest speakers from the finance industry and networking opportunities with faculty and professionals from the USF Federal Credit Union, helping participants connect classroom concepts with real-world applications.
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