Over the summer, high school students have a lot of free time to prepare for their return to school or their eventual journey to college. One of the best ways to accomplish these goals is to enroll in a summer training program where students learn practical skills through hands-on lessons and guided instruction. These courses are excellent places to start preparing for the college application process, picking up practical career skills, or experimenting with new interests to explore potential future training opportunities. With options to learn everything from coding to investing to video editing, students are sure to find what they are looking for in a summer training program.
Students will also be able to consider a wide range of different styles and modalities when it comes to enrolling in a summer program. Students can find classes that are offered in-person, online, or in a hybrid format, and recent developments in online pedagogy have improved the overall accessibility and quality of online courses to the point where many are superior options to their in-person counterparts. Students can also enroll in asynchronous online classes that let them dictate when and where they complete their lessons. Students should be encouraged to explore the wide range of options available to them and consider their long-term goals and desires when searching for a class.
High school students would want to consider enrolling in a summer training program for many different reasons. The most common and obvious reason is that they want to prepare for the college application process or college courses after being accepted. These courses are good ways to build foundational skills that will help students once they start learning more complex concepts in their college courses. In addition, students engaged in creative or technical summer programs will likely spend time working on hands-on projects that they can add to their application materials. Finally, students interested in subjects like computer science can use these courses as a place to prepare for their AP exams.
In addition to being productive for students pursuing academic projects, many of these courses are also ideal for students looking to build practical job or personal home skills. These courses can help students build foundational skills in areas such as personal finance, investing, or marketing, which can be useful for students regardless of their career path. These classes can help students build foundational skills or learn specific aspects of these fields that they wish to pursue professionally, making the courses ideally suited for older high school students looking to begin working immediately after high school.
Finally, enrolling in a summer course can be a good way to spend time getting guided opportunities to work on creative projects and receiving feedback from experienced instructors. In design or art courses, students can learn foundational techniques and theories in a practical learning environment. These courses are well-suited for students hoping to work on their own creative projects or apply to film or art programs since they allow students to work on their personal projects, refine those projects with feedback, and create evocative and effective materials for their applications. These courses are a great place for students to hone their creative skills while getting hands-on opportunities to produce new creative work.
If you look hard enough, you can find online or in-person courses for high school students covering almost any topic imaginable. Students can enroll in art classes, design classes, and technology courses, many of which may overlap with one another. Students will have a wide range of options available to them, and with the advent of online learning, the number of courses they can enroll in only further expands to include a whole host of classes that would otherwise be inaccessible to them.
Students interested in pursuing creative careers or applying to art schools may want to spend the summer practicing their digital art skills in a graphic design summer program. In these summer programs, students will have the chance to work on real-world projects and hone their design skills in various formats. Most commonly, students will learn how to use the major digital design applications available through the Adobe Creative Cloud: Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. In addition to learning how to use these applications, students are likely to learn basic design principles, including theories of color, composition, and typography. These courses serve as a practical introduction to the world of graphic design and offer students the chance to receive feedback on their work, which is an invaluable aspect of preparing oneself for future work in college-level or professional graphic design settings.
Students enrolled in-person or live online graphic design classes will also benefit from the group training environment, which is often set up to mirror the structure of a design studio or a studio course. This means that participants will get plenty of support and feedback from their peers and learn how to provide productive critique and receive it. In addition, students are likely to learn important practical soft skills required for professional Graphic Designers such as how to interpret client feedback, how to meet deadlines, and how to ensure that their deliverables are professionally refined. Finally, enrolling in these classes is a good way to expand your personal digital design canvas and learn new approaches to creative design projects. This can help you develop a more diverse skill set and portfolio, which is useful regardless of what you intend to do with your future graphic design training.
If you want to take your design skills further into the digital realm, you can enroll in a user experience (UX) / user interface (UI) design course. While these may seem like very similar skills (since they both involve working with user interfaces for digital platforms, applications, and webpages), they are actually fairly different skill sets. User interface design is concerned with the visual aspects of a web application. Designers specializing in this subject ensure that an interface looks good and clearly communicates meaning to its audience. User experience design focuses on how the interface feels and functions for users, and it’s invested in how user-friendly and accessible an interface is. Often, courses cover both of these subjects, so students who want to learn web design and development skills are likely to benefit from enrolling in one of these classes.
These courses tend to cover similar ground to graphic design classes, with an emphasis on applying design skills to the creation of user interfaces. Thus, students will learn how to use tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator to create assets for digital applications and how to test those applications in digital prototypes. Usually, this testing means learning how to use tools like Figma to develop prototype interfaces and perform real-world user testing (usually through processes like conducting surveys and running focus groups). Students will learn how to gather, interpret, and respond to user feedback to make their designs as accessible and easy to use as possible, and given the importance of user experience design in modern web design contexts, this training is ideal for anyone looking to work on webpages professionally or hoping to expand on their web design training in a college-level setting.
Another common course for high school students focuses on social media marketing and advertising. This is a practical skill set for students looking to work in marketing or pursue an MBA, since social media marketing has become vital to running modern ad campaigns. These classes are also ideal for students looking to start their own businesses or build their brands on social media, which has become an increasingly lucrative path for young entrepreneurs. Social media marketing courses are a practical way for students to build marketable, in-demand skills while learning more generalist advertising practices that are valuable in almost any professional context.
In a social media marketing course, students will learn basic principles of brand management and online advertising, including how to create communities, build followers, and interact with new and returning customers. They will then apply this knowledge to specific social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Students will work on multifaceted ad campaigns that account for the unique environment and features of each platform, and that aim to create long-term, sustainable online communities. Students will also learn how to use the tools offered by these platforms to track user interaction, gather data, and make informed decisions about what direction to take with a social media marketing campaign. These kinds of classes are best suited for students looking to pursue a career in marketing or looking to start their own small business or online enterprise.
Many high school students report that they don’t feel equipped to handle the complex world of personal finances once they leave high school. Students often find it difficult to start saving money and developing long-term financial independence, and navigating complex markets can be intimidating (which in turn leads students to fall into debt or fail to build a nest egg). A good way to alleviate some of these worries is to enroll in a summer finance or investing course to learn the art of personal finances and investing strategies. These courses are among the most varied in style and content since finance and investing are such expansive and important subjects. Enrolling in a finance and investing course can be a path forward to personal financial independence, or it can be the first step down the path to a career in business administration or the financial sector.
Students who enroll in a finance and investing course will likely learn how to use tools like Microsoft Excel to track data, input financial data, create automated functions, and save time and energy by keeping their personal finances, budgets, and portfolios cleanly organized. In courses focused on personal finances and investing, students will then learn the safest and most effective ways to save money and generate long-term ROIs on investments in the stock market or in mutual funds. In professionally focused classes, students will learn complex investment and data analysis skills necessary for professional investment bankers and brokers to consistently turn a profit on various asset markets. These courses will help prepare students for additional financial training or an entry-level financial sector job.
Students interested in the visual arts and in film can enroll in a video editing summer program and learn the art and techniques needed to turn a collection of footage into a fully fleshed-out video project. Given how accessible platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok have become, anyone can start to produce their own video content and find an audience. However, these platforms are becoming increasingly crowded, so aspiring creatives will need to do everything in their power to ensure that their work looks as professional as possible. Enrolling in a video editing class is a great way to learn the basic techniques you need to create professional-looking video content for a range of platforms, and it is an ideal way to get started on the road to a career in film, television, or online content creation.
Students enrolled in a video editing program will likely learn how to edit video files using Adobe Premiere Pro and study the technical art of editing videos. Unlike many other creative enterprises, learning video editing also involves very fine attention to the technical details of the edit such as maintaining continuity or spacing the edits out enough not to create jarring jumps or lingering too long (a good edit can become a poor edit in a matter of frames). Students will also learn how to use edits creatively to add additional meaning to their video content due to the juxtaposition of various images and ideas. Finally, students will learn how to add graphics and other assets to a video file, expanding the creative canvas on which they can work. These courses are excellent places to build a portfolio of projects or get practical experience editing for your own video project.
Many students report that they prefer in-person training options to online courses, and there are several distinct providers of in-person training for students depending on their locations. Students can explore options offered by local universities, professional training centers, community centers, and libraries. Each type of course is likely geared toward specific audiences, so students will want to consider the options available to them.
One of the primary providers of summer classes for high school students is colleges and universities offering pre-college programming for students looking to get a jump-start on their higher learning. These courses tend to be structured as accelerated college classes, many offering transferable credit. While the application requirements for each program will differ, students will likely need to demonstrate some proficiency and prior training or demonstrate a commitment to their future training. Most colleges and universities do not require students to be accepted or enrolled in their academic programs to participate in these courses, but they often only provide future support (and credit) for students who matriculate from that specific university. Some colleges offer on-campus accommodations for students (some will require it, which can massively increase the cost), while others will require students to commute to campus daily.
Another option is to look for specialized high school courses from reputable training centers. These providers often offer modified versions of their professional development courses for high school students or specialize in ensuring that they can receive professionally crafted skills development. These courses tend to be less theoretical or academically focused than their college counterparts, making them ideal for students looking to develop their practical skills, especially if they want to become career-ready without spending four-plus years in college. These training centers tend to be located in major cities, so your options will be increasingly limited the further you live from a major metropolitan area, and these schools will require students to commute. However, if you can attend in-person, you are likely to find these courses to be an ideal balance of theoretical and professional skills development and a productive, hands-on way to spend your summer.
For example, NextGen Bootcamp offers a wide range of in-person courses at their Manhattan campus. In these classes, students can receive guided, hands-on training in subjects like graphic design, social media marketing, video editing, and financial literacy. These courses will help students master foundational skills, and they are built with beginners in mind, so even if you are new to a given field, you’ll still find the training to be incredibly helpful. These courses are taught by expert instructors, and students can take advantage of NextGen’s state-of-the-art training facility as they work alongside their cohort on practical, real-world exercises.
