Summer Enrichment

Summer Enrichment Opportunities

Summer enrichment can include a variety of things: pre-college programs at universities, internships, courses, or jobs. As students think toward college, they should consider enrichment opportunities that will give them experience based on their interests.

On this page, you will find information about the following:

Pre-College Summer Programs -local and national opportunities, both virtual and in-person, some include scholarship opportunities
Volunteer Experience Ideas-in local Williamson County area and Austin
Ideas for Summer Jobs - in local Williamson County area and Austin
Shadowing Programs for Health Professions--learn about professions through shadowing opportunities

Pre-College Summer Programs at Universities

In Texas

15 Best Pre-College Programs

https://www.lumiere-education.com/post/15-best-high-school-summer-research-programs-in-texas

Texas Tech’s Anson L. Clark Scholars Program (age 17+--ideal for juniors or seniors)
UT Austin’s High School Research Academy (HSRA) (age 15+) (STEM)
UT Austin’s McCombs Business School summer programs (11/12th)
Army Education Outreach Program’s Apprenticeships (Stem; high school student)
UT Dallas’ NanoExplorers (10-12th grades) STEM
Texas A&M’s Camp ARCH (10th-12th grades) ARCHITECTURE & URBAN PLANNING
Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation High School Summer Program (seniors only, biology, medicine)
Texas A&M’s Advancing into STEM Summer Camp (9-12 grades)
Texas A&M Sea Life Camps
Texas A&M Architecture Camp
Wonderworks Houston (Arts and Humanities, open to 10-12th grades)
Houston Methodist’s Summer Internship program for High Schoolers (Biology/Medicine) 10-12 grades
Texas Christian University’s Schieffer Summer Journalism (10-12th grades)
University of Houston’s High School Summer Research Internship in Infectious Diseases (juniors/seniors as of Fall 2023)
NASA and UT Austin’s SEES High School Summer Intern Program, must be 16
UT Austin’s ST.ART Programs Art and Design (high school students)
Rice University’s ELITE Tech Camp STEM (grades 8-11)

UT Austin:

UT Austin Pre-College Academic Programs

STEM, fashion, digital marketing, psychology, sports management

https://www.summerdiscovery.com/u-texas-austin

Hardin Simmons University Abilene, TX, (in person) (scholarships available)

Health Science Summer Enrichment Program

https://www.hsutx.edu/about-hsu/camps/hssep/

Stephen F. Austin Pre-Law Academy, Nacogdoches, Texas, in-person

https://www.sfasu.edu/academics/colleges/liberal-applied-arts/multidisciplinary-programs/outreach/high-school-pre-law-academy

Baylor University

https://admissions.web.baylor.edu/admissions/high-school-juniors/pre-college-programs-juniors rising seniors

Out of State Texas

Summer Programs in Aerospace Engineering

https://www.teenlife.com/category/summer/aerospace-summer-programs/

Barnard Summer Programs in NY (in person) (scholarships available)

https://precollege.barnard.edu/summer-2022-pre-baccalaureate-course-offerings

Writing, coding, human rights, literature, film, theatre film studies, psychology, architecture, religion and political science.

FEMALE SPECIFIC OPPORTUNITIES

Young Women's Leadership: https://precollege.barnard.edu/young-womens-leadership-summer-institute

Athena Summer Innovation Institute: https://precollege.barnard.edu/athena-summer-innovation-institute-1

Kode with Klossy: https://precollege.barnard.edu/kodewithklossy

Boston University (in person, scholarships available)

High School Honors Program: https://www.bu.edu/summer/high-school-programs/high-school-honors/
Research in Science & Engineering (RISE) program Internship: https://www.bu.edu/summer/high-school-programs/rise-internship-practicum/
Summer Challenge: https://www.bu.edu/summer/high-school-programs/summer-challenge/
Summer Preview: https://www.bu.edu/summer/high-school-programs/summer-preview/

California College of the Arts, Pittsburgh, PA (in person and online)

Immerse yourself in a creative community while earning three college credits: Animation 3D, Architecture, Artist as Activist: Print/Multimedia, Comics, Fashion, Design, Illustration/Drawing, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Painting/Drawing, Game Design

https://portal.cca.edu/learning/youth-programs-and-continuing-education/pre-college-program/

Carnegie Mellon Summer Pre-College Programs (in person)

https://www.cmu.edu/pre-college/

Art, Computational Bio, Music, Computer Science Scholars, Summer Academy for Science and Math (SAMS), Art, Architecture, Design, Drama, National High School Game Academy, Summer Session, Writing & Culture

Champlain College, Burlington, VT (in-person)

Champlain College offers summer pre-college opportunities for high school students to immerse themselves in a subject they're passionate about, get a taste of college life and add strength to their college applications.

Harvard High School Programs- (In Person) (scholarships available)

Pre-College Program

Secondary School Program

https://summer.harvard.edu/high-school-programs/pre-college-program/#student-snapshot

Invest In Education (in the UK) (In Person and Online)

Summer Residential Programmes: Young Investment Banker, Young Doctor, Young Engineer

Two-Day Programmes: Young Investment Banker, Young Doctor, Young Lawyer, Young Engineer, Young Business Leader

Programmes for Ages 12-14: Beyond Science, Beyond Maths

https://investin.org/pages/choose-your-career

Massachusetts College of Art and Design (Virtual and In Person) (scholarships available)

Drawing, illustration, Fashion, Animation, Jewelry Making

https://massart.edu/youth-programs

Northwestern in Chicago (in person and online)

https://sps.northwestern.edu/college-preparation/

Over 300 Courses available for college credit.

