15 Study Abroad Programs in Europe for High School Students

Europe has been attracting students for hundreds of years. Long before university rankings existed, people travelled to places like Bologna, Cambridge, Heidelberg, and Oxford to study with leading scholars of their time. High school students now have access to that same academic environment through study abroad programs in Europe for high school students that open university classrooms long before freshman year.

Whether you’re interested in medicine, engineering, business, psychology, or computer science, there’s likely a program that matches your interests. Many include seminars, practical workshops, laboratory sessions, and visits to research centres, companies, courts, or cultural institutions connected directly to what you’re studying. It feels much closer to university than school.

Imagine spending the afternoon inside CERN after learning particle physics in class, or discussing European politics before visiting the institutions where many of those decisions are made. Seeing these places in person can make classroom concepts easier to understand.

Why attend study abroad programs in Europe?

Few regions bring together so many universities, research institutes, museums, archives, and scientific organisations in such a small geographic area. You can experience different languages, teaching styles, and academic traditions during a single summer without spending days travelling between destinations.

These experiences can also give you concrete examples to discuss in applications and interviews. A research presentation, an engineering prototype, a business case study, or an academic discussion from your program gives depth to personal statements and interviews. It shows curiosity backed by action.

To help you navigate these options, we’ve put together a list of 15 study abroad programs in Europe for high school students. We prioritized programs run directly by universities or government organizations, rather than private camp operators, and gave preference to the ones that are free or come with a stipend.

For related options, consider the online research program.

Key Takeaways

• The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) is a fully funded one-year academic exchange in Germany, backed by the US Department of State and the German Bundestag, requiring no prior German language experience.
• CERN-Solvay Student Camps are free, including accommodation and meals, for a one-week residential program at CERN in Geneva for students aged 16 and above.
• Costs range from free programs like CBYX and CERN-Solvay to over £8,995 for two-week Oxford programs such as the AI and Machine Learning Pioneers Summer School.
• Several UK programs, including Imperial Global Summer School, King’s Pre-University Summer School, and Warwick Pre-University Summer School, place students in university halls or colleges to preview undergraduate life.
• Bocconi’s Summer School lets students choose two one-week labs from 17 subject options, spanning fields like Data Science, Machine Learning, and Entrepreneurship.
• Business-focused programs include HEC Paris Youth Programs starting at €990, the ESCP International Summer School in Turin at €2,000 per week, and IE University’s program in Segovia and Madrid at €5,900.
• Immerse Education’s Academic Insights Programme runs across eight locations, including Oxford, Cambridge, and Tokyo, for students aged 13 to 18 studying in groups of 7 to 10.
• Application deadlines range from rolling admissions, as with Immerse and CERN-Solvay, to fixed dates such as Bocconi’s April 9 deadline and Warwick’s May 31 deadline.

15 Study Abroad Programs in Europe for High School Students

1. Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX)

Location: Germany
Cost: Fully funded scholarship for selected participants
Dates: One academic year; exact start date depends on placement
Application Deadline: Closes typically in November or December
Eligibility: American high school students aged 15 to 18.5

The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) is a fully funded academic exchange created by the US Department of State and the German Bundestag. For one school year, you’ll live with a carefully selected host family, attend a local German high school, and become part of everyday life in Germany. No German language experience is required before you apply. 

Throughout the year, partner organizations such as AFS-USA, CIEE, and YFU provide local support, orientation, and guidance. You’ll also represent your home country by sharing American culture while learning about Germany’s education system, history, politics, and daily life through firsthand experience.

Why it stands out: CBYX is funded and supported by both the US and German governments, making it one of the few fully funded exchange programs that offers a complete academic year abroad with structured support from start to finish.

