Whether you want to learn how to manage your own finances or launch a career as a Financial Analyst or Investment Banker, a summer program designed for high school students can get you started.
Why Learn Finance Over the Summer?
Summer finance courses are a great option for high school students because the skills you learn in these classes apply to everyday life. Even if you aren’t aiming to be a small business owner or work at an investment bank, learning how to budget your money, keep track of your personal finances, and invest your savings wisely are invaluable tools for building financial stability and independence. No matter what career path you follow, you must consider things like your credit score, where you live, and your plans for retirement. Starting to learn these skills early is among the best ways to ensure that you are starting off on the right foot. By enrolling in a summer finance course, you are likely to learn how to use programs like Excel to track budgets and set financial goals, and you will learn about the different kinds of investment strategies available so that you can make smart and informed decisions.
Summer finance classes are also an excellent way to build transferable career skills to help you find work in almost any industry. Whether you are aiming to find work as a Financial Manager or Investment Banker or looking to start your own business, understanding significant financial and economic concepts can be vital to your success. Students enrolled in these classes will receive the kinds of micro and macroeconomic training that will lay the foundation for their lifetime career opportunities and provide students with valuable networking connections that can pay long-term dividends in their professional careers.
Finally, enrolling in a summer course can be a great way to make practical inroads into your future education. Many courses provide students with tools to give them a leg up in their future college or high school classes. Even if you are only interested in gaining basic financial literacy and becoming accustomed to college-level work, that is a good reason to enroll in one of these programs. Some classes also offer college credit to students who complete the course, and you may discover that economics and finance interest you more than you may have previously considered.
What Will Students Learn in a Finance Class?
Learning about finance is not just an entree to exciting career opportunities; it will help students succeed in their personal finances and make decisions in any area that maximizes the costs and benefits. In a finance bootcamp tailored for high school students, participants can expect to gain fundamental financial literacy and practical skills essential for navigating the world of finance. A finance bootcamp equips high school students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to make informed financial decisions, manage money effectively, and pursue career opportunities in the field of finance.
Financial Basics
Students will understand fundamental financial concepts such as budgeting, saving, and managing debt. They'll learn how to create and stick to a budget, the importance of saving for the future, and strategies for managing and reducing debt.
Investing Principles
Finance courses explore the basics of investing, including different types of investments such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. They'll explain how to evaluate investment opportunities, assess risk, and create an investment portfolio aligned with financial goals.
Financial Markets
Participants will delve into the functioning of financial markets, including stock exchanges and bond markets. They'll learn how stocks and bonds are traded, how prices are determined, and the role of financial institutions in the market.
Financial Analysis
Studying finance equips students with the skills to analyze financial data and information. They learn how to interpret financial statements, evaluate investment opportunities, and assess the financial health of companies or projects. This analytical ability enables well-informed decisions based on evidence and data.
Risk Assessment
Finance boot camps teach students how to assess and manage financial risks. Students learn to evaluate the potential risks and rewards associated with various financial decisions, whether it's investing in stocks, starting a business, or taking out a loan. By understanding risk, individuals can make decisions that balance potential returns with potential downsides.
Industry Ethics
Students learn about ethical principles and standards in finance, such as transparency, fairness, and integrity. By understanding ethical considerations, individuals can make decisions that not only benefit themselves but also align with broader ethical standards and values.
Entrepreneurship
Successful entrepreneurship requires a solid understanding of finance. Many courses explore the basics of entrepreneurship, including how to start and run a business, understanding profit and loss, and the importance of innovation and creativity in business.
Career Exploration
The bootcamp may also include sessions on careers in finance, exploring different roles such as financial analyst, investment banker, accountant, and financial planner. Participants will learn about the education and skills required for these careers and gain insights into the day-to-day responsibilities.
What Industries Hire People With Financial Skills?
The financial skills students learn in a summer course are valuable to everyone, but especially for those who want to pursue a career in the field. People with financial skills can find rewarding careers in many different branches of the financial industry, including banking, insurance, investing, financial advising, cybersecurity, and FinTech.
Banking
Banks protect and invest account holders' funds and lend money to allow people to buy a house, pursue an education, or start a business. Banks employ many people as Tellers, Managers, Loan Processors, Mortgage Consultants, Financial Advisors, Financial Analysts, and Auditors.
