“What am I going to do with the rest of my life?” they’re likely to ask over and over again as they try to figure out what feels “right.” Here’s a tip: the data science market is booming right now. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 36% job increase over the next 10 years. Even better, the average pay for data scientists is a staggering $108,000 per year. Wow!

Any teenager who loves the sound of that kind of money should consider prepping for this career early, even before they graduate. For example, they should take Python courses for high schoolers to master this simple but powerful coding tool. In these intensive bootcamps, they’ll learn all about this popular coding language, master its many uses, and walk away with a fantastic profile showing off their skills. Ready to learn? Dive right into this article to get started!

What Is Python?

Teens fascinated by the data science world are likely asking, “What is Python, and what does it have to do with data?” Put simply, it’s a versatile programming language used in web development, artificial intelligence, game production, and data science. It uses a simple syntax that makes it easier to learn and master, breaking free from the sometimes staggeringly complex (but powerful) coding concepts used in C++ and other difficult programming languages. 

Created in the late 1980s by Dutch programmer Guido van Rossum, Python gradually rose in popularity to become the single most popular coding option on the market today! Massive companies as diverse as CISCO, IBM, Dropbox, Google, Mozilla, and Amazon use Python to create extensive databases and other powerful tools. Its in-demand nature and simple design make learning it a powerful opportunity for high schoolers fascinated by the tech world. 

Learn python with hands-on projects at the top coding bootcamp for high schoolers. In-person in NYC or live online from anywhere

Why Should High Schoolers Learn Python?

With so many high-quality tech-related skills available to study, why learn Python instead of those subjects? Well, this popular and powerful programming language opens up a whole new world of job opportunities for high schoolers. Furthermore, mastering this coding concept early in their high school career can help teenagers improve their lives. For example, Python:

  • Provides an Easy and Fast Learning Process: Python’s simplified syntax does in a few easy-to-understand words and phrases what C++ does in complex, jargon-filled lines of code. It’s simply far more manageable for teens to grasp quickly.
  • Helps Transition to Other Languages: Teenagers can use Python as a bridge to learning more complex coding languages, such as JavaScript and Java. While their syntax is quite different, the core concepts, like logic loops, remain the same.
  • Offers Diverse Uses: Many programming languages, like SQL and HTML, are used in just a handful of markets. Not Python! It’s diverse enough for high schoolers to use in fields like web development, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and automation. 
  • Boosts Soft Skills: While studying Python, students will also practice soft skills that can enhance their lives in powerful ways. For example, they’ll boost their problem-solving abilities, practice logical thinking, and bolster their creativity: not bad at all!

Considerations for Choosing a Course

High schoolers trying to learn Python should sit down with their parents and discuss their options very carefully. With dozens of programs available for serious learners, it’s critical to fine-tune their choice to pinpoint a class that makes everybody happy. Here are a few factors that teenagers and their parents must consider before choosing a Python bootcamp:

  • Difficulty Level: Does a teen have any coding experience, or are they a true amateur? Often, beginner-friendly courses with clear explanations from live professors offer the best opportunity for high schoolers. Advanced courses can help those teens who’ve already played with Python a little strengthen and perfect their skills.
  • Course Format: Teenagers live active lives and may play sports, hang out with friends, or spend time with a boyfriend or girlfriend. Do they have time for a live, online course with scheduled attendance? Or would they benefit from an asynchronous program with a self-paced design? Thankfully, summer sessions are also available for busy teens.
  • Hands-on Projects: The best Python classes for high school students should offer interesting projects that capture the teen’s attention and test their skills. These include things like fun games, applications, and database projects that help reinforce learning while building a portfolio of great work that shows off their skills in the best possible light.
  • Cost: Python classes can cost thousands of dollars, which will be tough for a teen working at Burger King to afford. Even if they get help from their parents to pay for some of these expenses, that’s a lot of cash to throw toward training. Thankfully, most schools offer high-quality financing tools that make it easier for them to afford their learning.
  • Certification/College Credit: Serious teens interested in mastering Python should check to see if they’ll earn a certificate after completing their course. This lovely little extra can be helpful for college or job applications. Even better, teens should talk with the provider to see if their course translates into college credits when they’re done!

