The Best Summer Leadership Programs for High School Students

The leadership programs that leave you the most to show for the summer are the ones that put you in charge of a project from start to finish. VTSP, a six-week virtual program open to students in any country, pairs each student with an internship project based on a real problem or opportunity facing a startup, and students present the finished project to that startup's founder. Lectures and workshops on building a minimum viable product (MVP), marketing, public speaking, and business case studies run alongside the project. Civic programs such as Boys State and HOBY choose students through their schools in the winter, university programs such as Yale Young Global Scholars and Brown's Leadership Institute open applications this fall, and most deadlines fall between October and March. International students can apply to VTSP, Yale Young Global Scholars, Brown, Wharton, NSLC, and HOBY's World Leadership Congress.

VTSP has brought together high school students from more than 85 countries for six weeks each summer. Each student works independently on an internship project based on a real problem or opportunity facing a startup and presents the finished project to the startup's founder, while lectures and leadership workshops cover how founders start companies, speak confidently, build products, and lead teams. Other programs teach leadership through different formats: Boys State runs a mock state government for a week, HOBY holds three-day seminars for 10th graders, and Yale Young Global Scholars brings students from more than 150 countries to New Haven for two weeks.

Leadership is a crowded label in summer programming for teens, and the format of a program tells you more than its name can. This guide covers a variety of programs for high school students interested in leadership development, grouped by the kind of work you'll do. For each one, we list what it costs and who can apply, the foundational leadership skills it teaches, and  how to describe the experience on a college application. 

What is a leadership summer program or youth leadership academy for teens?

A leadership summer program puts high school students in situations where they have to persuade, organize, or make decisions as a group, and then asks them to reflect on how they did it. Most run between three days and four weeks. The programs in this guide fall into three groups.

Civic and government programs simulate public office. At Boys State and Girls State, students participate in campaigns for office, draft bills, and run a mock state government for a week. These programs are organized by volunteer groups and are usually paid for by local sponsors.

University programs pair leadership and communication skills with academic coursework. Yale Young Global Scholars, Brown's Leadership Institute, and Notre Dame's Leadership Seminars put students in seminars or courses taught by university instructors, and students practice leadership through discussion, group projects, and a final presentation or written plan.

Founder and business programs teach leadership through building and managing. VTSP pairs students with startup-based projects and lectures on how founders build companies, while Wharton and the National Student Leadership Conference use simulations and case competitions.

What teen leadership programs are available, and how do they compare?

Program	Format and length	Cost (latest published)	Who can apply	International students
VTSP	6 weeks, virtual	$4,750	High school and gap-year students	Yes
Boys State and Girls State	1 week, residential, in your state	Usually paid by a local sponsor	Students finishing 11th grade, selected locally	No (run through U.S. schools)
HOBY State Leadership Seminars	3 to 4 days, overnight	$225 to $450, usually paid by the school	10th graders, by nomination	No (run through U.S. schools)
HOBY World Leadership Congress	1 week, Washington, D.C.	See HOBY's WLC FAQ	Ages 15 to 17, no nomination	Yes
Notre Dame Leadership Seminars	About 12 days, residential	Tuition, housing, and meals covered	Rising seniors	Not stated
Yale Young Global Scholars	2 weeks, residential	$7,500	High school students in the final years before graduation	Yes, with need-based aid
Brown Leadership Institute	2 weeks on campus or 4 weeks online	$4,748 to $6,052 on campus; $5,778 online	Ages 14 to 18	Yes
Wharton Leadership in the Business World	3 weeks, residential	$11,899	11th graders with a 3.5 unweighted GPA	Yes
NSLC Business and Entrepreneurship	9 days, residential	$4,195 to $4,495 by campus	Grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18	Yes

Which summer leadership program trains students to lead like founders?

1. Venture & Tech Summer Program (VTSP)

VTSP is a six-week virtual program built around how founders start and grow companies. Lectures and workshops cover everything from MVP, to marketing tactics, fundraising strategies, case studies, and more. Each 'pod' of students has their own mentor to guide them through the program. 

Each student is paired with a startup in Silicon Valley or beyond and completes an internship project based on a real problem or opportunity facing that company. Students work on their projects independently in small groups, and at the end of the program they present the project to the startup's founder. Guest speakers from technology and venture capital and one-on-one mentorship run in the evenings.