2. Immerse Education’s Pre-University Summer School

Location: Cambridge, London, and Oxford
Cost: Varies; summer school scholarship available through our bursary programme
Application Deadline: Multiple summer cohorts; rolling admissions
Program Dates: 2 weeks during the summer
Eligibility: Students across the globe aged 13-18 currently enrolled in middle or high school; open to international students

The Academic Insights Program lets high school students experience university life firsthand. You will live on campus and study in small groups of 7-10, and learn from tutors from eminent top universities like Oxford and Cambridge. You can explore a wide range of subjects, spanning over 20 options, including Architecture, AI, Business Management, Computer Science, Economics, Medicine, Philosophy, and more. 

The courses are experiential and focus on hands-on learning. You may find yourself conducting dissections in medicine, designing a robotic arm in engineering, participating in a moot court for law, or building creative writing portfolios and business case studies. By the end of the program, you’ll complete a personal project, receive written feedback, and receive a certificate of completion. You can find more details about the application here.

Why it stands out: You’ll get an early start at university life and academics because the program includes an independent project, discussion-based classes, and living at a college campus.

3. CERN-Solvay Student Camps

Location: CERN campus, Geneva, Switzerland
Cost: Free (accommodation and meals free on campus)
Dates: April 19-25
Application Deadline: Rolling until full
Eligibility: High school students worldwide aged 16 and above

The CERN-Solvay Student Camps give high school students the chance to spend a week at CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. During the residential program, you’ll carry out hands-on experiments at the CERN Science Gateway, visit research facilities, attend lectures and Q&A sessions with CERN scientists, and work in small groups on research projects guided by members of CERN’s scientific community. 

Along the way, you’ll meet students from around the world and learn what careers in physics, engineering, computing, and other STEM fields look like inside an international research organization.

Why it stands out: Spending a week inside one of the world’s leading research centers is an experience that’s difficult to replicate anywhere else.

4. Imperial Global Summer School

Location: South Kensington Campus, Imperial College London, UK
Cost: £7,695
Dates: June 29th – July 10th, or August 3-14
Application Deadline: Rolling, until each subject or session fills
Eligibility: Students aged 16-17 with strong academic records and English proficiency; international students are welcome to apply

Imperial’s Global Summer School is one of the more STEM-intensive study abroad programs in Europe for high school students, putting you inside a university that only teaches science, engineering, medicine, and business, so every session is genuinely subject-specific rather than a general campus taster. In week one, you pick a track- chemistry, data science and AI, engineering, or physics and life sciences- and work through lectures, lab sessions, and practical workshops built around it.

Week two flips the format: you’re placed into a mixed group with students from other tracks and asked to solve a real-world problem together as part of the Innovation Challenge, run with input from Imperial’s Enterprise Lab. Because you live in the same student halls Imperial’s own first-years use during term time, you get an honest preview of what living away from home for university actually feels like, not just what a lecture looks like.

Why it stands out: It pairs single-subject depth with a cross-disciplinary team challenge in the same two weeks, so you get both focus and collaboration.

5. AI and Machine Learning Pioneers Summer School

Location: Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK
Cost: £8,995
Dates: Starts July 19th
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students worldwide aged 15-18

Hosted by Oxford Saïd and the University’s Department of Economics, this two-week summer school explores how modern AI systems are built and applied. You’ll learn Python programming, machine learning concepts, and neural networks before putting those skills to work on real datasets. 

Working in teams, you’ll develop a solution to a practical technology challenge and present it to Oxford faculty and industry mentors at the end of the program. Outside class, you’ll experience Oxford student life through formal hall dinners, cultural visits, and activities with classmates from around the world.

Why it stands out: The program combines Oxford’s academic expertise in AI with project-based learning, giving students the chance to build, test, and present their own machine learning solutions while studying on one of the world’s most famous university campuses.

6. Teen Technology and Innovation Summer Academy

Location: Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK
Cost: £8,995
Dates: Starts July 18th
Application Deadline: Not specified; enquire directly with the program
Eligibility: Applicants must be at least 15 and no older than 18 years and 11 months on July 5th. English proficiency of at least B2 is recommended for full participation; international students can apply

The Teen Technology and Innovation Summer Academy is built around one idea: pick a technology that genuinely interests you and spend two weeks creating something with it. You can choose from themes such as AI, entrepreneurship, sustainability technology, space technology, biotechnology, or fintech. Working with university tutors and current Oxford students, you’ll research a real-world problem, develop a solution, and present your final project to a panel of entrepreneurs and industry professionals. 