Finally, students may want to explore the options available to them at local community centers, rec centers, libraries, or other public institutions (like museums or gardens). These courses tend to be the most cursory and the most accessible and affordable for students looking to learn the fundamentals of a given skill, and they often last only a few hours or a few days. They are, however, the most inconsistent in terms of offerings and general quality because they are offered by institutions that are less specialized in pedagogy (the exception being museums, but those courses will be far more limited by subject matter and focus). Students should explore their options in this regard, but they should be aware that these searches are more likely to come up empty.
Students who can’t attend an in-person training program (either because of location or logistics) or who want to expand their options for summer enrollment may want to consider enrolling in an online course. Many of the same institutions offer these training programs as in-person courses (often replicating the focus and material), and they are a great way for students to learn valuable skills without leaving their homes. Online courses can also be taken asynchronously, allowing students to consume the material and train at their own pace. The drawback to online classes is that it can be more difficult for students to engage with the material, even with the help of live instructors, and they won’t have access to certain technological advantages offered by in-person training. In addition, students may need to spend up to eight hours a day for multiple weeks online, which can be a challenge for some students.
Many colleges and universities have begun shifting their in-person course offerings to digital platforms in the last few years (partly because the infrastructure for online learning has been set up and instructors and students are more comfortable with the process). These online courses operate in much the same way an online college class operates, and since these are so varied, every option will be different. Some will be primarily hands-on courses that mirror the live instruction of an in-person class, while others will be primarily homework-driven, with lectures and live office hours available for students seeking support. These courses tend to be less likely to provide students with college credit than their in-person counterparts, but they allow students to learn vital skills from major universities without needing to travel or live near a flagship university like UCLA, Cornell, or Syracuse.
Another option for online students is to enroll in the live online training courses offered by training centers like NextGen Bootcamp. These courses allow students to learn from live instructors who can provide them with direct, personalized feedback and assistance while learning from home, regardless of their location. These courses tend to be online versions of their in-person courses, featuring live lectures, digital classroom discussions, and hands-on exercises comprising most of the content. These courses are ideally suited for students who want to experience a hands-on, live training seminar but must account for travel logistics. Students should be aware of the technical requirements for any course because you may need to meet a minimum technical requirement to attend a live streaming course while running necessary applications.
NextGen Bootcamp also offers all of its in-person finance, graphic design, UX design, video editing, and computer science classes as live online courses. These classes are led by experienced instructors in a virtual classroom, and students will receive the same help and support they would receive in an in-person course. Students can even allow instructors to access their devices directly and provide immediate support on everything from their design projects to their computer code. These online classes offer a viable way to receive live training and personalized feedback without the hassle of commuting or living near a training center.
An asynchronous training course is an alternative to live online training for students who cannot regularly attend a scheduled course. These classes, which are available on demand, let students learn at their own pace by providing them with all of the course materials upfront and guiding them through produced content like lectures and exercises. This flexibility makes these courses a good option for students with obligations or responsibilities that make it difficult to dedicate a few weeks at a time to training, and they allow all students greater control over the pace and flow of their lessons. These courses let students move through lessons when it is convenient for them, and they can return to lessons whenever they want. The drawback to these classes is that without a live instructor, students can easily get lost, and they must be highly self-motivated to avoid falling behind on their work. This means that these courses can take significantly longer to complete, and the chances of falling off completely are much higher. Although these are good options for students requiring added flexibility, live instruction (either in-person or online) is almost always preferable if students can manage the logistics.
Students looking to enroll in a summer course will have a lot of choices in front of them, regardless of whether they are sure they know what they want to learn. Students will need to consider logistical concerns, the structure of the course, how much it costs, what it focuses on, and what they intend to do with their training when they have finished their course.
The first issue to consider is what you want to learn and what you intend to do with this training. For example, if you want to learn video editing skills to make more compelling TikTok content, you are unlikely to want to enroll in a New York Film Academy intensive summer editing program. By contrast, if you want to apply to film school, you’ll need more than a three-day Introduction to After Effects course. Students interested in learning career skills will want to focus on courses that aim for professional development, while students looking to continue their training in college degree programs will want to be sure that they are learning solid, foundational theories within their field.
Another key issue to consider is logistical concerns such as accessibility and cost. Obviously, you should only enroll in a class you can attend, so you’ll want to look for local options that allow you to attend in-person and online alternatives (depending on what you prefer). Students looking to attend in-person classes will need to factor in logistical issues like how they will commute to the course, whether or not it will cost them extra money to commute, and how much time it will add to their day. When looking at an online class, students will need to consider whether or not they will have the uninterrupted time to spend in a digital classroom for potentially several hours a day for an extended period. In terms of cost, you’ll want to make sure that the course you select is affordable, but you also want to ensure that you get the training level you need. While asynchronous classes may be less costly than their live alternatives, missing out on working with a live instructor and receiving the feedback and assistance associated with the live modality can be a massive sacrifice. Students will also want to ensure that the course they are enrolling in is reputable, especially when opting for an asynchronous course.
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