Tuition is $4,750, with a $35 application fee, and need-based and merit-based scholarships are available, including some full-tuition awards. VTSP accepts high school and gap-year students from any country, and no prior entrepreneurial experience is required. Two sessions run each summer, one starting in June and one in July. Admission runs in several rounds, starting with an invite-only round that closes October 15 and continuing through May, followed by rolling admission.

Which summer programs teach civic and government leadership?

These programs teach leadership by putting you inside a working model of government. You campaign, legislate, or argue about founding principles with other students who were chosen the same way you were. Most of them select students through a school or a local organization, so the process starts earlier than the program dates suggest.

2. American Legion Boys State and American Legion Auxiliary Girls State

Boys State is the American Legion's week-long government program for students who have just finished 11th grade. It runs in 49 states, every state except Hawaii, and the American Legion Auxiliary runs Girls State in all 50. Students are assigned to mock cities and political parties, run for office, and write and debate legislation. Each state program then sends two delegates to Boys Nation or Girls Nation, held each July in the Washington, D.C., area.

The American Legion states that there's no cost to attend, because sponsoring Legion posts, local businesses, or community groups pay each delegate's fee. Recent state brochures list that fee at roughly $300 to $500. Each state sets its own eligibility and selection rules. In Utah, for example, applicants need a recommendation from school officials and an interview with local Legion members. Because selection runs through your school and the local post, raise the program with your school counselor in the fall of 11th grade.

3. HOBY State Leadership Seminars and World Leadership Congress

Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) program offers two levels of programming. The State Leadership Seminars are three- to four-day overnight programs on college campuses for 10th graders, held in the spring and summer so that students attend at the end of sophomore year. The registration fee ranges from $225 to $450 depending on the seminar, covers housing, food, and materials, and is usually paid by the school.

You can't nominate yourself for a state seminar. Most students are nominated by a counselor or administrator. HOBY also accepts community nominations from alumni, volunteers, and parents, which open each January and are the route for homeschooled students, virtual school students, and students whose schools don't participate.

The World Leadership Congress (WLC) is a week-long program for students who are 15 to 17 by the start date, and it requires no nomination. Most attendees are rising juniors and seniors, and HOBY reports more than 300 student ambassadors from all 50 states and more than 15 countries each year. The 2027 Congress will be held at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from July 24 to 31, with registration opening this fall. HOBY lists the WLC price in a separate FAQ document linked from the program page, along with a fundraising guide, so read both before you plan around the cost.

4. Notre Dame Leadership Seminars

Notre Dame's Leadership Seminars are a competitive summer institute for rising seniors, and tuition, housing, and meals are covered for every admitted student. This year, Notre Dame's Office of Pre-College Programs and its Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government ran a seminar titled "The American Experiment: Liberty for All?" from July 18 to 29, supported by a U.S. Department of Education grant. Students read primary texts by Jefferson, Madison, Tocqueville, Lincoln, Douglass, and Martin Luther King Jr. and discussed them in a Socratic format, where the instructor leads through questions and students argue from the text.

The center plans to run the seminar each summer through at least 2028, and the 2027 application opens in October. Of the programs in this guide, this is the one where leadership is practiced almost entirely through argument and discussion, which suits students who lead through debate, student government, or writing.

Which university summer programs focus on leadership?

These programs are run by universities and combine leadership training with college-level academics. They admit students from around the world, and their applications look like small college applications, with essays, transcripts, and recommendations.

5. Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS)

YYGS runs three two-week residential sessions at Yale each summer, and students from more than 150 countries, including all 50 U.S. states, attend. Each session offers three tracks: Innovations in Science & Technology, Politics of Law & Economics, and Solving Global Challenges. For 2027, the sessions run June 20 to July 2, July 4 to 16, and July 18 to 30, and there's no online option.

Tuition is $7,500 per session and covers housing, meals, and materials. Travel isn't included. Need-based financial aid covers up to the full cost of tuition and is open to international as well as domestic students, and YYGS also offers named scholarships that cover tuition and, in some cases, travel.

YYGS uses two admission rounds that it calls Early Action and Regular Decision. These are YYGS's own deadlines and are separate from college Early Action, which we explain in the FAQ below. For 2027, the Early Action deadline is October 15, 2026, and Regular Decision closes January 6, 2027. Early Action admits must pay full tuition by December 16, and Regular Decision admits by March 15, 2027.