Insurance
Insurance companies sell risk management policies to customers. Most specialize in a particular type of insurance, including life insurance and legacy planning; health coverage; or property, accident, and casualty insurance for homes, cars, and possessions. Insurance companies hire Agents, Managers, Financial Analysts, and Cybersecurity Specialists.
Investing
Investment firms help customers choose financial securities offered to fund business development or public projects. Investment companies make money by buying and selling stocks, real estate, bonds and other assets. Jobs offered by investment companies are similar to those in commercial banks with the additions of Equity Analysts, and Investment Banking Analysts.
Financial Advising
A Financial Advisor is a professional who helps clients create a plan to meet financial goals. This could be to fund a college degree, start or grow a business, or retirement. Many Financial Advisors start in another area, like banking or insurance, and start their own business.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is one of the newer branches of the financial services industry. Cybersecurity Specialists in the financial services field help banks, insurance companies, and investment firms identify and stop threats to a business that come from the Internet.
FinTech
FinTech stands for Financial Technology and refers to tools created to run financial businesses, analyze data, or stop cybersecurity threats. Web Developers who work in the FinTech field need financial skills in addition to coding and design abilities.
Financial Industry Job Titles
If your eventual goal is to launch a career in the financial services industry, here are some common job titles. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists financial occupations as some of the fastest growing in the country with over 900,000 expected openings each year between 2022 and 2032. The median wage for these positions is around $79,000 a year, although salaries vary depending on geographic location.
Financial Analyst
Financial Analysts use their training in finance and technology tools to collect and analyze data to guide financial decision-making. They create Excel workbooks, use coding languages like Python, and visualization tools including Tableau and Power BI to create reports to share with colleagues and clients. They work in a variety of settings, including public and private institutions. Financial Analysts in the U.S. earn around $80,000 annually.
Investment Banker
Investment Bankers advise companies or government agencies about mergers, acquisitions, and investments. This is a high-level position that often requires long hours. Investment Bankers can start out as associates and work their way up to directors, vice presidents, and managing directors. The annual salary of an Investment Banker is about $125,000.
Investment Analyst
Investment Analysts perform similar tasks to Financial Analysts except in the area of investing. They work with analysis tools to predict the future performance of mutual funds, stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies. Investment Analysts work at banks, brokerage firms, or government agencies. They earn around $90,000 a year.
Bookkeeper
Bookkeepers keep track of financial records for businesses and organizations. The use tools like Excel to follow bank statements, balance accounts, make and receive payments, and record daily business activity. Bookkeepers do not need college degrees, and can be employed by firms or work as independent contractors. Some people also work part-time. Bookkeepers in the U.S. earn around $50,000 a year.
Certified Public Accountant
Unlike Bookkeepers, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) do need a college education in order to become certified. CPAs may perform the same tasks as Bookkeepers, plus assisting in creating a budget, preparing company tax returns, providing reports to stockholders, and performing audits. CPAs work in many different industries and sometimes choose to specialize in a particular area, like investments, taxes, or retirement planning. CPAs in the U.S. make around $100,000 annually.
Research Analyst
Research Analysts are specialized Data Analysts who study markets, operations, finance, economics, and customer behavior to help companies make business decisions. Research Analysts are hired in many different industries, like insurance companies, investment firms, government agencies, healthcare companies, and manufacturers. Research Analysts earn around $70,000 a year.
1. NextGen Bootcamp: Excel, Finance, & Investing Summer Program Live Online
NextGen Bootcamp offers an Excel, Finance, & Investing Summer Program that provides students with detailed instructions on how to manage their financial records and how to invest their money. In this class, students will learn the basics of using Microsoft Excel to track their own financial records, budget their funds, and create detailed and accurate spreadsheets tracking their financial history. This will help ensure that students have a big-picture view of their financial situation, which is the most important first step in setting and achieving long-term financial goals. This training can be helpful for students of any level, and no matter what path a student chooses to follow, this training will help ensure that they can remain financially stable and independent.
