13 Writing Internships for High School Students
If you’re a high schooler thinking about how to improve your writing skills or your writing portfolio, an internship might be a good idea. Especially if the career you’re considering is one that’s writing-heavy, which academia and research can be. For that matter, writing skills are useful in most professions – take journalism, law, marketing, content, or any kind of scientific research!
A writing internship, or even a writing program or practical course, will make a positive impression on college admissions committees while also sprucing up your resume. You will also end up with a strong and well-grounded portfolio that you can use to demonstrate your experience.
Moreover, the practice of daily writing, editing, and gaining feedback will help you improve your writing skills and figure out areas of interest. To help you get started, here’s a list of 13 writing internships for high school students you can consider. Some of these are unpaid internships, while some provide a stipend. Some of these opportunities may also require you to pay a fee because there is a teaching/mentoring component or a learning program.
Finding Writing Internships as a High School Student
Finding writing internships isn’t always easy, especially because of how self-driven the nature of writing is. They can also be overwhelming to look for because of how many different kinds of writing exist! But doing writing internships can show college admissions officers your passion and dedication, and it also helps in skill-building. Here are some tips to find internships outside of this blog:
Consider reaching out directly to newspapers, NGOs or organizations that piqued your interest, even if they haven’t explicitly offered internships. Express your interest and inquire about any available opportunities to write for them.
Build a portfolio of your best writing samples. Include a variety of pieces such as articles, essays, blog posts, or short stories. Make sure your portfolio demonstrates your writing abilities and range.
Be proactive and consistent in your search. Follow up with organizations after submitting your application and express your continued interest in writing for them.
Location: Virtual
Eligibility: High school students, undergraduates, and gap year students able to contribute 5-15 work hours per week for 8-16 weeks
Application Deadline: Spring cohort: February 18, 2024 | Summer cohort (early admission): February 18, 2024 | Summer cohort (regular admission): April 14, 2024. Fall and winter cohorts are also available.
Dates: Varies for each cohort. Summer cohorts run in June-August.
Cost: $1,990 (startup internship) | $5,400 (research internship)
Financial Aid: Full and partial need-based financial aid is available.
From over 600 applications, 100 interns are selected for Ladder Internships. The program facilitates multiple sessions between the intern and the host company (usually a startup) and enables the intern to work on projects and deliverables that they can then present at the end. Some companies where interns can expect to work include Softenmind, IPMD, JuneBrain, Divercity.io, Billion Dollar Startup Ideas, and Fair Opportunity Project.
The media and journalism track is what students interested in writing can opt for. Students can also consider the longer research internship which will include sessions with a writing coach and publication specialist. The program also includes professional skill development sessions and 1-on-1 skill training!
2. L.A. Times High School Insider Summer Internship
Location: Hybrid (online + L.A. Times office, El Segundo, CA). Students will need to commute to the office.
Eligibility: High school student graduating in 2024, 2025, or 2026
Application Deadline: February 19, 2024
Dates: June 17, 2024 - August 2, 2024 (24 hours a week for 7 weeks)
Stipend: $16.90 per hour
The L.A. Times High School Insider internship is an opportunity for high school students to experience the ins and outs of journalism: covering breaking news, trying out various storytelling media, and writing feature stories.
Interns will attend training and workshops, work with mentors from experienced journalists, contact sources, schedule interviews, draft features, and work on edits and revisions.
A strong and tight cohort of interns (8-10 in number) will collaborate and network to produce stories that are particularly relevant to the youth.
3. Project Write Now Teen Internship Program
Location: Virtual
Eligibility: High school students aged 15-18
Application Deadline: Applications for 2024 will open in March. The deadline has not been announced yet.
Dates: June-August (3 months)
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship but students will receive community hours.
Project Write Now (PWN) hosts an annual teen internship program to provide hands-on experience in journalism and publishing. The program provides virtual training for 2-3 days, following which students will embark on one of the following writing internships.
Editorial Assistant: Create original content for marketing and the PWN blog and help manage the online YA literary magazine, Bridge Ink.
The Interview Project: Find stories, interview participants, and write compelling narratives.
Teaching Assistant: Teach writing to children in the in-person summer programs.
The first two internships are limited to 8 participants each.
4. Princeton Summer Journalism Program (PSJP)
Location: Hybrid (virtual + on-site at the Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ)
Eligibility: High school juniors in the U.S. from a low-income background who have an unweighted 3.5/4.0 GPA can apply.
