Are NASA Internships for High School Students Still Possible?
For years, NASA OSTEM internships were the marquee answer to the question of NASA internships for high school students: paid placements at NASA centers, open to full-time high schoolers as young as 16. NASA’s current eligibility closes that door. The OSTEM enrollment requirement now reads college-level only: applicants must be full-time or part-time college students attending a certificate or degree-granting program at an accredited technical school, college, or university, in addition to being United States citizens at least 16 years old with a cumulative 3.0 GPA (NASA). A current high school student, however strong, does not meet the enrollment line.
One nuance is worth checking for families it fits: a dual-enrollment student who is formally enrolled part-time at an accredited college may meet the letter of the requirement. NASA’s published table does not address dual enrollment directly, so a family in that position should confirm with the NASA STEM Gateway team before building a summer plan around it. Families will also still find the old language on some NASA pages – the internship FAQ had not yet been updated to the new enrollment line as of September 2026 – which is part of why outdated guides persist; when official pages conflict, the newer program page and the live NASA STEM Gateway listings govern.
What Is SEES, the NASA Program Still Open to High School Students?
When families search for NASA internships for high school students today, SEES is the accurate answer. The STEM Enhancement in Earth Sciences program is NASA’s high school summer intern program, run with the University of Texas at Austin. It selects current sophomores and juniors – rising juniors and seniors for the program summer – who are United States citizens and at least 16 by the start of July. The structure combines required virtual distance-learning modules in the spring with a summer experience that, depending on the track, includes an on-site residency in Austin. SEES is free to attend and unpaid, and completing interns receive a NASA certificate; the credential is the selection and the work, not a paycheck. Applications close in late February for the following summer.
Beyond SEES, a small set of state and center cohort programs keeps a NASA connection open to high schoolers, the best known being Texas High School Aerospace Scholars, a Johnson Space Center program for Texas juniors. Availability varies by state and cycle, so treat these as bonuses to verify locally rather than pillars to plan around.
What Does OSTEM Require Once Your Student Is Eligible?
For a graduating senior, OSTEM becomes relevant the moment college enrollment begins, and planning for it during senior year is exactly the kind of sequencing that pays off. The current requirements: United States citizenship, at least 16 at the time of application, a cumulative 3.0 GPA, and enrollment in a certificate or degree-granting program, with both STEM and non-STEM majors accepted. Three sessions run each year – a 10-week summer and 15-week fall and spring sessions – and the majority of interns receive a stipend based on academic level and session length. Applications go through the NASA STEM Gateway portal, and no letter of recommendation is required.
| Session | Length | Application deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | 15 weeks | September 14, 2026 |
| Summer 2027 | 10 weeks | February 26, 2027 |
| Fall 2027 | 15 weeks | May 21, 2027 |
A first-year college student who interned at NASA the summer after freshman year holds a credential that shapes everything downstream, from research placements to competitive internship recruiting. The application a student submits in February of freshman year is built on the record assembled in high school, which is the real reason this page matters to families now.
How Do Students Build a NASA-Grade Record in High School?
The students who win SEES seats, and later OSTEM placements, look similar on paper: sustained evidence of scientific seriousness rather than a single summer of enthusiasm. That record is built from the pieces we cover across this cluster – selective research programs, laboratory placements secured through direct outreach, and structured mentorship – all mapped in our guides to internships for high school students, high school research mentorship, and the most prestigious summer programs. NASA’s own student challenges and citizen-science projects add a distinctive, verifiable line: they are open-entry, they produce artifacts, and they demonstrate exactly the mission interest SEES selects for. For the broader landscape of employers that still take high schoolers directly, our review of competitive high school internships completes the picture.
Frequently Asked Questions
The main OSTEM internship program now requires enrollment in a college-level certificate or degree program, so current high school students are not eligible for it. The NASA pathway that remains open to high schoolers is SEES, the agency high school summer intern program run with the University of Texas at Austin.
SEES, the STEM Enhancement in Earth Sciences program, is a NASA high school summer intern experience for current sophomores and juniors who are United States citizens and at least 16 by the start of July. It combines spring virtual modules with a summer experience, is free to attend and unpaid, and applications close in late February.
OSTEM interns, who must be college students, mostly receive a stipend based on academic level and session length. SEES, the high school program, is free but unpaid; participants receive a NASA certificate on completion.
OSTEM requires applicants to be at least 16 at the time of application, along with United States citizenship, a 3.0 GPA, and college enrollment. SEES requires students to be at least 16 by the start of July in the program summer.
OSTEM runs three sessions a year: the Spring 2027 deadline is September 14, 2026, the Summer 2027 deadline is February 26, 2027, and the Fall 2027 deadline is May 21, 2027. SEES applications close in late February for the following summer.
Possibly. The requirement is enrollment in a certificate or degree-granting program at an accredited college, and a formally enrolled part-time dual enrollment student may meet that line. NASA does not address the case directly, so families should confirm with the NASA STEM Gateway team before relying on it.
NASA places more than 2,000 interns a year across all levels, drawn from a far larger national applicant pool, and SEES selects a limited cohort from thousands of applications. Both reward a sustained record of scientific work over a strong transcript alone.
Build verifiable scientific work early: school research programs, science fairs, NASA student challenges and citizen-science projects, laboratory placements secured through direct outreach, and selective summer research programs. That record is what SEES and, later, OSTEM applications are evaluated on.
Sources: NASA Internship Programs, NASA Internship Frequently Asked Questions, NASA STEM Gateway.
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