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. A great project for students to work on during the summer months.

The Congressional App Challenge is open to all middle and high school students in our District. The winning app of our district's competition will be featured on the Congressional App Challenge webpage, and an invitation to attend a winner's celebration inside the U.S. Capitol called #HouseOfCode. The winning app is also featured on House.gov's Congressional App Challenge page.

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

Important Dates: 
 

• Applications are due by 12 pm EST on October 26th, 2026. 
• We will begin our judging process on November 2nd, 2026. 
• The judging period will conclude on December 1st, 2026, and we can report 10th District winner into the Review Portal. 
• By December 31st, 2026, Rep. Harrigan's office will notify applicants of their status, and the winner will be announced publicly sometime in early 2027.

Eligibility Criteria:
 

• Age: Students must be in middle school or high school on October 26th, 2026.
• 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 created after the previous year's contest
• One Entry Per Person Per Year: Students may only submit ONE app per
  year. Multiple entries across multiple teams are 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 Congressional App Challenge, or to register and submit, please click here. Please feel free to call Rep. Harrigan's district office at (828) 327-6100 if you have any questions or email Regional Director, Eduardo Andrade at Eduardo.Andrade@mail.house.gov.