Application Deadline: February 15, 2024
Dates: July 2024 - August 2024 (around 5 weeks)
Cost: Free. All housing, food, transportation, and equipment costs will be covered for the on-site portion of the program.
This program is perfect for students keen on political journalism. A highly selective and prestigious program, PSJP admits only up to 40 students in its annual cohort. It offers high achievers from low-income families a free residential journalism and college prep program where they will study politics and current affairs, learn from Princeton professors and journalists, and collaborate with a college advisor. Students will take part in a summer intensive that includes virtual and on-campus workshops and lectures led by program graduates and journalists from publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, Politico, and CNN, among others.
The program will conclude with its 10-day residential program, at the end of which students will publish the Princeton Summer Journal. The website provides last year’s publications that interested students can go through.
5. City Limits CLARIFY Internship
Location: CUNY Brooklyn or CUNY York college campus, NY / Virtual
Eligibility: Junior, senior, and graduating high school students studying and living in NYC
Application Deadline: Applications for spring 2024 will open soon, followed by the summer 2024 applications. Keep checking the Apply page to stay updated.
Dates: To be announced. The summer 2023 program was held for 10 days in July.
Stipend: $500
City Limits is NYC’s oldest nonprofit investigative news agency. Its City Limits Accountability Reporting Initiative for Youth (CLARIFY) internship program is aimed at improving news and media literacy and increasing youth civic engagement.
Only around 10-12 students are selected for this internship. Selected interns will receive training in research, interviewing, investigative techniques, media ethics, photojournalism, reporting and writing, and story structure. They will work with City Limit’s journalists to produce locally relevant news stories that will then get published online.
6. Pasquines Writing and Editing Internship
Location: Virtual
Eligibility: High school students with some writing and editing experience
Application Deadline: January 31, 2024. Internships will rolling deadlines are also occasionally posted.
Dates: Flexible
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship.
Pasquines is a non-profit news agency focusing on stories from the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The agency offers remote internship and volunteering opportunities throughout the year, with flexibility in the hours students can contribute (minimum 2 hours a week).
For writing enthusiasts, editorial internships are ideal to apply to, with the role focusing on editing, writing, and spreading news stories about U.S. territories. Interns will receive assignments in areas like federal affairs, local affairs, economic affairs, science and environmental affairs, court affairs, and opinion.
Location: Virtual
Eligibility: High school students (grades 9-12) from all over the world
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: 3 months at any time of the year
Stipend: This is an unpaid internship.
Building-U is a non-profit providing high school students with free access to a wide range of resources to help them build their careers. Part of this endeavor is the Building-U writing internship with the Blog Squad. Selected interns will focus on writing articles for the Down to U blog and speaking with experts on topics like land-based education and its importance for both indigenous and non-indigenous communities (for the Down to U Discussions podcast).
Interns will work on real-world team projects and build writing, reporting, teamwork, and communication skills.
8. Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshops
Location: Virtual / Kenyon College, Gambier, OH
Eligibility: Rising junior and senior high school students aged 16-18 from all over the world
Application Deadline: March 1, 2024 (residential) | April 15, 2024 (online)
Dates: Summer residential workshops (2 weeks): June 23, 2024 - July 6, 2024 or July 14, 2024 - July 27, 2024 | Summer online workshops (1 week): June 16, 2024 - June 21, 2024
Cost: $2,575 (residential) | $995 (virtual)
Financial Aid: Need-based financial aid is available.
The Kenyon Review hosts both summer residential and online workshops for young writers. It also hosts winter online workshops, the dates of which have already passed for this year.
Each workshop includes groups of 12-14 students who meet for 3.5-5 hours a day and explore ideas and genres, produce fresh work and discuss the same with their peers and teachers. Genres can include poetry, fiction, and essays. One-on-one sessions with instructors, field trips, and evening and weekend activities are also offered.
9. Summer Journalism Workshop at Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA)
Location: Virtual / Columbia University campus, New York, NY
Eligibility: Rising sophomore, junior, and senior high school students
Application Deadline: Applications open in January 2024; deadline to be announced
Dates: June 23, 2024 - June 28, 2024 (on-site) | July 8, 2024 - July 12, 2024 (virtual) | July 15, 2024 - July 19, 2024 (virtual) | July 22 - July 26, 2024 (virtual)
Cost: To be decided. Previous workshops ranged from $900 to $1,600 for virtual and on-site programs.