Once students are comfortable tracking their financial records, they will be taught how to start investing their extra money in stocks, bonds, and other assets. Long-term investment success is about understanding how to generate consistent returns on investment in your assets, and that requires investors to have a firm understanding of how markets operate and how businesses and their assets are valued. Students will learn how to read publicly available financial statements from businesses to understand whether or not that business is worth investing in, and they will learn how to invest in their future strategically. Students will also learn the advantages and disadvantages of various investment strategies since investing in stock options differs from investing in government-backed bonds. Knowing how these investment options differ is vital to establishing a diverse, risk-averse portfolio.
Students who have taken the course praise the practical applicability of the training. One student praised the course for giving “students ways to handle realistic scenarios and data samples to make what we learned extremely practical.” Another student praised the practical Excel instruction for “giving the student real-world application in finance.” Students enrolled in this class will learn how to apply their financial knowledge to their own lives, meaning that this course isn’t mired in the world of the theoretical. Students can take this knowledge and start applying it immediately.
2. NextGen Bootcamp: FinTech Summer Program Live Online
NextGen Bootcamp also offers a more advanced FinTech Summer Program that teaches students how to program and use software applications that assist in tracking financial data. Successful investing isn’t about hitting big once, it is about making many small, informed decisions that generate reliable, stable returns on investment. In this class, students will learn how to identify a good long-term investment decision and the basics of using computer software to streamline and improve their investment decisions and strategies. At the beginning of the course, students will learn how to use Excel to build financial datasets, including data that track their own personal finances. Then, they will learn how to read financial reports and include that data in their investment strategies.
Once students are comfortable with reading and interpreting financial statements and reports, they will learn the fundamentals of programming software applications using Python and apply these applications to financial modeling. Students will learn how to wrangle and organize data and use conditional Python statements to reveal trends in this data that would be otherwise invisible. Finally, they will learn how to use Python to create charts and graphs that visualize this data and make it easier to understand the implications of their financial analyses. This course will also introduce students to the basics of Python machine learning algorithms which can be used to model more complex financial data and make more informed decisions based on those models.
This course combines NextGen’s Python for Data Science and Excel, Finance, & Investing programs. Students praise NextGen’s Python training courses for making Python programming accessible to new students. One student writes it is “a great class for coding beginners who want to learn the basics of Python.” Another student, who describes themselves as “completely new to the world of computer science,” says that the course “laid out an easy-to-follow path” for long-term Python programming success.
3. Columbia University: Introduction to Finance and Investment Management
Many colleges and universities offer summer programs for students looking to prepare themselves for success in higher education. For example, Columbia University offers an Introduction to Finance and Investment Management program that teaches students how to plan and manage investment strategies across diverse portfolios. Students will work with real-world case studies of historically significant companies and learn how to read financial statements and other important publicly available financial records. This course is an ideal introduction to micro and macroeconomic principles, making it a good place to start learning if you are an aspiring econ or business major.
This course aims to provide students with practical advice on building and diversifying their investment portfolios. As with almost all reputable investment classes, students will learn how to make informed investment decisions based on history, theory, and data analysis. At the end of the course, students will work on a project to build and design their own investment strategy and portfolio, providing them with hands-on experience in applying the skill they have learned. The course is taught by experienced investment professionals with years of combined experience in the private investment sector and as instructors at the Columbia University business school.
4. Columbia University: Introduction to Business, Finance, and Economics
For students interested in corporate finance and economics, Columbia University offers Introduction to Business, Finance, and Economics. Students will delve into financial and economic behavior within firms, and they'll explore how companies acquire the cash needed for worthwhile investments and how they identify these opportunities. The course will unpack various models utilized by firms for investment identification and examine the sources of cash available to them. Students will gain insights into the functioning of financial markets where companies raise capital. They'll learn how these markets assess the worth of firms, securities, and investments. Through discussions on stocks, bonds, and stock markets, participants will explore valuation models and optimal investment strategies.
Beyond theory, the course will incorporate practical elements such as case studies and independent projects. Students will analyze published accounting statements to uncover both revealed and hidden risks. Additionally, they'll gain familiarity with the mechanics and historical context of financial markets. By the end, participants will emerge equipped with a comprehensive understanding of financial decision-making within firms and the broader economic landscape.
