In the Congressional App Challenge, members of the U.S. House of Representatives host district-wide challenges for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. Students create and submit their original apps for a chance to win the Congressional App Challenge. Each challenge is district-specific. Representatives publicly recognize winning teams, and each winning app may be put on display in the U.S. Capitol Building for one year. Additional prizes may be available.
Location(s)
- Remote
- To find a participating District, click here
Schedule
- June 15 to November 1
Cost/Compensation
- Free
Eligibility Requirements
- To be eligible to participate in the Congressional App Challenge, you must be a middle or high school student at the time of app submission.
- Students may register as individuals or as teams of up to four. No more than four students are allowed to form a team.
- Students may compete in the district they reside in or the district they attend school in.
- If competing as a team, at least half of the teammates must be eligible to compete in the district in which they are participating.
Deadline
- Apps must be submitted by November 1
Application or Entry Requirements
- To register as an individual, students need:
- a personal email address that is not their school email account
- home’s 9-digit zip code, Congressional District, and Member of Congress
- school’s 9-digit zip code, Congressional District, and Member of Congress
- A parent or guardian’s contact information (name and email address).
- Name and email of student’s coding teacher or mentor (optional)
- To register as a team, you’ll need:
- The above information for each team member.
- One team may participate ONCE as a group.
- TOPIC: The app can be about any topic.
- PLATFORM: The app can be on any platform (web app, desktop/PC app, a web browser extension, robot, Ruby on Rails, mobile, etc).
- PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE: Use any programming language: C/C++, Objective C, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Swift, “block code”, etc.
- FUNCTIONALITY: The app must have some degree of functionality to be competitive. CONTENT SUITABILITY:The app cannot be indecent, defamatory, in obvious bad taste, demonstrate a lack of respect for public morals or conduct, adversely affect the reputation of Congressional districts, or depict hatred, defame, or threaten a specific community in the society or incite violence. Contain pornography, obscenity or sexual activity are prohibited. The app must not violate the Intellectual Property, common law or privacy rights of other parties.
- ORIGINALITY: The app must be original and solely owned by the Contestant such that no other party has any rights or interest, whether known or unknown.
- In addition to creating a demonstration video, the team/individual will need to answer a series of questions similar to the following:
- What is the title of your app?
- Explain the app’s purpose in one sentence.
- Short Description: What inspired you to create this app?
- Short Description: What is your app trying to accomplish?
- What technical/coding difficulty did you face in programming your app, and how did you address this technical challenge?
Notifications of Decisions
- Winners are announced in December
Financial Aid Details
Other Dates to Keep in Mind
- April 1: Pre registration opens
- June 15: Challenge officially launches
Have other questions?
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, which is the legislative branch of the federal government of the nation. The House is responsible for introducing and passing bills, as well as conducting oversight of the executive branch. The House of Representatives is composed of 435 members who are elected every two years from congressional districts across the country. Each district is represented by one member, with the number of districts in each state determined by population. The House also has a number of committees and subcommittees, which are responsible for overseeing specific policy areas such as agriculture, education, and energy.