6. Brown Leadership Institute

Brown's Leadership Institute is a Brown Pre-College program built around social issues. Students ages 14 to 18 take one course, with past titles including Women and Leadership, Leadership and Social Justice, and Leadership in Changing Business: Social Entrepreneurship. Throughout the course, students practice active listening, public speaking, and group problem-solving, and each student finishes by writing an Action Plan, a concrete proposal for addressing an issue in their own school or community.

The program runs two weeks on campus in Providence, with the prior year's sessions from June 21 to July 2 and July 12 to 24, or four weeks online. Brown's recent fee schedule lists $6,052 for residential students, $4,748 for commuters, and $5,778 for the online version.

Plan around the Action Plan. You leave the program with a written plan you can carry out during the next school year, and a plan you actually carried out gives you something specific to describe on a college application.

Which leadership programs focus on business and entrepreneurship?

These programs teach leadership through the problems managers and founders face. You'll work in teams under time pressure, make decisions with incomplete information, and present your reasoning to people who evaluate it.

7. Wharton Leadership in the Business World (LBW)

LBW is the flagship and most selective program in Wharton's Global Youth catalog. It admits only students currently in 11th grade with at least a 3.5 unweighted GPA, meaning a GPA on the standard 4.0 scale before extra weight for honors or Advanced Placement (AP) courses. The three-week residential program in Philadelphia is built around team projects, business simulations, and a capstone case competition, in which teams analyze a company's problem and present recommendations.

Tuition is $11,899 and covers housing in Penn residence halls, most meals, weekend excursions, and local transportation. The application fee is $100. Wharton admits students need-blind, meaning a family's ability to pay doesn't affect the admission decision. Applicants whose first language isn't English submit TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test scores. The priority deadline falls in late January and the final deadline in mid-March.

8. National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC): Business and Entrepreneurship

NSLC runs nine-day residential programs on university campuses. Its Business and Entrepreneurship program puts students through simulations of pitch development, management decisions, and industry analysis, with talks from CEOs and visits to companies and business schools. Published prices are $4,495 at Columbia, $4,295 at Duke and UC Berkeley, and $4,195 at the University of Michigan, including housing, campus meals, materials, and activities.

NSLC accepts students in grades 9 through 12, ages 14 to 18, who have completed at least one year of high school, and graduating seniors can attend the summer after graduation. Admission is rolling, meaning applications are reviewed as they arrive until seats fill. NSLC awards more than $500,000 in scholarships each year, and its scholarship deadline in March comes well before admission closes.

What happened to the Bank of America Student Leaders program?

Until recently, Bank of America Student Leaders was open to high school juniors and seniors and combined an eight-week paid internship at a local nonprofit with a week-long summit in Washington, D.C. The program has since changed its eligibility rules. For the most recent cycle, applicants had to be at least 18, have finished high school within the previous two years, and have earned 12 to 18 credits of college coursework. Students who were selected as high schoolers in earlier years can't participate again.

The internship now runs six weeks at a minimum of 35 hours a week, pays $17 an hour or the local minimum wage, whichever is higher, and includes a three-day Leadership Summit that Bank of America pays for. Applicants also need U.S. work authorization and must live in an eligible location. The 2026 application ran from February 9 to March 16. If you're in high school now, this is an option for the summer after your first year of college.

How do you choose the right leadership program?

Start with the entry route. For example, Boys State, Girls State, and HOBY's state seminars select students through schools and local organizations, and those decisions happen in the winter and early spring. VTSP, YYGS, Wharton, Brown, NSLC, and HOBY's World Leadership Congress take applications directly from students.

Next, match the program to your grade. HOBY's state seminars are for 10th graders. Boys State, Girls State, and Notre Dame's seminars are for students who have just finished 11th grade, and Wharton's LBW requires that you apply during 11th grade. NSLC and Brown take students as young as 14, which makes them the realistic options for 9th graders.

Then decide what you want to leave with. VTSP ends with a finished project you presented to a startup founder, Brown gives you a written Action Plan, Boys State and Girls State give you a campaign and a bill, Wharton gives you a case competition, and Notre Dame gives you a seminar built on close reading. Pick the one whose outcome you could describe in a sentence.

