Free Competitions Programs for High School Students

Every program on this page costs $0 to attend — cost should never be the reason a strong student skips competitions opportunities.

Funded competitions programs are often more selective than paid ones precisely because someone else is paying; treat their deadlines seriously.

149 verified programs match this page; 30 of the featured listings are completely free; 10 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• Presidential AI Challenge — White House Office of Science and Technology Policy: National K-12 AI competition where students build real-world AI solutions for community challenges, with finals at the White House.
• 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.
• 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
• International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) — IOAI Foundation: Compete in the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence to enhance AI and machine learning skills, boost college applications, and gain hands
• World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY) — Ready AI: Join a global AI competition for grades 6-12 to solve real-world problems using artificial intelligence. Build STEM skills, boost college applications
• Young Playwrights Festival — Young Playwrights Inc.: Showcase your talent in this free playwriting competition for high schoolers (Grades 10-12). Develop creative skills, gain theater experience, and boo
• National High School Musical Theatre Awards (Jimmy Awards) — Broadway League: Compete in a prestigious national musical theatre competition in NYC! Showcase your talent, gain performance skills, and boost your college applicatio
• CSAW High School Forensics Competition — NYU Tandon: Compete in a free high school cybersecurity competition! Analyze digital evidence, develop forensic skills, and boost your college application. Hybrid
• Knowledge Matters Virtual Business Challenge — Knowledge Matters: Join this free virtual business competition for high schoolers to manage retail, sports, or restaurant simulations. Build entrepreneurial skills and b
• Tournament of Champions Debate — Various: Compete in the elite Tournament of Champions Debate, the most prestigious high school competition. Build critical thinking skills and strengthen colle
• Meta Hacker Cup — Meta: Global programming competition for high school students to master algorithms and coding. Build problem-solving skills and boost college applications.
• Wharton Investment Competition — Wharton/UPenn: Compete in a global investing competition for high school students. Manage a $100k portfolio, gain real-world finance skills, and boost your college a
• Davidson Fellows — Davidson Institute: Win $50k, $25k, or $10k scholarships in this elite STEM competition for high-achieving high school students. Boost college applications with hands-on
• Putnam Competition — MAA: Compete in the elite Putnam Competition, the toughest undergrad math challenge. High school juniors and seniors sharpen problem-solving skills and boo
• USA Physics Olympiad — AAPT: Compete in the elite USA Physics Olympiad to sharpen problem-solving skills, enhance college applications, and aim for the International Physics Olymp
• International Youth Math Challenge — IYMC: Join a global math competition for high schoolers to enhance problem-solving skills, boost college applications, and compete for $40k+ in prizes. Free
• UNA-USA Global Classrooms Model UN — United Nations Association of the USA: The United Nations Association's official Model UN program bringing authentic UN perspectives into classrooms. Free curriculum resources and city-wide
• World Affairs Councils of America - Youth Programs — World Affairs Councils of America: Network of 90+ councils across the U.S. offering students access to foreign policy speakers, global affairs workshops, Academic WorldQuest competition
• Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam — Youth Speaks: National slam poetry organization connecting high school students through spoken word performance, workshops, and the annual Brave New Voices internat
• LifeSmarts National Championship — National Consumers League: Free national consumer knowledge and personal finance competition for high school teams, testing real-world skills in health, technology, the environm
• Scholastic Art & Writing Awards — Scholastic Inc. / Alliance for Young Artists & Writers: The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation's longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in grades 7–12. Over $
• We the People National Competition Champion — Center for Civic Education: Congressional hearings simulation. Test constitutional knowledge. National finals in DC.
• Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) National Competition — YEA!: National pitch competition for YEA! entrepreneurs. Students compete with businesses launched through YEA! program.
• Beta Alpha Psi High School Competition — Beta Alpha Psi: Financial literacy and accounting case competition. Regional and national levels.
• U.S. Cyber Challenge (Cyber Quests) — SANS Institute: Identify and recruit next generation cybersecurity professionals.
• North American Championship for Puzzle and Logic — World Puzzle Federation: Championship for logic puzzles and spatial reasoning. Top performers qualify for World Puzzle Championship. Demonstrates exceptional logical thinking
• River of Words Environmental Poetry & Art Contest — Library of Congress: Environmental poetry and art competition for K-12 students.
• TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield — TechCrunch: Startup competition at major tech conference. Present to investors.
• New York Times STEM Writing Contest — The New York Times: Essay contest explaining the importance of STEM topics.
• National Speech & Debate Association National Tournament Finalist — National Speech & Debate Association: Reaching finals at NSDA Nationals is one of the most prestigious achievements in high school speech and debate. Strong indicator of communication and

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