K-12 programs & resources
Thank you for your interest in Berkeley Engineering’s K-12 programs!
The pathway to an engineering degree begins with educators and mentors who can inspire curiosity and share the fun and excitement of discovery and invention. Berkeley Engineering offers a range of outreach programs to engage K–12 students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities and steer them toward college. We are also actively developing partnerships with community organizations. Find out more about our K-12 activities and growing partnerships below.
Note: Due to COVID-19, some programs or events may be temporarily put on hold.
Looking for additional resources or information? This page also provides information about visiting campus and admissions and suggests other resources for exploring engineering.
In this section
About K-12 outreach
Learn about our mission and vision, check out recent articles and videos, and meet our team.
For the UC community
Find resources and information for UC Berkeley staff, faculty and students engaged in K-12 outreach.
Berkeley Engineering K-12 activities
Girls in Engineering
Started in 2014, GiE provides a safe, supportive, and inclusive space for students to gain exposure to and build capacity in STEM through hands-on workshops and real-world problem-solving. This immersive experience exposes campers to a broad range of STEM fields and offers campers a chance to develop hard and soft skills, hone their critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills, and gain intuition, understanding, and confidence through doing.
Targeting historically underrepresented communities and students with limited STEM exposure, GiE strives to pique the curiosity of students that may otherwise overlook STEM fields as a possible career path. GiE is open to any San Francisco Bay Area students entering 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. GiE offers full and partial scholarships to increase access for students who otherwise would be unable to attend camp.
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K-12 outreach mailing list!
Stay up to date with Berkeley Engineering’s K-12 programs by signing up for our mailing list.
Contact us
Do you have questions, or are you interested in partnership opportunities? Please complete this form to contact Berkeley Engineering’s K-12 outreach team.
Engineering Ambassadors
In response to feedback from our partners, we established an Engineering Ambassadors program in August 2022. Our Engineering Ambassadors program consists of Berkeley undergraduate students that support K-12 outreach through a variety of activities, including campus tours, presentations, career panels, and school visits.
Our ambassador program is part of the Engineering Ambassadors Network, led by Penn State. The Engineering Ambassadors Network (EAN) is an alliance of universities that aims to train a cohort of diverse and technically skilled engineering undergraduates on how to excite K-12 students about engineering. Since 2010, EAN has reached more than 45,000 K-12 students.
We recruit ambassadors who are passionate about diversifying engineering, and we are thrilled with our first cohort of ambassadors.
CS Ed Day
TEALS UC Berkeley’s EECS Education Day is part of the national CS Education Week. This event aims to inspire and motivate high school students to learn more about electrical engineering and computer science, the opportunities this field affords them, and exciting research and educational activities occurring on the UC Berkeley campus.
Individual registration for this event is not allowed. Schools are invited through the local Computer Science Teachers Association network.
Cal Day*
On Cal Day, the College of Engineering hosts potential students and their families, alumni and the general public as part of the campus community open house. The College of Engineering presents more than 70 events including demonstrations, lab tours, exhibits and lectures.
*The 2022 Cal Day will be for registered new students and their families only.
Bay Area Science Festival
We’re thrilled to participate in the Bay Area Science Festival. The Bay Area Science Festival is Northern California’s largest education event and brings together role models, families, youth and adults to experience the wonder of science and engineering.
In April 2022, we participated in the Discovery Day at Cal State East Bay in Hayward and led activities that showed how engineers draw inspiration from the natural world. We looked at why honeycomb structures are so strong and how nature engineers self-cleaning surfaces and brilliant colors using nanostructures. Check out the drawings below to see future engineers’ ideas for improving their communities and the world. We hope you’ll join us in 2023!
ROAR Academy
ROAR Academy is a rigorous and intensive two-week summer program for advanced high school students in California who have demonstrated an aptitude for academic and professional careers in STEM subjects. Academy participants will explore engineering as a career path and receive an in-depth, interactive overview of undergraduate engineering majors, programming, hardware and software design.
Bay Area Teen Science
Bay Area Teen Science (B.A.T.S.) serves as a portal to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) opportunities for all San Francisco Bay Area teenagers. It’s also a community of professionals who provide STEM programming for Bay Area teenage youth after school and in other out-of-school time settings. B.A.T.S. promotes learning, career building, collaborating, and networking for both audiences. Teens can sign up for the B.A.T.S. teen newsletter and educators can join the educator listserv.
B.A.T.S. was the winner of California Life Sciences’ Pantheon 2021 Elizabeth Schar Inspiring Future Leaders Award.
Berkeley Engineering K-12 partnerships
Berkeley Engineering is proud to be growing our K-12 outreach partnerships and has supported the work of organizations like MESA, Self-eSTEM, CalTeach, the UC Berkeley Destination College Advising Corps (DCAC), the UC Berkeley Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP), the Hidden Genius Project, Girls Who Code, the National Student Leadership Conference, and STEM to Stern.
Please complete our contact form if you’d like to discuss partnering with us!
Berkeley Engineering-affiliated programs
Berkeley Engineering’s fantastic faculty, staff, and students also run a number of other K-12 programs. Learn more about these programs through UC Berkeley’s STAR (STEM Training, Activities and Resources) database. To find activities for K-12 students, choose the “Kindergarten through 12th grade” filter under the “Communities” heading (filters are on the left).
Planning a visit to campus?
NOTE: COVID-related restrictions may impact campus tours. Consult with the Visitor Services office for current information.
Berkeley’s Visitor Services team offers free guided walking tours. (Spanish and Mandarin language tours are provided on request with 14 days’ notice.) In addition, the team offers a limited number of engineering tours that are led by specially trained campus ambassadors.
If you’re planning to visit campus, we recommend that you look at the resources offered on the Visitor Services website, including directions/parking information and campus maps. The Navigating Berkeley web page from the campus Disability Access and Compliance office also provides maps and other resources for getting around the UC Berkeley campus.
Interested in self-guided tours? We encourage you to check out Berkeley Engineering’s self-guided walking tour or one of the excellent self-guided tours developed by the Visitor Services team.
Application or admissions questions?
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions manages admissions at the undergraduate level (for both freshman and transfer applicants). Interested in getting the inside scoop on applying to UC Berkeley? Sign up for Discover Berkeley, your personalized email guide to campus life and the application process. You’ll get exclusive information about our academic opportunities, financial aid, special events and announcements, and what it’s like to be a Golden Bear.
For detailed information on how to apply, prospective undergraduates should visit Berkeley’s admissions website. Details about information sessions can be found on the Discover Berkeley website. Digital publications, including flyers and guides, are also available.
Application resources from the College of Engineering, including program and application FAQs, can be found on our Admissions page. If you’d like to learn more about the College of Engineering’s EECS Major and the College of Letters & Science’s CS Major, we suggest you consult this helpful comparison chart.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions also offers a Spanish-language website that helps families learn more about the application process and join our Discover Berkeley email list to receive application tips, invitations to events, and information about the Berkeley campus.
Resources for exploring engineering
Want to explore engineering? Check out these great resources for hands-on activities, articles, and more.
Berkeley Engineering has also created a number of great videos that introduce different engineering fields:
- Aerospace Engineering
- Bioengineering
- Civil & Environmental Engineering
- Become a Civil & Environmental Engineering Bear
- Electrical Engineering
- Industrial Engineering & Operations Research: an award-winning video produced by 4 IEOR students (Duncan Barcelona, Maya Sprouse, Samantha Tito and Alexandra Novales)
- Mechanical Engineering
Looking for other opportunities for K-12 students to explore engineering? We recommend that you check out these excellent lists and databases of programs: