The 2026 Congressional App Challenge is Now Open!
The Congressional App Challenge is the official STEM competition of the U.S. House of Representatives. It’s open to middle school and high school students of all coding skills across Vermont and is a great opportunity for educators to encourage critical thinking and creativity.
How the Challenge Works
Students can submit apps as a team of up to four students or individually. Students must be in middle or high school and at least half of the team must either live in Vermont or go to school in Vermont.
There are no limits to what students can create. Examples of eligible apps include:
The winning app in each district will be featured on the House.gov website and the CongressionalAppChallenge.us website. The winning app in each district will also be able to receive a copyright fee waiver. Official rules can be found here.
Students should register online and once their app is built, submit a short video showing what it does and how it works, along with a brief description, the tools used and what inspired the creation!
The competition deadline for submitting is Monday, October 26, but our team is working on some surprises along the way and would love to keep you updated! Please submit your contact information if you are interested in submitting and we will send resources, events, and deadline reminders!
For further questions, contact our office at Iris.Hsiang@mail.house.gov or 802-652-2450
U.S. Representative
Becca Balint
Proudly Representing Vermont