Two week non-credit seminars.

Oxford Summer School (in-person)

Summer courses are available in a variety of arts and STEM subject areas, including Medicine, Architecture, Law and Computer Science. Through Oxford Royale Academy's summer school taught on the campus of the University of Oxford

https://www.oxford-royale.com/

Penn Engineering Summer Academy (in-person) Philadelphia, PA

https://esap.seas.upenn.edu/

Biotechnology, complex networks, computer graphics, robotics, nanotechnology, computer science

Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta and Savannah, in-person (scholarships available)

Summer Seminars

https://www.scad.edu/academics/pre-college-programs/scad-summer-seminars/register

Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, in-person only

https://www.smith.edu/academics/precollege-programs/homepage

Summer programs for girls: Writing, Engineering, Field Studies for Sustainable Futures, Women's History

Stanford Summer Academy (in-person and online)

https://summerinstitutes.spcs.stanford.edu/

Summer Academy -- a pre-college, residential program

This is a 10 session (25 hour) program that exposes high school students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful project. Taught by a team of Stanford grad students, students receive a personalized learning experience in small groups.

St. John's College, Philadelphia, PA, in-person

Summer Academy -- a pre-college, residential program, liberal arts focus

University of Chicago Neubaur Family Adelante Summer Scholarship Program (3 weeks online, 1 week in person)

Full program scholarship for the students top students engaged in Hispanic and Latino communities.

https://summer.uchicago.edu/programs/neubauer-family-adelante-summer-scholars

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (in-person)

Four and two week programs

Architecture • Business • Engineering & Information Technology • Global Studies • Journalism •

Performing Arts: Summer Theatre Conservatory • Pre-Health & Science • Pre-Law • Writing & Critical Thinking

https://summerprograms.usc.edu/

Washington University STL - Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts - St. Louis, MO, In person

https://samfoxschool.wustl.edu/academics/pre-college-programs

Architecture Discovery and Portfolio Plus programs

High School Summer Scholars Program

High School Summer Institutes

Yale Young Global Scholars Program (online only)

https://globalscholars.yale.edu/

Girls Who Code

https://girlswhocode.com/

2. Volunteer Experience in Greater Austin Area

Community Service Ideas

https://blog.fundly.com/community-service-ideas/

Round Rock Serving Center (assist in store, garden, sorting)

https://www.rrasc.org/

Round Rock Library

https://www.roundrocktexas.gov/city-departments/library-home/get-involved/volunteer/

Georgetown Library

https://library.georgetown.org/volunteer-at-the-library/

The Central Texas Food Bank (kitchen preparing meals)

https://www.centraltexasfoodbank.org/get-involved/volunteer

Generation Serve (environment, animals, seniors, individuals, and families in need)

http://generationserve.org/

Keep Austin Beautiful (volunteering cleaning your local parks, creeks, or lakes)

https://keepausitnbeautiful.org

Green Corn Projects (organic food gardens)

http://www.greencornproject.org

Partnerships for Children (sort, tag, and wrap gifts for children during holiday season)

https://www.timeout.com/austin/things-to-do/partnerships-for-children

Youth 2Seniors (partner up youth with seniors living in assisted living facilities)

http://www.youth2seniors.org/

Austin Parks Foundation, environment-friendly outreach program clean local parks

http://www.austinparks.org/

Meals on Wheels

http://www.mealsonwheelsandmore.org/programs/meal-delivery/

Big Hearted Family (feeding the hungry, caring for animals, or cleaning the community)

http://www.bigheartedfamilies.org/

Urban Roots (volunteer with an adult at this 3.5-acre sustainable farm in East Austin, 50% of food donated to shelters and food banks)

https://www.timeout.com/austin/things-to-do/urban-roots

Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter

https://pets.wilco.org/

Georgetown Animal Services

https://pets.georgetown.org/volunteers/

Look at local and national organizations that offer ways to get involved.

Check out Volunteer Match to get some ideas of local opportunities or Community Impact's website of local Austin volunteer opportunities.
Do Something. org has some ideas as well as College Transitions.
Yelp has a page for volunteer opportunities for teens in Austin.
Austin Top 50 --ideas for volunteering for teens.

Possible Areas of Interest

Special Olympics
Projects Abroad
Global Volunteers
Global Volunteers
Habitat for Humanity
TED Talk Translators (for bilingual students)
Student Environmental Action Coalition
Reading is Fundamental
Bookshare
Literacy First
ASPCA (animals)
TeensGive.org
Pet Therapy
YMCA of Greater Williamson County Volunteer Page
Camp for All (disabilities camp)

3. Ideas for Summer Jobs

Government Jobs in Austin

https://www.austintexas.gov/page/youth-employment-and-program-opportunities

Variety of Departments: Animal Services Department, Austin Energy Department, Austin Police Department, Austin Resource Recovery, Austin Water, Financial Services-Budget Office, Austin Public Health Department, Human Resources Department, Library Department, Parks & Recreation Department, Public Works Department, Watershed Protection Department