When summer rolls around, so does the pressure to find enriching, future-ready opportunities for curious young minds. STEM summer camps offer incredible exposure to science, technology, engineering, and math—but too often, the best ones come with a sky-high price tag. The good news? There are high-quality, budget-friendly STEM camps out there that inspire innovation without draining your wallet.

In this guide, we’ve rounded up camps across the U.S. (and online) that offer meaningful, hands-on learning experiences in coding, robotics, science, and more—many of which cost less than you might expect. Whether you’re a parent planning ahead or a student eager to build skills this summer, these affordable programs prove that STEM learning doesn’t have to come at a premium.

Science

Rube Goldberg Institute for Innovation and Creativity Contests

• Free
• https://www.rubegoldberg.org/rube-goldberg-contests/

Indiana University: Jim Holland Summer Science Programs

• $75
• https://biology.indiana.edu/about/outreach/k-12-students/holland-summer-science-programs/index.html

Student Conservation Association: Youth Programs

• Free
• https://thesca.org/what-we-do/our-programs

Math

Art of Problem Solving

• Free-$700
• https://artofproblemsolving.com/

Carnegie Mellon University: Pre-College Summer Programs – The Summer Academy for Math and Science

• Free
• https://www.cmu.edu/pre-college/academic-programs/sams.html

MathWorks: Math Modeling (M3) Challenge

• Free
• https://m3challenge.siam.org/the-challenge/

Engineering

MIT: Introduction to Technology, Engineering and Science (MITES)

• Free
• https://mites.mit.edu/

Ohio State University: Camp CAR

• Free
• https://car.osu.edu/camp-car

NASA: Learning at Home

• Free
• https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/resources/?page=1&special_feature=Learning+at+Home#activities

Online courses that a student can take at their own pace

EdX: MITx: Circuits and Electronics 1: Basic Circuit Analysis

• Free-$189
• https://www.edx.org/learn/circuits/massachusetts-institute-of-technology-circuits-and-electronics-1-basic-circuit-analysis

Georgia Tech: Introduction to Engineering Mechanics Coursera Course

• Free
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/engineering-mechanics-statics

University of California – Davis: Materials Science, 10 Things Every Engineer Should Know Coursera online course

• Free
• https://www.coursera.org/learn/materials-science

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