The 7 Best Writing & Humanities Programs for High Schoolers (2026)

If you are a serious high school writer, the programs worth your time fall into three buckets: craft workshops that teach you to write better, competitions and publications that recognize what you have already written, and free selective seminars that immerse you in the humanities for a summer. The strongest applicants usually touch more than one. Our full, regularly verified list lives at /academic-competitions/#writing-humanities.

Here are the 7 best writing and humanities programs for high schoolers, what each is, who qualifies, and how to approach them.

1. Iowa Young Writers' Studio

Type: Craft workshop · Best for: Growth and feedback · Eligibility: Admission by portfolio

Craft programs are workshops, not contests. You apply with a writing sample, and if admitted you spend one or two weeks writing daily, workshopping with peers, and getting feedback from instructors — the goal is growth, not a prize. Iowa Young Writers' Studio is the high school offshoot of the University of Iowa's famous writing programs. It runs residential and online sessions across fiction, poetry, and creative writing generally. Admission is by portfolio, and it is competitive, but the draw is the intensity and the lineage.

2. Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop

Type: Craft workshop · Best for: Exploration and voice

Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop, hosted at Kenyon College in Ohio, is a two-week residential program built around generative exercises and small-group discussion. It leans toward exploration and voice rather than polishing a single finished piece. Both Iowa and Kenyon are the kind of experience that changes how you read your own drafts. A craft program will not, by itself, appear as a line on your resume that admissions officers weight heavily; its value is that it makes everything else you submit better.

3. The Concord Review

Type: Competition / publication · Best for: Academic history research

Competitions reward finished work, so the writing has to already be strong before you apply. The Concord Review is the only quarterly journal in the world that publishes academic history research essays by high school students. Getting an essay accepted is a genuine distinction because the standard is essentially undergraduate-level historical scholarship: a real thesis, primary and secondary sources, and footnotes. If a student loves history and can commit to a long, researched essay, this is the gold standard.

4. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Type: Competition · Best for: Broad recognition across genres

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the broadest and best-known recognition for teen writers in the United States, spanning categories from poetry and short story to journalism, the personal essay, and more. Regional and national Gold and Silver Keys carry real weight, and top national winners receive recognition that admissions readers recognize on sight.

5. Poetry Out Loud

Type: Competition (recitation) · Best for: Writers who also perform

Poetry Out Loud is a national recitation competition rather than a writing contest: students memorize and perform published poems, advancing from school to state to national finals. It is a strong fit for writers who also perform, and it builds a deep, close-reading relationship with the poems themselves.

6. The Princeton Summer Journalism Program

Type: Free summer journalism program · Best for: Reporting and reported writing · Eligibility: High-achieving students from lower-income backgrounds; need-based

Journalism programs teach a different discipline than creative writing — interviewing, verification, structure under deadline, and writing for a reader who wants information fast. The Princeton Summer Journalism Program is a free, fully funded program for high-achieving students from lower-income backgrounds. Admitted students travel to Princeton, work with professional journalists, report and write their own stories, and get intensive college-admissions support afterward. It is selective and need-based, and for students who qualify it is one of the highest-value summer experiences in this whole list.

7. The Telluride Association Summer Seminar (TASS)

Type: Free selective humanities seminar · Best for: Humanities immersion and critical thinking · Eligibility: Highly selective; tuition, room, and board covered

Some of the most rigorous humanities programs cost nothing to attend — not writing workshops in the narrow sense, but college-level seminars in critical thinking, discussion, and analysis. The Telluride Association Summer Seminar (TASS) is a free, fully funded program built around a demanding humanities or social-science seminar. Students read closely, argue in discussion, and write analytically, all at no cost, with tuition, room, and board covered. Because it is free and highly selective, admission signals both intellectual seriousness and the ability to hold your own in a room of sharp peers. Programs like TASS and Princeton's journalism program are worth prioritizing precisely because the funding removes the cost barrier and the selectivity does the signaling.

How the three categories compare

How to build a submission and a portfolio

Start earlier than you think you need to. The best submissions are revised many times, not written the week they are due. Give yourself months for a Concord Review essay and weeks for a contest entry.

Read the winners and the published work. Every competition and journal makes past selections available. Reading a dozen accepted pieces teaches you the standard faster than any set of guidelines.

Match the piece to the venue. A reported feature belongs in a journalism program; a researched historical argument belongs in the Concord Review; a lyric poem belongs in Scholastic or Poetry Out Loud. Sending the wrong genre to the wrong place is the most common avoidable mistake.

Build a portfolio, not a pile. Over two or three years, aim for a small set of pieces you are genuinely proud of across a couple of forms. Depth in one or two genres reads better than a scattering of everything.

Revise for a reader who is not you. The gap between a good draft and an accepted piece is almost always clarity, structure, and cutting. Get honest feedback and act on it.

The same craft that earns recognition in these programs strengthens the college application essay, and the close reading and clear writing they demand also lift the SAT. IvyStrides' essay coaching and SAT prep help with both; you can talk through a plan on a free consultation.

Frequently asked questions

Which is more valuable, a craft program or a competition win? They do different jobs. A craft program makes your writing better; a competition win or publication provides recognition. Ideally you use a program to sharpen work that you then submit to a competition.

Do I need to pay to enter these? It varies. Craft workshops like Iowa and Kenyon charge tuition, though financial aid exists. Competitions typically have low or no entry fees. TASS and the Princeton Summer Journalism Program are fully funded and free to attend.

How selective are these programs? The free, funded ones — TASS and Princeton's journalism program — and publications like the Concord Review are the most selective. Scholastic Awards and Poetry Out Loud have wide participation with selective upper tiers.

When should I apply? Most summer programs have winter or early-spring deadlines, so plan roughly six months to a year ahead. Competitions run on their own calendars, so check each one directly and note the dates early.

Where can I find the full verified list? See our regularly updated roundup at /academic-competitions/#writing-humanities, part of our broader academic competitions guide.