Congressional App Challenge

Each fall, a nation-wide middle and high school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)—competition is sponsored by the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Congressional App Challenge is an opportunity to recognize and encourage the STEM talent across the nation, as well as in our Congressional District. Each participating Member of Congress will name a winner to represent their district for 2027.

Please see below for instructions and registration details. The deadline to submit your app is October 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT.

To view the App Challenge winner for 2025, click here.

The Congressional App Challenge is open to all middle and high school students in California's 12th Congressional District. The winning app of our district's competition will be displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol (with a Copyright Fee Waiver provided via the ARTS Act). The app will also be featured on the Congressional App Challenge webpage and the House.gov's Congressional App Challenge page. The winner will be invited to attend a celebration at the U.S. Capitol called #HouseOfCode.

The following is a summary of the Congressional App Challenge rules:

Eligibility Criteria:

REGISTRATION PAGE: https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/students/student-registration/
LOCATION: Students are only allowed to compete in a Congressional District which is hosting an App Challenge. Students may compete in either the district in which they reside, or the district in which they attend school. Participants may compete only in one single district. There is no citizenship requirement, but all students competing in the Congressional App Challenge must be U.S. residents.
TEAMS: Students can compete as individuals, or in teams of up to four (4) students.
- ○ Any team with more than four (4) students is not eligible to compete.
- ○ At least half of teammates on any team must live or attend school in the same Congressional District.
PRIOR PROJECTS: Students may submit any app they've previously submitted the following year.
ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER YEAR: Students may only submit ONE app per year. Multiple entries across multiple teams is not allowed.

App Parameters:

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.
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.

If you would like more information on the annual Congressional App Challenge, or to register and submit your project for 2027, please click here.”