Open source contributions are essential because they allow individuals and organizations to collaborate on projects and share their work with the larger community. This could lead to better software and more inventive problem-solving methods, as well as promote a sense of community and cooperation within the tech industry.

So,here is a list of 25+ paid open-source mentorship programs students can apply to

1. Google Summer of Code - a program that matches student developers with open source organizations for a summer-long internship

2. TAP HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GSOC

1. Outreachy - a program that provides paid internships to underrepresented groups in the tech industry to work on open-source projects

2. TAP HERE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT OUTREACHY

1. GitHub Sponsors - a program that allows users to financially support open-source developers and projects

1. Red Hat Open Source contributions program - a program that provides paid opportunities for developers to contribute to open source projects

2. Canonical Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects

3. OpenAI Scholars - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open-source projects related to artificial intelligence and machine learning

4. OpenMRS Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to healthcare

5. OpenStack open source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open-source cloud computing projects

6. Microsoft Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects

7. Facebook Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects

8. Amazon Web Services open source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to cloud computing

9. Adobe Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to design and creative technologies

10. Mozilla Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to the web

11. Intel Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to hardware and software

12. IBM Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and more

13. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to cloud computing, data analytics, and more

14. GitHub Education - a program that offers paid internships and mentorship to students interested in open source development

15. OpenDNS Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to internet security and infrastructure

16. OpenGov Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to government and public sector technology

17. OpenStack Foundation Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source cloud computing projects

18. Open Data Kit Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to data collection and management

19. Open edX Open Source internship program - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open source projects related to online education and e-learning

20. OpenAI Fellowship - a program that provides paid fellowships to students and researchers interested in working on open source projects related to artificial intelligence and machine learning

21. Open Data Science Fellowship - a program that provides paid fellowships to students and researchers interested in working on open source projects related to data science and machine learning

22. OpenBio Fellowship - a program that provides paid fellowships to students and researchers interested in working on open-source projects related to biology and life sciences

23. OpenAI Scholars - a program that provides paid internships to students interested in working on open-source projects