College and Career Awareness
Explore Programs & Resources
Program Spotlights
.
-
Celebrating Mass STEM Week with astrophysics and AI
October 27, 2023
"Astronomy Is for All of Us: Celebrating Women Astrophysicists and the History of Cosmic Discovery" recognized Mass STEM week, a statewide effort to raise high schoolers' interest in and awareness of careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Read More
-
Celebrating more than 25 years of summer youth employment
September 28, 2023
43 Cambridge and Boston teens gained valuable work experience and exposure to a variety of possible career paths by working in more than 20 Harvard offices and labs this summer through Harvard’s annual Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP).
Read More
-
Serving up science on Pi Day
April 5, 2023
Students from four Boston Public Schools spent March 14 at the Science and Engineering Complex doing hands-on engineering projects and interacting with undergraduate and graduate students studying STEM at Harvard.
Read More
-
Harvard's Crimson Summer Academy marks a 20-year milestone
August 24, 2023
During its 20-year history, the CSA has graduated more than 400 Crimson Scholars who have gone on to college or university, with more than 90 percent earning degrees.
Read More
-
Building college awareness among Boston's youth
November 18, 2022
As part of a University-wide effort to support local Boston and Cambridge youth programming that builds college and career awareness, Harvard hosted middle and high school students for Project Teach, College Apps Day, and more during the fall semester in 2022.
Read More
.
Building College and Career Awareness: Elementary Programs
Summer Explorations at the Harvard Ed Portal
Open to Allston-Brighton residents, weekly programs in July and August include the Science of Cooking, anatomy of animals, drama, and more
Learn More
Youth Mentoring with Harvard Undergraduates
Weekly one-on-one and group meetings at the Harvard Ed Portal with local Allston-Brighton youth focused on academic support and enrichment
Learn More
Family-Friendly Athletics Events
From Fall Fest to Community Days, families and local youth can enjoy various Harvard Crimson sporting events throughout the year
Learn More
Harvard Museum of Natural History: K-12 Classes
The Harvard Museum of Natural History brings the museum to the classroom through frameworks-oriented programs taught by museum educators. Elementary programs include: Welcome to the Forest, Animal ABCs, Jaws and Claws, and The Changing Earth.
Learn More
Peabody Museum: K-12 Programs
The Peabody Museum offers a wide variety of K-12 Programs that encourage students to use observation and inquiry skills to form new perspectives on cultures. Elementary programs include: Globetrotters, Day of the Dead, Amazing Aztecs, and virtual classroom visits.
Learn More
Free Admission to Harvard Museums
Harvard Art Museums is free to all visitors; Harvard Museum of Natural History and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology is free to Massachusetts residents on Sunday mornings (year-round) and Wednesday afternoons (September–May)
College Awareness & Preparedness: Middle School Programs
Education Day with Harvard Athletics
6th Grade
Cambridge and Boston Public Schools are invited to attend a Harvard Athletic Event and meet with student-athletes. In 2023, 700 students attended a Harvard Women's Hockey game.
Learn More
Project Teach Campus Visits
7th Grade
Boston and Cambridge Public Schools middle schoolers meet with undergraduates, attend short lectures in topics ranging from the History of Hip Hop, to Science of the Teenage Brain, then enjoy lunch and a campus tour.
Learn More
STEM Engagement with Boston Public Schools
8th Grade
Boston Public Schools students spend Pi Day at the Science and Engineering Complex doing hands-on engineering projects and interacting with undergraduate and graduate students studying STEM at Harvard.
Read More
Harvard Museum of Natural History: K-12 Programs
The Harvard Museum of Natural History brings the museum to the classroom through frameworks-oriented programs taught by museum educators. Middle school programs include: Under Our Feet: The Geology of New England, Climate Change, and Human Origins.
Learn More
Peabody Museum: K-12 Programs
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology offers a wide variety of K-12 Programs that encourage students to use observation and inquiry skills to form new perspectives on cultures. Middle school programs include: Magnificent Maya, Virtual Aztec and Maya Leaders, Virtual Mesopotamian Monuments, and Foragers to Farmers.
Learn More
Discovering College & Career Pathways: High School
College and Career Resource Fair
Harvard University's Public School Partnerships team hosts a Career Exploration Day which brings together Boston Public Schools and Cambridge Rindge & Latin School students to engage in conversations with representatives from various post-secondary schools, technical training programs, and organizations that support first-generation and minority students attend and succeed in college. Additionally, students are introduced to training opportunities, take part in personal and professional reflection activities, and begin their post-secondary plans.
Learn More
Summer Youth Employment Program
For more than 25 years, the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) has provided valuable work experience to high school students from Boston and Cambridge, while also contributing to Harvard’s summer staffing needs. SYEP has been instrumental in helping local teenagers develop strong work habits, establish networks, and receive exposure to a variety of possible career paths by working in numerous Harvard offices and labs.
Learn More
Harvard Art Museums' Graduate Student Teacher Program
The Harvard Art Museums' Graduate Student Teacher Program collaborates with the Cambridge Rindge & Latin School to explore different approaches to gallery teaching for high school students, build multi-visit partnerships with high school teachers, use visual art as a tool for teaching a variety of academic subjects, and help develop and foster a museum-going identity and museum literacy among local teens.
Learn More
Focusing on College & Career Readiness: High School
College Application Day
Harvard University's Public School Partnerships (PSP) team offers expertise and resources that support curriculum goals and guide students towards academic success. In the fall of 2022, PSP organized a College Application Day, an initiative designed in close collaboration with educators and Harvard student volunteers. The program reached 90 students from Brighton High School.