5. Fordham University: Wall Street in the Classroom
Fordham University offers a pre-college Wall Street in the Classroom for high school students looking to learn the ins and outs of investment over their summer vacations. Offered through the Gabelli School of Business, in this program, students will learn the foundational principles of market economies, investment institutions, and financial portfolios. This course aims to teach students the basic theories and ideas they need to succeed in college-level economics and business courses, and it mirrors the models of instruction that you will receive in those courses. Students will learn from experienced instructors who will guide students through a week’s lessons on investment strategies and risk management practices.
Students enrolled in this class will also benefit from attending guest lectures and meeting directly with employees at NYC investment firms. These meetings will provide students with a practical understanding of how investment theories are implemented in the context of multimillion-dollar investment projects. Students will also learn about the basics of alternative investment strategies (including things like real estate and bonds), and they will receive an introduction to the philosophical field of business ethics. This program is an ideal broad-stroke introduction to the complex world of professional financial management and a great choice for students interested in pursuing an education in economics or business.
Students praise the course for its breadth of study, with one student calling it a “great introductory level class that not only discusses the aspects of investing but personal finance, economics, and innovation.” Students looking for a summer program that teaches diverse topics applicable to their personal and professional financial lives should consider courses such as this one.
6. Bentley University: Wall Street 101
Bentley University offers a focused Wall Street 101 course for high school students looking to learn how to invest in the stock market to achieve personal and professional financial goals. This program is open to graduating seniors and high school juniors looking to learn how the stock market operates and how they can participate in the buying and selling of assets. Students will learn about different kinds of investment opportunities, including stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies, and that will receive training on how to build a diversified portfolio, risk-managed portfolio. This course offers practical training in investment strategies for students looking to learn the basics of building their long-term financial independence.
The centerpiece of this course is that students attending in person will be able to work at Bentley’s on-site trading room, a 5,000-square-foot facility designed to replicate the look and feel of the market trading floor. Students will learn how to read and respond to data in real-time like professional stockbrokers do on Wall Street. Students will collaborate with their peers on practical projects, including building a stock portfolio, pitching an investment strategy and participating in simulations of real-world financial scenarios. By the end of the course, students will have a theoretical and practical understanding of how the stock market operates and how they can best invest their own resources.
Students enrolled in this course have praised the communal nature of the course, saying that the “atmosphere in class was lively and engaging, not only because of the teachers, but also the students I met from around the globe.” This course aims to prepare students for the kinds of in-person, collaborative work they will need to do in the financial world if they pursue further career training.
7. UCLA Summer Sessions: Introduction to Investment
The University of California Los Angeles offers a pre-college Introduction to Investment course for students interested in learning a broad overview of the various career and training paths available to students hoping to find work in the financial industry. This course is open to students between 9th and 12th grade, and aims to give students a foundational grounding in all the major elements of investment and market economics. This course will help students understand how investment markets work, how they can participate in those markets and why it is important to understand how they impact our daily lives. Owing to its breadth, this course is a good fit for students interested in learning to manage their personal investment portfolios or those looking to major in business or economics.
This course covers micro and macroeconomic theories and issues, so students will learn a wide range of concepts, from personal finance and investing to market histories and the powers of the Federal Reserve. This makes the course a good introduction to economic theories and principles, and it makes the course useful for students with various long-term goals. Students will also learn how global markets are interconnected and how smart investment and financial decision-making account for the history, theories, and politics of global banking. Students enrolled in this course will be required to live on the UCLA campus over the duration of the course.
Students have repeatedly praised the professionalism of UCLA’s instructors, saying that they “gained an awesome education from an outstanding group of professors” and that UCLA facilities provided them with invaluable support in their summer training.
8. Leangap: Summer Startup Program
Leangap offers a Summer Startup Program for students looking to start their own business and begin getting a startup off the ground. This practical skills development program will teach high school students how to take their ideas and transform them into a reality. This course aims to guide students through preparing materials for a practical pitch so that by the end of the program, they will be prepared to sell their idea to investors and entrepreneurs. By the end of the course, students will be collaborating on an investment project, creating a working prototype product, and competing with teams of their colleagues to create the most successful startup pitch possible.