The program also includes dedicated sessions on public speaking and persuasive communication, helping you explain your ideas with confidence. During your stay, you’ll live in a historic Oxford college and receive your certificate at the University’s centuries-old Divinity School.

Why it stands out: You choose a specific tech theme rather than a general syllabus, so your final project is something you can actually speak to in a college interview.

7. Brown Experiential Education: Oxford

Location: Oxford, England, with a day trip to London
Cost: Not specified
Dates: July 6-17
Application Deadline: May 15th
Eligibility: Students worldwide completing grades 10-12, aged 16-18 by June 14th

Brown’s Oxford program drops you into one of the world’s most iconic university cities for a single deep-dive course: Basics in Biotech, From Genes to Innovation. You’ll start with the fundamentals: DNA, proteins, cell biology, then move into the field’s actual frontier: CRISPR gene editing, cancer immunotherapy, AI and machine learning in drug discovery, and brain-computer interfaces. 

Classes stay discussion-based rather than lecture-only, and site visits take you out to Oxford’s biotech parks, research institutes, and hospitals so you can see where lab research actually turns into treatment. A single day in London rounds out the program, connecting Oxford’s research community to the wider UK scientific landscape.

Why it stands out: It’s a single-subject deep dive into biotech specifically, rather than a general science survey, and you finish with a course performance report and digital certificate.

8. King’s Pre-University Summer School

Location: King’s College London, UK
Cost: £3,195 for one week; £6,180 for two weeks; £9,375 for three weeks, plus a £65 non-refundable application fee
Dates: Four one-week sessions between July 6-31
Application Deadline: Rolling by session
Eligibility: Students from around the world aged 16-17, in their final three years of high school

King’s College London offers a flexible summer school where you decide how long you want to study and what you want to explore. You can spend a week focusing on subjects like Law, Psychology, or Neuroscience, or combine multiple courses across two or three weeks. 

Teaching follows a university-style format with lectures, seminars, simulations, discussions, and guest speaker sessions that change depending on your subject. Your attendance and assignments are assessed throughout the course, and tutors provide feedback on your academic work before you receive a King’s Certificate of Completion.

Why it stands out: The one-week modular format means you can build a customized multi-subject summer instead of committing to one single track.

9. Warwick Pre-University Summer School 

Location: University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
Cost: £5,250
Dates: July 14-24
Application Deadline: May 31st
Eligibility: Students from all nationalities aged 16 or 17, considering applying to a university

The Warwick Pre-University Summer School combines academic study with practical preparation for university life in the UK. You’ll choose one of five broad subject areas, including Business, Science and Engineering, Health and Life Sciences, Arts and Humanities, or Social Sciences, and learn through lectures and seminars led by Warwick academics. 

Alongside your classes, you’ll attend workshops on research skills, note-taking, effective listening, and writing a strong UK personal statement. Student ambassadors living on campus help you settle into university life, while excursions to Oxford and Warwick Castle and guest lectures add another layer to the experience.

Why it stands out: The mix of academic tasters with hands-on UK application prep is more immediately useful than a typical taster week.

10. Bocconi Summer School for High School Students

Location: Bocconi University, Milan, Italy
Cost: €2,700
Dates: July 6-17
Application Deadline: April 9th
Eligibility: High school students in their third-to-last or second-to-last year, in Italy or abroad; must be at least 15 by the program start

Unlike most study abroad programs in Europe for high school students that lock you into one track, Bocconi’s Summer School lets you experience two different academic fields during a single program. You’ll choose two labs from a selection of 17 and spend one week in each, giving you the chance to compare subjects before deciding what you might want to study at university.

