15 Marketing Pre-College Programs
If you are a high school student looking to explore business-related fields, marketing is one of the most accessible starting points. Pre-college programs offer a way to study it in more detail and understand how it works in real contexts.
What do marketing pre-college programs involve?
In these programs, you will explore areas like advertising, consumer psychology, digital platforms, and campaign planning. You might work on group projects, analyze brand strategies, or create your own marketing ideas based on real-world scenarios.
Why should you attend a marketing pre-college program in high school?
Pre-college programs provide structured learning that is closer to a college environment. You get exposure to academic expectations, interact with instructors, and engage with peers who share similar interests. This helps you build clarity about your future academic path. You will learn skills that you can apply in building your own marketing business.
To get a better grasp of marketing and its implementation, you should check out marketing tools for running a business. For a detailed guide, you can look at how to build a marketing business in high school.
With that, here are 15 marketing pre-college programs for high school students!
15 Marketing Pre-College Programs
Communicating with Consumers: The Basics of Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations
Location: Columbia University, New York City, New York
Cost: Varies depending on session and housing option (check program page)
Application Deadline: Varies by session
Program Dates: June 29 – July 17, July 21 – August 7
Eligibility: Open to high school students participating in the Columbia Pre-College Program
The Communicating with Consumers: The Basics of Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations course at Columbia University introduces you to the strategies companies use to reach and influence consumers. You spend time analyzing campaigns from different industries, looking closely at how messaging is constructed and why certain ideas stick. The work involves reading, discussion, and breaking down real examples where companies tried to influence how people think or feel about a product. You also explore how communication strategies change depending on the audience and platform. Over time, you start noticing patterns in how brands talk and how consumers respond.
Young Founders Lab
Cost: Varies depending on program type. Full financial aid available.
Location: This program is 100% virtual, with live, interactive workshops
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including summer, fall, winter, and spring
Application Deadline: Varies according to cohort. You can access the application link here!
Eligibility: The program is currently open to all high school students
The Young Founder’s Lab is a 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 complex 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. Through live, interactive workshops, you learn how to conduct customer discovery, test value propositions, analyze competitors, and refine your messaging. You can check out the brochure for the program here.
Georgetown University – Marketing & Personal Branding Academy
Location: Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Cost: $6,465 (Residential tuition and meals); $5,075 (Commuter tuition)
Application Deadline: Varies by session (check program page)
Program Dates: June 21 – July 3
Eligibility: Open to high school students
The Georgetown Marketing & Personal Branding Academy introduces you to the fundamentals of marketing while helping you understand how branding works at both the business and personal levels. During this two-week summer program, you explore topics such as digital marketing, consumer research, content strategy, and marketing analytics through lectures, case studies, and hands-on activities. Industry professionals and guest speakers also share insights into their careers, giving you a practical view of how marketing operates in professional environments. Throughout the program, you work with peers to design a marketing campaign for a real client based in Washington, D.C. You learn how to research customer needs, set strategic goals, and create marketing content that aligns with a brand’s objectives.
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 marketing, social media, tech/deep tech, and AI/ML to health tech, 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. Depending on your placement, you may assist with market research, social media strategy, content creation, customer outreach, analytics, or growth experiments.
Harvard Summer School – Invention, Innovation, and Markets
Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cost: $6,100 (noncredit)
Application Deadline: Varies by session
Program Dates: July 6 – July 17, July 20 – July 31
Eligibility: Open to high school students participating in the Harvard Pre-College or Secondary School Program
The Harvard Summer School course Invention, Innovation, and Markets explores how technological innovation shapes economic growth and global markets. In this program, you study how advances in areas such as energy, medicine, transportation, and digital platforms influence productivity, economic policy, and international trade. Through lectures and discussions led by Harvard economics faculty, you examine how innovation affects businesses, governments, and consumers in both positive and disruptive ways. Throughout the course, you analyze the economic consequences of technological change, including how automation impacts wages, how medical innovations affect social programs, and how new transportation technologies influence global trade policies.
Duke Pre-College – Marketing & Brand Strategy
Location: Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Cost: Varies by session and housing option
Application Deadline: Varies by session
Program Dates: July 13 – July 24
Eligibility: Open to high school students interested in marketing, branding, business, or entrepreneurship
The Duke Pre-College Marketing & Brand Strategy course introduces you to the principles behind building successful brands and marketing campaigns. You study real companies and break down how they communicate with customers, from messaging to visual identity. The program includes projects where you build your own brand strategy, which means thinking carefully about audience, tone, and positioning. You also use tools like audience personas and basic analytics to guide decisions. Over time, you start noticing how much effort goes into making something feel simple to the consumer.
Tufts University – Marketing Essentials
Location: Tufts University, Medford/Somerville, Massachusetts
Cost: $4,225 (commuter); $5,750 (residential); limited need-based scholarships available
Application Deadline: May 1
Program Dates: July 19 – July 31
Eligibility: Students entering grades 10–12
Tufts’ Marketing Essentials course focuses on how companies understand customers and turn that into a strategy. You work through case material where you analyze why certain campaigns succeed, and others don’t. The program includes group projects where you design your own approach to a product or service. You also look at how digital platforms change the way companies communicate with audiences. Faculty and mentors guide discussions, especially when you are breaking down real examples.