This course promises to provide students with hands-on, practical experience in all stages of the startup process. Rather than working on projects as theoretical examples, students will collaborate with their colleagues to validate and create a startup pitch. Students enrolled in this class will pitch their ideas and vote on a collaborative project they will develop. This includes building proof of concept, creating working product prototypes and generating market traction to show investors that the startup business has legs. At the end of the course, students will demo and pitch their projects to a panel of professional judges who will provide feedback to help them immediately begin selling their products to real-world investors. LeanGap boasts the development of several successful real-world startups developed in their program.
Graduates have praised the practical emphasis in the program and the networks they developed while attending. One student writes that Leangap helped them find “the start of a movement, incredible friends, and the knowledge/backing of an invaluable network of entrepreneurs.”
9. Marist Pre-College: Summer Business
High school students interested in business management may be interested in enrolling in Marist’s Pre-College Summer Business program. Marist is one of the highest-ranked business schools in the nation, and this course is offered through their accredited school of management, making it an ideal choice for students looking to learn professional business management skills. Students enrolled in this course will learn how business managers, financial analysts, and other data experts work together to help businesses make long-term financial decisions that can ensure their success. In this class, students will learn how different types of businesses interact with each other and how market systems operate. They will study the history of business economics, and students will learn what the major difficulties 21st-century businesses are likely to face over the next decade.
In addition to these practical lessons, students will learn how to utilize information technology and data science tools in regular business operations. This training is vital for the success of businesses entering into crowded marketplaces since the ability to leverage this kind of data and technology is so important. Students will also learn how businesses interact with one another in the financial world, which is becoming increasingly relevant as more and more US firms are undertaking globalization efforts. Students will cover theories of business ethics and they will receive first-hand instruction from professional business managers and entrepreneurs. This program is geared towards high school students entering their junior or senior years.
10. Virtual Wise Finances Workshop – Routine
Students looking for practical finance training can enroll in Virtual Wises’ Finances Workshop Routine. This course, which is open for attendees as young as 15, offers hands-on training in the kinds of financial skills that can be put to everyday use by virtually everyone. In this class, students will learn how to plan and execute a financial routine that allows them to build long-term financial stability and become prepared for major financial decisions like home ownership or investment. Students will learn practical budgeting and financial planning strategies and they, will learn how to apply mindfulness techniques to help you remain on track to achieving financial stability.
This is a cursory class that aims to provide students with practical advice on maintaining budgets and monitoring personal finances. Students will learn the importance of building stable routines and sticking to long-term plans when they are handling their own financial situations. This makes the course an ideal environment to learn basic home economic skills while laying the foundation for further training in more professional instruction environments. It also teaches students guided mindfulness techniques that have a range of applications outside the realm of personal finance.
11. Teach Me Wall Street: Wall Street, Investing & Budgeting
High school students looking for a robust investment training program may want to consider enrolling in Teach Me Wall Street’s Wall Street, Investing & Budgeting. This program is offered for students between grades 9-12 and includes all three of Teach Me Wall Street’s individual summer programs. In this course, students will learn the basics of investing in stocks and assets, analyzing financial statements, working with new cryptocurrency technologies, and building personal financial records and statements. The goal of this course is to equip students with the tools that they need to make solid, long-term financial decisions to build financial stability and independence.
Since this course collects a series of individual programs, students will receive a comprehensive education in personal and professional financial skills. Students will learn about the major types of investments, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and they will learn how to read and interpret financial data. This will help students who want to invest in their future make more informed decisions backed by risk management strategies. Students will all learn the practical process of how to make asset trades without relying on expensive middlemen and financial brokerages. In the latter half of the course, students will learn about blockchain technology and how decentralized cryptographic assets alter the financial landscape. Finally, students will learn how to manage their finances, including setting budgets and handling real-world scenarios requiring financial knowledge. This will help set students up for future investing success.
12. Wharton Global Youth Program - Essentials of Finance
Essentials of Finance at the Wharton Global Youth Program is a two-week summer intensive for a select group of high school students in grades 9-11. Participants live in Penn residence halls and enjoy a taste of campus life alongside a global cohort of students. This program is inspired by the undergraduate finance program at Wharton and includes lectures and presentations from Wharton faculty, lecturers, and PhD students. Participants will explore both personal and corporate finance, and seek to understand how these concepts can be applied practically. They’ll delve into topics like the time value of money, the trade-off between risk and return, equities, and corporate accounting.