Topics include Data Science, Machine Learning, Entrepreneurship, Game Theory, Luxury and Fashion Management, International Politics, and more. Teaching is built around discussions, case studies, and group work, reflecting Bocconi’s approach to business and social science education. Students from Italy and around the world learn together, creating an international classroom throughout the two weeks.

Why it stands out: The two-lab structure lets you sample two very different fields side by side, which is unusual for a program this selective.

11. HEC Paris Youth Programs

Location: HEC Paris campus, Jouy-en-Josas, France
Cost: €990 for 3-day programs; €1,950 for the Youth Leadership Initiative
Dates: Sessions start July 6th and July 15th, depending on the program
Application Deadline: Rolling until seats fill; the English-taught tracks
Eligibility: Domestic and international high school students aged 15-18, still enrolled in high school at the time of application

HEC Paris offers a collection of short, intensive programs, each centered on a single topic. You can choose from themes such as leadership, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, climate and social sustainability, or even the economics of football. 

Most programs last three to five days, giving you enough time to explore one subject in depth without committing to a longer summer course. Some tracks, including the Junior Entrepreneur Bootcamp, are taught in French, so it’s important to check the language requirements before applying. Classes combine discussions, practical activities, and collaborative exercises led by HEC faculty and instructors.

Why it stands out: The short, single-theme format means you could try more than one HEC track across different summers without a huge time commitment each time.

12. IE University Pre-University Summer Program

Location: Segovia and Madrid, Spain
Cost: €5,900
Dates: Two weeks during the summer
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school students worldwide aged 15-17

IE’s Pre-University Summer Program splits your two weeks between Segovia and Madrid, and structures each week around a mode of thinking rather than a single subject. Week one has you building teams, working through design thinking exercises, tackling a sustainability challenge built around a clean water scenario, and finishing with the “Six Thinking Hats” critical thinking method. 

Week two shifts into an actual hackathon: customer discovery, prototyping with recycled materials and AI tools, storytelling and pitch training with VR practice, and a final presentation to a panel before a graduation ceremony that includes university admissions guidance. Because the two weeks build toward one final hackathon pitch rather than a series of disconnected lectures, you leave having actually practiced the research-to-presentation cycle you’d use in a real product or business role.

Why it stands out: The program builds toward a single hackathon final instead of teaching topics in isolation, so you practice taking an idea from research to a live pitch.

13. UCD High School Summer Program

Location: University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Cost: €3,450
Dates: July 8-23
Application Deadline: Priority deadline February 15th
Eligibility: North American students aged 16-17, with a cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.0 or above

UCD’s High School Summer Program takes a broader approach than many other study abroad programs in Europe for high school students, building the experience around Irish history, culture, and what studying in Dublin long-term would actually look like, rather than a single academic subject. Your mornings run through faculty-led workshops across UCD’s five colleges, Business, Science, Engineering & Architecture, Social Science & Law, and Arts & Humanities, giving you a working sense of the different degree paths on offer.

You’ll also get a one-on-one meeting with a UCD degree program representative to ask about specific majors, plus an application workshop at the end, run by UCD’s own admissions staff and geared toward North American applicants navigating a different education system. 

Why it stands out: It’s less a summer camp and more a structured preview of what four years at UCD would actually involve, down to one-on-one advising on specific majors.

14. ESCP International Summer School

Location: ESCP Turin Campus, Turin, Italy
Cost: €2,000/week
Dates: July 6-17
Application Deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: High school students from around the globe aged 16-18, minimum B1 English level

ESCP’s International Summer School introduces students to business through subjects such as Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, and Finance. Classes revolve around case studies, collaborative projects, and practical discussions that encourage students to apply business concepts to real scenarios. 

Alongside the academic sessions, you’ll develop communication and public speaking skills through workshops designed to build confidence in presentations and teamwork. The program welcomes students from many different countries, creating an international learning environment throughout the one- or two-week experience.

Why it stands out: The one-or-two-week structure means you’re not locked into a longer commitment if you’re still testing whether business is the right direction for you.