Compare cost by the week and by what's included. YYGS works out to $3,750 a week and LBW to about $3,970 a week, both with housing and meals. Brown's residential Leadership Institute comes to about $3,030 a week, while its online version is about $1,445 a week with no housing. VTSP comes to about $790 a week for a six-week virtual program. Residential tuition is paying for a dorm and a dining hall as well as instruction.

Finally, consider applying for financial aid if needed. YYGS extends need-based aid of up to full tuition to international students, Wharton admits need-blind, and NSLC's scholarship deadline comes months before its admission deadline closes.

How should you describe a leadership program on your college application?

Most U.S. colleges accept the Common App, a single online application that you submit to many colleges at once. Its activities section has room for up to 10 activities. Each entry gives you 50 characters for your position, 100 characters for the organization's name, and 150 characters to describe what you did, which is about one sentence.

Compare two versions of the same entry. The first says: "Attended VTSP." The second says: "Spearheaded a team project to uncover how crowded traditional stock level momentum had become due to algorithmic trading and led the presentation to the startup founder." The second version tells a reader what you truly did with your leadership skills and what the result was.

The work you do after the program usually gives you the stronger entry. A Boys State delegate who later testifies at a city council meeting, or a Brown student who runs the plan they wrote, has a specific result to report.

FAQs

Do leadership programs help with college admissions?

Colleges don't publish how they weigh 'general summer programs', so be skeptical of any program that promises a specific outcome. You should, though, evaluate what a program leaves you with. A program that selects students through nomination or a competitive application tells a reader that someone chose you, and a project you completed afterward tells them what you can do.

What's the difference between a leadership program and a leadership camp?

Advanced leadership programs admit students through a nomination or an application with essays and recommendations. Leadership camps generally enroll students on a first-come, first-served basis. A camp can be a good first experience for a younger student, while a selective program asks you to show leadership or academic ability before you're admitted.

Can international students attend leadership summer programs?

Yes, at several of them. VTSP, YYGS, HOBY's World Leadership Congress, Wharton, NSLC, and Brown all accept international students, and YYGS offers need-based aid to them. Boys State, Girls State, and HOBY's state seminars select students through U.S. schools and local organizations. Notre Dame doesn't state an international policy for its Leadership Seminars, so ask before applying.

Do I need to hold a leadership position to apply?

Not for most programs. Instead, leadership summer programs offer a way to develop this skill in anyone. HOBY states that leadership development "is a skillset to be learned and not a position to be held," and its seminars are open to any nominated 10th grader. Selective programs such as Notre Dame's seminars and Wharton's LBW look for evidence of leadership in your application, and that evidence can come from a job, a family responsibility, or a project you started as easily as from an elected office.

When should I apply, and how does this fit with Early Decision and Early Action?

Most U.S. colleges offer early application rounds. Early Decision (ED) is binding, meaning that if you're admitted you commit to attending. Early Action (EA) is nonbinding, so you can apply to other colleges and decide later. Both rounds usually have deadlines around November 1 of 12th grade, which means the summer after 11th grade is the last summer that appears on an early application.

Plan backward from that. VTSP's invite-only round and the YYGS Early Action round both close October 15, 2026, and Notre Dame's application opens in October. HOBY's community nominations open in January. Wharton's priority deadline falls in late January. Boys State and Girls State selections usually happen through schools and local posts in the winter and early spring of 11th grade.

Are there online leadership programs for high school students?

Yes. VTSP runs entirely online for six weeks, and Brown's Leadership Institute offers a four-week online version. YYGS is not offering online sessions for 2027.

Before you apply

Pick two or three programs that your current high school grade and location allow, and write down the entry route for each: nomination, direct application, or both. Nomination-based programs choose students through your school, so raise them with your counselor this fall. For every program on your list, note the admission deadline and the financial aid deadline separately, since aid deadlines often come first.

Program details reflect what each organization published on its official website as of fall 2026. Dates, tuition, and eligibility change every year, so verify them on the program's own site before you apply.

About the Authors

Written by the team behind the Venture & Tech Summer Program (VTSP), a six-week virtual innovation program that has brought together high school students from more than 85 countries. Each session pairs students with internship projects at startups in Silicon Valley and beyond, and brings in guest speakers working in technology, innovation, and venture capital.