What High Schoolers Can Do With Python

Mastering any coding language brings almost limitless rewards to creative high schoolers, especially those interested in technology and artificial intelligence. Python, in particular, offers many unique advantages to motivated teens. Beyond preparing them for a more rewarding and exciting career, teenagers who master this popular and powerful coding language can:

  • Create games, websites, and apps to sell for money or share with friends to show off 
  • Automate repetitive tasks, such as collecting data when researching for a big project
  • Analyze data and build machine learning models (and potentially a workable AI project)
  • Participate in coding competitions and hackathons to show off their skills and make cash 
  • Start freelance programming or internship opportunities to expand their resumes 
  • Prepare for college courses and earn credits to streamline their learning experience 
  • Transition to learning even more advanced coding languages, such as Java and C++

Balancing High School and Python Learning Demands

A lot of teenagers may find it challenging to integrate Python bootcamps into their day-to-day lives. After all, while most high school Python courses take place over the summer, others are only available during school. That doesn’t mean programming mastery is forever out of their grasp! Instead, high schoolers just need to follow a few simple tips to streamline their learning:

  • Create Study Groups: Teens who struggle with accountability should create study groups with their classmates and set aside consistent study time with them every week. Even a half hour a day can help them better understand Python and its uses.
  • Integrate It Into School: As high schoolers move through their bootcamps, they can apply Python to math and science projects. For example, they can automate data collection for biology studies or even create helpful apps to share with others. 
  • Pick the Right Option: How can students with busy social lives master Python without getting bogged down and burned out? Self-directed classes let them study at their own pace. In this way, they can fit lessons around their schedules and still make progress.

Jobs Available After Learning Python

Mastering Python sets teens up for high-earning jobs that they’ll love. After all, the Python developer job outlook is fantastic, dozens of industries and professions use Python, and freelance Python developer positions are plentiful. Here are a few careers that high schoolers may want to pursue after mastering Python with bootcamps and other training tools:

Benefits of Taking a Python Bootcamp

Now, some young readers might be asking, “Are Python bootcamps worth it?” especially if they’re worried about the cost. That’s an understandable concern! Thankfully, bootcamp training offers hands-on support that makes it easier to transition into a more advanced program or even start an entry-level job. Here are a few reasons why Python bootcamps are totally worth it:

  • Guided Learning: The best Python courses for teenagers utilize a well-structured curriculum that guides them from beginner-level confusion to mastery in just a few weeks. While they might not be ready for a job just yet, they’ll be on the right path. 
  • Mentorship Opportunities: High school students often respond well to one-on-one time with their teachers because it builds a stronger connection that makes learning easier. Most bootcamps offer 1-on-1 mentorship from experienced instructors in the industry.
  • Collaborative Projects: There’s no better way to learn Python than completing multiple coding projects that increase in difficulty to acclimate learners to this language gradually. Even better, the best high school bootcamps simulate real-world work projects
  • Networking Opportunities: Python bootcamps allow high schoolers the chance to meet students their age and build a great network of peers. In this way, they can study Python outside of class and even create fun projects like games and databases. 

Why Taking a Python Course is Better Than Learning for Free

Noble Desktop and other providers may offer free Python resources and tutorials, as well as seminars and YouTube videos, that may appeal to many high schoolers. However, they’re simply not comprehensive enough, nor do they offer accountability, personalized feedback, or hands-on projects. Instead, they should be used alongside a structured bootcamp to help teenagers better understand this coding tool and solidify their skills in powerful ways. 

Financing Options for Python Courses

The best Python bootcamps for high schoolers aren’t going to be cheap. In fact, many cost thousands of dollars to complete. Obviously, most teenagers can’t afford that kind of investment, even if they work regularly. Even worse, their parents might find it a tough sell when working with tight budgets. Thankfully, most schools offer payment plans and student financing, like:

  • Scholarships and Grants: Some schools offer financial aid, such as scholarships or grants, for high schoolers! These specialized financing tools are available only to teens.
  • Loans: Many providers offer short-term loans for teenagers to pay for their courses. Most come with fair interest rates and repayment cycles based on their ability to pay.
  • Payment Plans: Paying thousands of dollars in one lump sum for Python training might be challenging for teens and their families. Thankfully, installment plans are available. 
  • Free Trials: Teens unsure about Python can sign up for free learning trials on many platforms. This way, they can dip their toes in the water to see if Python feels right.