Students will also have the unique opportunity to attend the Wharton Global Youth Speaker Series, featuring notable Wharton faculty spanning the breadth of Wharton teaching. Students gain insight into diverse topics and cutting-edge research that’s not addressed within the Finance program, such as social impact, neuroeconomics, AI, marketing, and negotiation tactics.
Students collaborate in small teams with classmates from around the world to complete an analysis project. Along with academic classes held Monday through Friday, extracurricular activities are available in the evenings and on the weekends. All participants who complete the program will earn a Wharton Global Youth Certificate of Completion, a notable achievement that will be a shining star on a resume or college application.
13. NYU High School Academy - Finance NYC: An Insider’s View
Learn about finance in the financial capital of the world. Finance NYC: An Insider’s View offers an introduction to financial analysis and investment management as it’s practice on Wall Street, taught by an industry expert. Students will gain a deep dive into the financial system to learn about the types of assets that are traded, techniques for managing the risk and return of portfolios, the key role of the Federal Reserve System, and the use (and abuse) of financial derivatives. The course covers essential topics like the time value of money and how to compare the value of cash flows at different points in time, and capital budgeting techniques that balance risk and return.
Students from around the world attend NYU summer programs to explore both traditional and emerging career paths. In this course, students complete projects that prepare them for college-level work and demonstrate their new skills. Students who are interested in this course should have completed grades 9, 10, or 11 and wish to explore a career in finance. They’ll leave understanding the foundations of financial analysis and investment management and have a solid grounding for future finance or business-related studies.
14. Wake Forest University - Finance and Investing Institute
The Wake Forest Summer Immersion Program Finance and Investing Institute promises an unforgettable experience for students currently in grades 9-12. The one-week course explores how investing works. Students meet and collaborate with Wake Forest School of Business faculty and industry experts to get a glimpse of finance and investing in the professional world, and visits to financial institutions and trading floors bring finance to life. Students explore how the stock market works and the benefits and risks of investing. They’ll gain experience with market analysis and financial statement analysis, and they’ll learn about the power of compounding and the time value of money.
Each day is filled with lectures, field trips, and workshops. Students collaborate in group projects, such as “How to Pick a Stock,” and explore popular investing strategies to learn how fundamental analysis plays a role in equity valuation. They’ll learn about investment vehicles like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Meeting and collaborating with Wake Forest School of Business faculty and industry experts provides a glimpse of finance and investing from the collegiate level to the professional world. By the course’s end, students will build their public speaking skills to confidently pitch prospective investments, and they’ll understand how to build an investment portfolio to capitalize on their future. In the evenings, students share dinner and fun eventing activities, followed by free time to relax. The course culminates with a mock investment competition, and students receive an official Wake Forest University Certificate of Completion.
15. Georgetown University Pre-College Program: Investing
For students who are curious about how investors build their fortunes and the impact of FinTech and cryptocurrencies, Georgetown University’s Pre-College course Investing offers a comprehensive exploration of financial markets. Students will explore the foundational principles of finance and investing to learn how markets create wealth and provide social benefits. They'll then proceed to construct their own investment portfolios, where they’ll manage investments, evaluate risks, and ensure diversification to achieve their financial goals. Students will learn to navigate the process of buying stocks and gain an understanding of market dynamics and pricing mechanisms. They'll uncover the privileges of shareholder status and gain a deeper understanding of the investor's role in the market.
Moving forward, students will explore valuation approaches to assess the worth of assets, calculating potential returns and analyzing pricing models. They'll also delve into the realm of FinTech, examining its influence on the future of finance through innovations like cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Participants will explore the wide array of college majors and career opportunities available in the realm of investing, consulting, FinTech, financial planning, and beyond. Armed with a solid understanding of financial markets and investing principles, they'll be well-prepared to embark on a fulfilling career journey.
By the course's conclusion, students will be able to articulate the workings of financial markets, understand the process of wealth creation through investing, apply valuation models to determine asset value, explore FinTech opportunities, and showcase their learning through a final capstone project. Plus, they'll earn a prestigious Certificate of Completion from Georgetown University that will enhance their credentials for their resume and college applications.