15. BHMS Summer Programme

Location: Lucerne, Switzerland
Cost: CHF 3,300
Dates: July 19th – August 2nd
Application Deadline: Not disclosed
Eligibility: Domestic and international students aged 16-20

Focused specifically on hospitality and business, the BHMS Summer Programme fills a niche among study abroad programs in Europe for high school students, giving you the flexibility to choose from three one-week tracks: Culinary Foundations, Hospitality and Business Innovation, or English and German Language Immersion. You can combine different tracks or continue with the same area if you want more depth.

Mornings are dedicated to practical classes and guided learning, while afternoons are spent exploring Lucerne through cultural activities and excursions across the surrounding region. Since BHMS specializes in hospitality and business education, the culinary and hospitality sessions reflect industry practices and professional standards. You’ll stay on campus with students from different countries throughout the program.

Why it stands out: It’s one of the few programs on this list where the summer fee can convert directly into credit toward an actual degree if you decide to continue with the school.

Frequently asked questions: Study Abroad Programs in Europe for High School Students

Are there free study abroad programs in Europe for high school students?

Yes. The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) is fully funded for a full academic year in Germany, covering the exchange entirely through US and German government support. CERN-Solvay Student Camps are also free, with accommodation and meals provided on campus during the one-week residential program in Geneva. Both programs have selective eligibility criteria, so students should review age and citizenship requirements closely before applying.

What is the best study abroad program in Europe for students interested in STEM?

CERN-Solvay Student Camps offer direct access to particle physics research at CERN, including hands-on experiments and lectures from CERN scientists. Imperial Global Summer School and the AI and Machine Learning Pioneers Summer School at Oxford also focus heavily on STEM, with subject-specific tracks in engineering, data science, and machine learning plus practical lab or project work. Students choosing between them should weigh Imperial’s structured Innovation Challenge against Oxford’s project-based AI curriculum.

Can high school students study business in Europe over the summer?

Yes, several programs focus specifically on business. Bocconi’s Summer School in Milan, HEC Paris Youth Programs, the ESCP International Summer School in Turin, and IE University’s Pre-University Summer Program in Segovia and Madrid all center on business topics like entrepreneurship, finance, and strategy. Warwick’s Pre-University Summer School also offers a dedicated Business track alongside its other subject areas.

How much do European study abroad programs for high school students cost?

Costs vary enormously by program type. Government-funded options like CBYX and CERN-Solvay are free, while university-run programs range from around €990 for HEC Paris’s short courses to £8,995 for two-week Oxford programs. Immerse Education’s Academic Insights Programme costs vary by location and cohort, with a bursary programme available to offset fees for eligible students.

Do any European study abroad programs let students live on a university campus?

Yes. Imperial Global Summer School, King’s Pre-University Summer School, Warwick Pre-University Summer School, and UCD’s High School Summer Program all place students in university halls or colleges during the program. Immerse Education’s Academic Insights Programme also has students live on campus, studying in small groups of 7 to 10 with tutors from universities such as Oxford and Cambridge across locations including Oxford, Cambridge, and Tokyo.

What age do you need to be for study abroad programs in Europe?

Most programs accept students between 15 and 18, though exact ranges vary. CBYX accepts ages 15 to 18.5, CERN-Solvay requires students to be at least 16, and Immerse Education’s Academic Insights Programme has the widest range, accepting students aged 13 to 18. Students should confirm exact age cutoffs for their target program, since several, like BHMS in Lucerne, extend eligibility up to age 20.

The Quiet Advantage of Starting Abroad in Europe

Choosing among these study abroad programs in Europe for high school students gives you a genuine introduction to a new country, culture, and academic system.

Once your program wraps up, you can start thinking about which destination or format might suit your next chapter abroad.

The independence, adaptability, and cross-cultural skills you built become a strong foundation for whatever study abroad opportunity comes next.

Keep building on what you started in Europe by exploring our Study Abroad blogs for guidance on your next steps.