Interested in sociology, anthropology, politics, or social justice? These top summer programs offer hands-on research, leadership development, and in-depth exploration of social systems and cultural issues. Below are the 10 best social sciences programs for high school students.
For students interested in social science research, be sure to check out the MehtA+ Humanities Research Mentorship program. For a personalized list of opportunities in the social sciences and support with applications, check out the MehtA+ Admissions Consulting Program.
1. UC Santa Barbara Research Mentorship Program
Type: Summer Program
Age: Students all over the world who are in 10th and 11th grade with a minimum GPA of 3.8
Timeline: 5 weeks
Location: Residential, UC Santa Barbara
Cost: Commuter option: Around $5,000; Residential option: Around $12,000
The Research Mentorship Program is a competitive summer program for ambitious, high-performing high school students around the globe who want to participate in multidisciplinary, practical, university-level research. Students choose a research project from a list of disciplines given by the program, including sociology, and are matched with a mentor (graduate student, postdoc, or faculty).
2. Brown University Leadership Institute
Type: Summer Program
Age: Students completing grades 10 to 12, ages 16 to 18 by June 18
Timeline: On-Campus I: June 25 – July 7; On-Campus II: July 16 – July 28; Online: July 10 – August 4
Location: Residential (Brown University Campus) or Online (through Canvas, Brown’s Learning Management System)
Cost: Residential program fee: $5,218; Online program fee: $5,313
The Leadership Institute at Brown University encourages students passionate about sociology, justice, social movements, and politics to collaborate on collaborative leadership models. This program is meant to hone research and problem-solving skills to develop an Action Plan that students can apply to a problem in their community. Students can choose their course of interest, with sociological topics surrounding intercultural communication, social movements, women and leadership, global health, and more.
3. Telluride Association Summer Seminar (TASS)
Type: Summer Program
Age: High school sophomores and juniors
Timeline: 6 weeks
Location: Cornell University, University of Maryland, and the University of Michigan
Cost: Free
TASS is one of the nation’s most selective summer programs for high school students interested in sociology. During the six weeks of the program, students engage in team-building exercises, attend lectures and seminars, participate in discussions, and complete group projects with others.
4. University of Pennsylvania Social Justice Research Academy
Type: Summer Program
Age: Current 9th – 11th grade students
Timeline: 3 weeks
Location: Residential, University of Pennsylvania
Cost: $9,700 program fee and $75 application fee
The Social Justice Research Academy is designed to encourage critical thinking about the sociological, historical, and political context of inequality and resistance. During the course of the program, students attend lectures and workshops to develop leadership, research, and analytical skills.
5. University of Chicago – Young Innovators: Climate & Energy
Type: Summer Program
Age: Applicants should be at least 15 years of age
Timeline: 5 days
Location: Residential, University of Chicago
Cost: $2,500
This one-week residential program provides talented and ambitious students a window into future careers in the realm of climate and energy policy. Through rigorous discussion-based classes, readings, lectures, and collaborative hands-on projects, students will learn about pressing issues in climate and energy from leading faculty in the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), the Becker Friedman Institute, and the Climate Impact Lab.
6. USC Annenberg Youth Academy for Media and Civic Engagement
Type: Summer Program
Age: Students must reside and attend high school in Los Angeles County
Timeline: 4 weeks
Location: Residential, University of Southern California
Cost: Free
This is a four-week summer intensive academy for 26 gifted high school students interested in sociology and media who are looking to gain a deeper understanding of the intersection between media communications and civics. Students will take a variety of first-year college-level courses and get the chance to network with creative academics working to advance the sociological issues of racial, gender, and ethnic diversity in journalism and communication. Ethnography, writing, critical thinking, public speaking, debate, multimedia creation, and interviewing are among the skills students can expect to learn.
7. Anson L. Clark Scholar Program
Type: Summer Program
Age: High school juniors and seniors – you must be at least 17 years of age by the program start date
Timeline: 6 weeks
Location: Residential, Texas Tech University
Cost: Free (on-campus meals and board) with a $750 tax-free stipend upon completion of a successful research project
The Anson L. Clark Scholar Program is an intensive seven-week summer research program for twelve highly qualified high school juniors and seniors from around the globe. It gives students the chance to collaborate closely with prominent faculty in a research-intensive setting. Along with weekly seminars, the program also offers field trips, lectures, and discussions with faculty and other like-minded students. Past Clark Scholars have written about how delays in desegregation are shaping schooling today and how the media is affected by IPOs.
8. Yale Young Global Scholars
Type: Summer Program
Age: At least 16 years old by the first day of Session III, current sophomore or junior (or international equivalent), first-time participants
Timeline: Session I: June 18 – June 30; Session II: July 2 – July 14; Session III: July 16 – July 28
Location: Residential, Yale University
Cost: $6,500 program fee and $75 application fee
Yale Young Global Scholars offers two different tracks depending on the area of interest within sociology: Solving Global Challenges (SGC) for those wanting to actively work on social problem-solving and Politics of Laws and Economics (PLE) for those who want to understand diverse economic theories, the values and practices of government, and legal frameworks in historical and comparative perspectives. Sample seminars include Game Theory in Action and Using Satirical Techniques to Make Political Arguments.
9. Yale Summer Session
Type: Summer Program
Age: You must be 16 years of age or older by the program start date
Timeline: Session A: May 29 – June 30; Session B: July 3 – August 4
Location: Residential, Yale University
Cost: $75 application fee. Costs include tuition and residential program fees.
Students interested in pursuing sociology at a university level can get a head start by taking a course during the Yale Summer Session for college credit! Some of last year’s courses focused on race, gender, and class inequities in the U.S., the history of education in relation to the development of the U.S. empire, cultural anthropology, feminist and queer ethnographies, and more.
10. Summer@Brown – Sociology & Anthropology Courses
Type: Summer Program
Age: Students completing grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18 by June 18
Timeline: 4 weeks
Location: Residential, Brown University
Cost: Your cost is determined by the number and duration of courses to be taken
Summer@Brown is an enriching pre-college summer program for ambitious high school students with a keen interest in sociology. Students attend classes for a minimum of three hours daily for five days a week and also spend three hours daily doing an independent study for your course of choice. There are almost 50 different courses in sociology and anthropology that students can choose from and students are allowed to participate in up to two simultaneous Summer@Brown courses! Depending on the student’s specific areas of interest, they can choose classes in ethnographic research, women’s and gender studies, dynamics of race and oppression, social movements, media and culture, politics, poverty, and so much more.
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Written by Wallyson S, MehtA+ Alum & Intern