Coding Programs & Competitions for High School Students

These programs teach and exercise real programming skill — bootcamps, project-based academies, and competitive-programming training for high school students.

Many are free and virtual, which makes coding one of the most accessible ways to build a serious technical profile from anywhere.

52 verified programs match this page; 24 of the featured listings are completely free; 13 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• PennApps Hackathon — University of Pennsylvania: Compete in the nation’s largest student-run hackathon for high schoolers. Build coding skills, innovate in tech, and boost your college applications.
• NASA International Space Apps Challenge — NASA: Solve real-world space and climate challenges in NASA’s global hackathon. This free competition lets high schoolers build coding, data science, and te
• Kaggle Data Science Competitions — Kaggle/Google: Join exciting online data science competitions for high school students! Build Python coding skills, explore AI, and strengthen your college applicati
• Intel oneAPI Developer Challenge — Intel Corporation: Global coding challenge using Intel's oneAPI toolkit; cash prizes
• Code.org Hour of Code Champions — Code.org: Host Hour of Code events as a student leader in computer science. Build coding skills, gain leadership experience, and enhance your college applicatio
• Google Code Jam to I/O — Google: Algorithm competition with trip to Google I/O for top scorers.
• GitHub Open Source Contributor — GitHub / Open Source Projects: Contribute to real-world open-source projects online! High school students gain programming skills, collaboration experience, and boost college applic
• Google Summer of Code (Pre-University Contributor) — Google: Paid stipend for contributing to open source projects. Work with mentors on real software. Demonstrates professional-level coding and collaboration sk
• Major League Hacking Hackathons — MLH: Compete in weekend hackathons for high schoolers (grades 9-12). Build coding skills, create projects, and network with peers. Boost college apps and w
• Lockheed Martin Code Quest — Lockheed Martin Corporation: Programming competition hosted by major defense contractor. Teams solve coding challenges. Exposure to aerospace industry and STEM careers.
• NASA App Development Challenge — NASA: Build apps for NASA missions. Winners present at NASA center.
• Google Code Next Program — Google: Free multi-year program at Google labs teaching computer science and career readiness. Includes mentorship and internships.
• CodeCombat Championship — CodeCombat: Compete in a free online coding competition for grades 6-12. Build game AI, enhance programming skills, and boost your college applications with hands
• National STEM Video Game Challenge — Entertainment Software Association Foundation: Design video games in this free STEM competition for grades 5-12. Build coding skills, boost creativity, and enhance college applications with hands-o
• Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program — Girls Who Code: Free 2-week intensive coding program for high school girls hosted at top tech companies and universities, covering programming, web development, and r
• RoboMaster Robotics Competition for Students — DJI RoboMaster: A DJI-organized international robotics competition where student teams design, build, and program combat-style robots.
• FBLA Cyber Security and Computer Problem Solving — FBLA: Technology-focused FBLA events. Coding and cybersecurity.
• Codeforces Rounds — Codeforces: Participate in free online programming competitions to sharpen algorithmic problem-solving skills. Perfect for STEM-focused high school students and c
• High School Game Design Competitions — Various Organizations: Participate in hybrid game design competitions for high school students! Build programming and creative skills, gain hands-on experience, and impress
• MIT Battlecode — MIT: Develop coding, AI, and problem-solving skills in this free hybrid competition for high school students. Boost college applications with hands-on prog
• Zero Robotics Programming Competition — MIT/NASA: Program robots that compete aboard the International Space Station. Finals run on actual SPHERES satellites in microgravity on ISS.
• Code Nation Summer Labs — Code Nation: Free hybrid summer program for high schoolers in grades 9-11. Gain hands-on coding experience, build apps, and enhance college applications. Perfect f
• Google Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) — Google: Competitive free 3-week Google-hosted summer program in computer science for graduating high school seniors from underrepresented groups, including co
• Technovation Families — Technovation: Learn coding and app development with Technovation Families' free virtual workshops. Perfect for grades 8-18 to build STEM skills and boost college ap
• Code in Place - Stanford — Stanford University: Master coding with Stanford's free online programming course for high schoolers. Build skills, boost college applications, and gain hands-on STEM expe
• Carnegie Mellon CS Scholars (CSS) — Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science: Full-scholarship pre-college program in CS for rising seniors from underrepresented groups.
• Botball Educational Robotics Program — KISS Institute for Practical Robotics: Develop coding, robotics, and problem-solving skills in the Botball Educational Robotics Program. Perfect for high schoolers seeking hands-on STEM exp
• Carnegie Mellon National High School Game Academy — Carnegie Mellon University: Game design and programming intensive at CMU. Learn game development from CMU faculty.
• Microsoft Imagine Cup Junior — Microsoft: Join a global competition to design apps or games tackling real-world issues. Perfect for high school students to build coding skills and enhance coll
• Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes (SCSI) - CS Tracks — Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies: Explore advanced computer science topics like AI and programming in this virtual summer program for grades 9-11. Build skills for college and future S

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