Learn More
Science Research Mentoring Program
The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) provides an opportunity for students from Cambridge Rindge & Latin School to work on a year-long independent research project in astrophysics under the guidance of a CfA or MIT astrophysicist. Students learn what it is actually like to conduct real, cutting-edge research and work closely with living scientists from diverse backgrounds.
Learn More
Marine Science Internship Program
Local Cambridge Rindge & Latin School high schoolers receive hands-on lab experience and explore career paths available in marine science, working alongside Harvard graduate students and researchers on projects with real-world applications, through internships in labs across Harvard and throughout the region.
Learn More
Harvard Medical School Summer Programs
HMS MEDscience Summer Programs offer innovative, immersive medical science programs for local high school students curious and passionate about science, healthcare, and related STEM fields.
Available programs include:
MEDscience@HMS; MEDscienceLAB; MEDscienceLAB Forensics; and the Moonshot Program.
Learn More
High School Lab Pathways
High School Lab Pathways aims to familiarize students with diverse career opportunities in STEM fields through a partnership between the Harvard Ed Portal and Harvard's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Designed to offer practical experience, the program not only enhances science literacy but also equips students with foundational life science, laboratory, and workforce competencies.
Learn More
Student Enrichment Programs
Phillips Brooks House Association
Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) is a student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the largest public service organization at Harvard, encompassing 86 programs that serve over 10,000 youth and adults in the greater Boston area. PBHA programs emphasize direct service and social action as a facilitator for social change and address several key community needs, including tutoring, small claims advising, advocacy, managing local homeless shelters, ESL education, citizenship training, Alternative Spring Break trips, and the Summer Urban Program (SUP).
Other program highlights include:
Cambridge Afterschool Program; CHANCE College Preparatory Program; Chinatown Afterschool Program; Chinatown Teen Mentorship Program; and David Walker Scholars.
Learn More
Crimson Summer Academy
Crimson Summer Academy is an exciting and innovative program for public school students who currently attend ninth grade in Boston, Cambridge, or Somerville who have a passion to learn, a desire to excel, and a commitment to belonging to an intellectual community.
Over the course of three consecutive summers, cohorts of 30-40 students engage in a stimulating mix of classes, projects, and cultural activities as they prepare for success in college and beyond.
Application required.
Learn More
Project Success
Project Success: Opening the Door to Biomedical Careers is a program for Boston and Cambridge high school students, particularly underrepresented and/or disadvantage students, to participate in paid, mentored, summer research internships at Harvard Medical School and its affiliated institutions. The program is augmented by seminars and workshops given by faculty and administrators, site visits, and career counseling.
Application required.
Learn More
Arboretum Young Scientists
Arboretum Young Scientists is a free and immersive program where rising 7th and 8th graders engage in hands-on outdoor exploration, delving into the captivating world of life sciences amidst the lush beauty of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum.
Program highlights include engaging in thrilling experiments and investigations; connecting with fellow explorers and share amazing findings; discovering life science career options; and building social skills and making friends.
Application required.
Learn More
Harvard GSD Design Discovery Youth
Design Discovery Youth is a 3-week in-person program that takes place at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and engages Boston area high school students, rising sophomore to senior year in age, who are interested in learning about what design is, its media and methods, and the scales it involves. The program explores how to translate participants' observations of the world into the spatial and visual language of design. Students are taught by Harvard GSD faculty and masters degree program graduates in addition to interacting with a diverse community of Boston area design talent and agencies.
Participants receive a program certificate, student evaluation, and produce a draft portfolio of design work that can be shared with design programs or professionals in pursuit of additional forms of design education and internship experiences to follow.
Application required.
Learn More
College Application Resources
Fair Opportunity Project
Fair Opportunity Project is a free resource that connects high school students with college mentors who can support the college application (and financial aid!) process from start to finish. Every year, Fair Opportunity Project sends free college application advice to over 63,000 public educators via their online guide. They also have over 100 college and financial aid mentors who help students maximize their aid, put together winning applications, and file the FAFSA. You can also access many helpful videos and other resources on their website.
Learn More
Matriculate
Matriculate connects high-achieving, low-income juniors and seniors to highly-trained undergraduate advisors—completely virtually—empowering students to attend colleges where they will thrive.
Please note: Matriculate does have an application and a set of requirements, so check their website to find out if you're a good fit.
Learn More
QuestBridge
QuestBridge is a national nonprofit that connects the nation's most exceptional, low-income youth with leading colleges and opportunities. By working with these students — beginning in high school through college to their first job —QuestBridge aims to increase the percentage of talented low-income students attending the nation's best colleges and to support them to achieve success in their careers and communities. Students who are "matched" through QuestBridge's National College Match will receive a full four-year scholarship to their college.
Application required.
Learn More
Coalition for College
Coalition for College features the "Coalition App," an alternative to the Common App that is rising in popularity. All Coalition member schools graduate students with low-to-no debt, while either meeting students' full demonstrated financial need, offering low-cost in-state tuition, or providing responsible financial aid packages. In addition, with the Coalition's simple fee waiver, eligible students do not have to pay to apply to Coalition schools.
Learn More
Online Tools
LabXchange
LabXchange is a global science classroom. Created at Harvard University with support from the Amgen Foundation, this powerful digital tool makes high-quality science education accessible and gives learners and educators, everywhere, the courage to chart a meaningful path in science—for free.
Learn More
Useable Knowledge
Useable Knowledge is a feature powered by the Harvard Graduate School of Education that translates new education research into easy-to-use stories and strategies — with timely insights for educators, families, and communities.
Learn More
HarvardX
HarvardX provides free online courses in a wide variety of topics for anyone to pursue. Sort courses by subject matter, school provider, duration, and difficulty.