Financial Aid: Need-based scholarships are available.
The Summer Journalism Workshop at CSPA is a writing program focused specifically on journalism, with sessions focusing on reporting and writing, editorial leadership, design concepts, digital media, and photojournalism. Insights into publishing are also provided through the sessions. Interns will receive guidance and teaching from established journalists and faculty while also working on writing projects.
Note that the course offerings are subject to change, so keep checking the program page regularly.
10. California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) Writing Program
Location: California Institute of the Arts, Sacramento, CA
Eligibility: High school students entering grades 9-12 and graduating seniors
Application Deadline: February 29, 2024
Dates: July 6, 2024 - August 2, 2024
Cost: $4,600 (CA state residents) | $7,000 (out-of-state and international students)
Financial Aid: Full and partial need-based financial aid is available to CA state students.
The CSSSA Writing Program offers workshops to 70 aspiring young writers. Four professional writers conduct these workshops in genres like fiction, poetry, dramatic writing, and non-fiction.
The program comprises a core class on foundational writing with a focus on all genres and an elective that does a deep dive into a particular genre. Other program offerings include workshops, discussions, and presentations from published writers and editors, Saturday morning colloquiums to read and discuss written work, group projects, office hours, and contributions to the CSSSA Writing Anthology.
11. NYC Summer Academy at The School of the New York Times
Location: The School of The New York Times, New York, NY
Eligibility: Rising high school students (grades 10-12) and graduating seniors
Application Deadline: January 8, 2024 (early deadline) | February 26, 2024 (priority + final financial aid deadline) | April 1, 2024 (regular deadline)
Dates: June 2024 - July 2024 (multiple 2-week terms available)
Cost: $5,935 (day students) | $7,220 (residential students)
Financial Aid: Merit and need-based aid and scholarships are available.
The School of the New York Times runs an annual NYC Summer Academy featuring a wide range of courses taught by editors, reporters, and industry experts as well as field trips, site visits, and evening and weekend activities.
Courses include writing in/about areas like tech, opinion, fashion, free speech, immigration, diversity, television, political commentary, creative writing, public policy, sports, photojournalism, film, music, plays, and lots more. Each course involves plenty of writing and practical exposure, making this a wonderful but highly competitive work-learn opportunity.
12. Iowa Young Writers' Studio Summer Residential Program
Location: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA / Virtual
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10-12
Application Deadline: February 4, 2024
Dates: June 16, 2024 - June 29, 2024 (session 1) | July 14, 2024 - July 27, 2024 (session 2). Students can opt for either.
Cost: $2,500 (residential) | $575 (virtual)
Financial Aid: Full and partial need-based financial aid is available.
Iowa’s highly prestigious writing department runs an annual in-person residential workshop for high school students. The workshop also runs virtually.
Students will spend two weeks writing in a core course of their choice, such as fiction writing, poetry writing, TV writing, playwriting, and creative writing. Daily sharing with peers and teachers, feedback, and writing exercises are included in the courses.
The program further includes readings from published writers, workshops, discussions, collaborative projects, icebreakers, open mics, talent shows, and social gatherings.
13. Girl Rising’s Future Rising Fellowship
Location: Virtual with an initial in-person bootcamp (location to be announced)
Eligibility: High school students (regardless of gender) who are at least 17 years old. Note that individuals up to age 25 will be present in the cohort.
Application Deadline: The deadline for 2024-25 has not been announced. The deadline for 2023-24 was June 29, 2024, so students should expect a similar deadline.
Dates: August 2024 - August 2025 (one year)
Stipend: $5,000
The Future Rising Fellowship is given out every year to individuals who wish to work at the intersection of climate and gender justice.
During the fellowship, fellows will attend workshops and work towards crafting an engaging media project. The topics for 2024 have not yet been announced, but fellows in 2023 worked on topics like local solutions and girls and women in conservation. Fellows are free to work with any medium of their choice, such as graphic novels, essays, short films, and long-form articles. Check out past projects here.
Looking for an immersive internship experience?
Check out Ladder Internships!
Ladder Internships is a selective, virtual internship program where students work with startups and nonprofits from around the world! The startups range across a variety of industries, with a large number of them in tech. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project that is of genuine need to the startup they are working with, and present their work at the end of their internship. In addition to working closely with their manager from the startup, each intern will also work with a Ladder Coach throughout their internship. Apply now!
Stephen is one of the founders of Ladder Internships and a Harvard College graduate.