Skills High Schoolers Learn in Python Courses

Throughout their intensive Python bootcamps, high schoolers will learn many important lessons that prepare them for exciting careers in technology. These topics include foundational skills that help lay the basis for their success in later studies. However, most intensive classes also cover intermediate and advanced skills students must know to master Python, including: 

  • Programming Fundamentals: Early in their lessons, students will learn about variables, loops, and functions. These critical tools make up about 90% of what they’ll do in Python, forming the basis of more complex and challenging tasks and projects. 
  • Data Structures and Algorithms: As teens advance in their lessons, they’ll learn about data structures, such as lists and dictionaries, and how to integrate essential algorithms to sort, analyze, present, and handle large amounts of information quickly and efficiently.
  • Web Development: While web developers mostly use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, they may also use Python (alongside Flask and Django) when creating databases or handling the back end elements of this process, i.e., syncing sites to servers properly.
  • Machine Learning and AI Basics: Most machine learning and artificial intelligence tools use Python and libraries like TensorFlow to set up databases, important control algorithms, and more. In this way, teens can jump into an exciting, high-earning market.
  • Version Control: Even after mastering Python, learners must work on prototypes to perfect their work. Thankfully, tools like Git and GitHub make this process easier and open up the possibility for collaborative projects with programmers across the nation.

How Easy Is It to Learn Python?

Python is one of the easiest languages to learn due to its readable syntax. Rather than having to type something arcane like “cout” to print text, they just type “print” and the rest of their statement. As a result, many teens should feel comfortable studying Python. That doesn’t mean it’s simple or simplistic! Intermediate and advanced courses will include some tough concepts and challenge even the sharpest high schooler. But mastery is easily within their reach.

How Long Will It Take To Learn Python?

Python’s relatively easy nature means that many high schoolers will likely pick up the basics in a few weeks and can probably produce basic programs with their skills. However, professional mastery may take six months or even a year or two, depending on a teen’s abilities, willingness to study, and career interest. For instance, expertise in the data field requires far more time and effort, particularly for high schoolers interested in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Best Python Courses for High Schoolers

Studies show that people who start learning a topic early (even in their teens) are more likely to master it. Thankfully, multiple education providers offer classes for high schoolers fascinated by the world of tech, data science, and coding. The following programs can help teenagers nationwide master Python coding, learn about data science, and prepare for a great career.

Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop is highly acclaimed for its fantastic learning experiences. Though primarily known for adult-based lessons, their recent expansion into high school courses gives students the best chance to master tech-related skills. Classes feature 1-on-1 mentoring, live learning experiences, project-based education, and a proven curriculum with award-winning lessons.

Python Data Science & Machine Learning High School Live Online

Python Data Science & Machine Learning High School Live Online is a 45-hour, $2,000 course available in the summer, Monday through Friday, from 10 am to 1 pm (excluding July 4). These three training hours give teens plenty of time to have fun over break while also mastering complex skills like Python coding, data science, Pandas, Matplotlib, and Sci-Kit Learn. 

AI Code Academy

AI Code Academy is a tech-training team focused primarily on high schoolers. While in-person classes are mostly available in Delaware, this provider offers online education using the OutSchool learning platform. In this way, students across the nation can study subjects like Python, artificial intelligence, and machine learning when and how they want.

Project Based Python Coding for High School (Level 1)

Project Based Python Coding for High School (Level 1) is a 10-week course with live video meetings in small class sizes (around 4-11 per session). Students pay $22 a week or $219 in one payment to study variables, print statements, operations, conditional logic, patterns, lists, random numbers, functions, modules, classes, objects, and application programming. 

CodeHS

CodeHS is a computer science training platform for K-12 schools that includes detailed curriculums, an online model, classroom management tools, certifications, and browser-based sessions that don’t require specialized downloads. Teens typically get plenty of contact hours with their lessons to sharpen their skills and become more competent in tech-related subjects.

Intro to Computer Science in Python 3

Intro to Computer Science in Python 3 includes 128 lessons, 103 videos, 189 exercises, 29 challenges, and 265 online handouts in 175 contact hours. It contains subjects like Python commands, functions, control structures, console interaction, looping, conditionals, strings, functions, exceptions, and other essential subjects that lay the foundation for learning.