Congressional App Challenge Class

Any students in middle and high school that is a citizen or a legal resident in the United States are eligible to participate.. Your congressional district must also be part of the initiative. You can check the list to see if your district is participating. If not, you can reach out to your congressional representative and request them to join the challenges. We might be able to help connect you with students in participating districts to form a team.

To build a strong Congressional App Challenge app, you need the foundational technical skills, a great project idea, a strong execution of your idea, and a polished application.

Our Congressional App Challenge mentoring classes above assist students with the last three areas. But how do you build the technical skills? The great news is, the winning apps can be built with any technology. The key is on how you apply your coding skills. These are some of the trackers we recommend and classes to take to get ready.

Beginner Track - Ideal for middle school students with little coding experience or just block coding experience.

• Accelerated Scratch (if new to coding)
• Mobile App Development with Thunkable
• Congressional App Challenge Mentoring - Thunkable

Intermediate Track - Build apps with relatively simple frontend/backend.

• Python Foundations (if new to text-based coding)
• Build Your Web (learn HTML/CSS/JavaScript)
• Congressional App Challenge Mentoring - JavaScript

Advanced Track - Build apps with sophisticated backend and AI features.

• AI Creators - Foundation on how to build AI systems
• Advanced Python - Vibe Coding with AI
• Build Your Web (learn HTML/CSS/JavaScript)
• Congressional App Challenge Mentoring - Python or JavaScript

Design Track - For students who love art and design.

• UI/UX Design with Figma & AI
• Congressional App Challenge Mentoring - Figma

Game Development Track - For students who want to make a game as their app.

• Beginner Roblox
• Roblox Coding with Lua in Roblox Studio (optional)
• Or Unity
• Congressional App Challenge Mentoring Class - Roblox or Unity (special request only)

You don’t need to be an expert at all to join. Any middle and high school students can join the Congressional App Challenges. You can also join every year. Start early to learn the process. As students build their coding skills, they can develop increasingly advanced apps.

The 2026 Congressional App Challenge is open for registration now and the deadline for submission is October 26th, 2026. Students may register as individuals or as teams of up to four. Students can register in either the district they reside in or the one they attend school in.

For students new to the Congressional App Challenge, working with an experienced instructor can be invaluable. A mentor can help you brainstorm topics, define key features, and follow a clear, stage-by-stage timeline to bring your app to life. Inevitably, you’ll run into challenges along the way, and a mentor can guide you through them to keep you moving forward. For students already familiar with the Congressional App Challenge process, private tutoring sessions can provide targeted technical assistance.

The best way to learn how to create a winning app for the Congressional App Challenge is to hear from past winners. Over the past several years, we’ve hosted many of them, and here are some key highlights and quick tips they’ve shared:

• Choose an impactful topic – Focus on an issue that is important to your community. It could be something you’ve personally experienced or observed in others.
• Work on something you’re passionate about – This will help keep the process fun and motivating.
• Get feedback – Share your ideas and features with others early and often to improve your app. Your family and friends can all be great people to share with. Or come join one of our events.
• Pay attention to design – A well-designed app can be much more appealing.
  -** Make a great video** – Clearly explain why your topic is important, how your app addresses it, and the technical skills you used to build it.

Check out these videos featuring past winners for more tips:

• Congressional App Challenge – Tips From Past Winners and a Mentor – 2024
  - Train Restoration - A Winner of Congressional App Challenge - June 2025

Great question! We highly recommend students start with learning foundational skills. But they can do Congressional App Challenge any time to experience it and test out their ideas. Over time, they can learn more skills to more advanced apps and have a higher chance of winning.

No, you can submit your app directly on the Congressional App Challenge website. However, our classes are designed to help students build high-quality projects and guide them through the iterative process of solving real-world problems and app development. Classes can also assist with answering technical questions that arise.

Here are the dates for this year’s challenge:

• May 1 2026 – Challenge Launch!
• September 15, 2026: Deadline for Members of Congress to register their district to host the challenge.
• October 26 – Deadline for students to submit their app online
• October 30 – November 23 – Judging period
• November 23 – December 31 – Winners announced!
• April/May 2027 - Winners meet at House of Code in DC!

Register early to get a sense of the detailed submission requirements.