Yale Online – PLSC 270: Capitalism: Success, Crisis, and Reform
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions
Program Dates: Self-paced
Eligibility: Open to high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors
The Yale Online course Capitalism: Success, Crisis, and Reform introduces you to the biological evolution framework and modern challenges of capitalist economic systems. Through structured modules and case studies, you explore how capitalism has shaped global markets, businesses, and public policy while examining debates about its long-term sustainability. The course encourages you to analyze how economic systems influence social outcomes, political institutions, and global development. Throughout the program, you engage with interactive learning materials, expert lectures, and real-world examples that examine market behavior, financial crises, and economic inequality.
Rice University – The Business of Economics
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,795
Application Deadline: Varies by session (e.g., March 22, April 5, April 26)
Program Dates: Multiple sessions offered throughout the year (2–4 week formats available)
Eligibility: Open to students ages 13 and up
The Rice University Precollege Program – The Business of Economics introduces you to how economic forces shape business strategy and decision-making. Through video lectures, case studies, and interactive assignments, you explore how markets fluctuate and how businesses respond to changes in supply, demand, labor markets, and government policy. The course highlights how economic knowledge helps companies anticipate production disruptions, manage costs, and make strategic investment decisions. Throughout the program, you study topics such as inflation, labor markets, loanable funds, energy supply and demand, and the role of the Federal Reserve in economic stability. The course also examines how economic policies influence business environments and market outcomes.
Exploring the Marketing Mix
Location: Columbia University, New York City, New York
Cost: Varies depending on session and housing option (check program page)
Application Deadline: Varies by session
Program Dates: Offered during Columbia’s summer pre-college sessions (typically June–August)
Eligibility: Open to high school students enrolled in the Columbia Pre-College Program
The Exploring the Marketing Mix course at Columbia University introduces you to the core principles businesses use to market products and services effectively. The program focuses on the classic “4 Ps” of marketing - product, price, placement, and promotion, helping you understand how companies design strategies that attract customers and compete in dynamic markets. Through lectures, discussions, and case studies, you examine how successful brands combine these elements to create strong marketing campaigns. During the course, you analyze real-world examples of marketing strategies and explore how companies identify target audiences, position products, and communicate value to consumers. You also examine how pricing strategies, distribution channels, and promotional tactics influence customer decisions.
The Business of Sports: Marketing the Game
Location: Columbia University, New York City, New York
Cost: Varies depending on session and housing option (check program page)
Application Deadline: Varies by session
Program Dates: Offered during Columbia’s summer pre-college sessions (typically June–August)
Eligibility: Open to high school students enrolled in the Columbia Pre-College Program
The Business of Sports: Marketing the Game course at Columbia University introduces you to the strategies that drive the global sports industry. Through lectures, case studies, and discussions, you explore how sports organizations build brands, attract fans, and generate revenue through marketing, sponsorships, and media partnerships. The course highlights how marketing plays a crucial role in shaping the business side of professional sports. During the program, you examine topics such as sports branding, fan engagement, sponsorship deals, and the role of media and digital platforms in sports promotion.
Manhattan University Pre-College Introduction to Marketing
Location: Manhattan University Campus, New York City, NY
Cost: Tuition $6,000; optional residential room & board ~$1,000/week ($7,000 total)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 22–July 31 (one week in-person July 13–17 + online portion)
Application Deadline: International – March 16; Domestic – May 30; acceptances by March 31 (int’l) and June 15 (domestic)
Eligibility: Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors interested in business, leadership, innovation, or entrepreneurship
Manhattan University offers the Introduction to Marketing course, where you will understand marketing practices and learn about fundamental topics such as market segmentation, product positioning, and buyer behavior. Through case studies and simulations, you'll also gain insight into marketing mixed decisions, brand philosophies, and learn about competitor advantage. The course includes learning through lectures, guest speeches by industry professionals, career exploration, and college preparation workshops. You'll also earn college credits, which will go towards your undergraduate degree.
Northwestern University – Business: Strategies, Innovation, and Success
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,895
Application Deadline: Varies by session (e.g., March 22, April 5, April 26)
Program Dates: Multiple sessions throughout the year (2-week and 4-week options available)
Eligibility: Open to students ages 13 and up
Northwestern’s program moves through how companies develop products and bring them into the market. You study areas like strategy, marketing, and operations, but always through examples that show how decisions are made. The work involves analyzing how businesses identify opportunities and decide what to build. You also look at how marketing supports those decisions, especially when launching something new. The sessions often shift between different parts of a business, which gives you a broader picture of how everything connects.
Iacocca Global Entrepreneurship Intensive (IGEI) – Lehigh University
Location: Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Cost: Varies; financial aid available for select students
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Approximately 60 students per cohort
Program Dates: Four-week summer program
Application Deadline: Varies by year
Eligibility: High school students ages 15–17
Lehigh’s Iacocca program places you in a group where you work on business challenges that require both strategy and marketing thinking. You spend time evaluating ideas, shaping business plans, and preparing pitches for real organizations. The work includes hackathons and consulting-style projects where you have to respond to problems quickly. Since you’re working with students from different countries, you also see how perspectives change depending on background. That part alone makes the discussions more layered than expected.
NYU Precollege
Location: New York University campus, New York, NY
Cost: Tuition varies depending on credits; additional costs for room and board
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Summer term typically runs from early July to mid-August
Application Deadline: International – March 13; Domestic – June 12
Eligibility: Rising 11th and 12th graders
NYU pre-college offers insight into subjects through an undergraduate curriculum taught by NYU faculty while allowing you to experience college life and earn college credit. Business-related courses offered cover marketing, accounting, statistics, business organizations, and business management. Marketing courses offered cover fundamental concepts, including market research, customer motivation, and product design, where you will go over marketing research and marketing management. You will understand how marketing functions and apply theories to work on case studies and projects that stimulate current marketing practices