Virtual & Online Competitions Programs for High School Students

These competitions programs are fully online, so students in any town — not just near a major university — can participate.

Online competitions removes geography from the equation; selectivity and follow-through are all that separate you from applicants in Boston or the Bay Area.

80 verified programs match this page; 23 of the featured listings are completely free.

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.
• 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
• 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
• Mathematical Olympiad for Girls — Mathematical Olympiad Foundation: Elite math competition for high school girls to tackle USAMO-level problems. Boosts problem-solving skills, stands out on college applications, and in
• 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
• Meta Hacker Cup — Meta: Global programming competition for high school students to master algorithms and coding. Build problem-solving skills and boost college applications.
• 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
• 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
• National English Honor Society Writing Contests — NEHS: Writing competitions for NEHS members. Poetry, prose, creative nonfiction.
• U.S. Cyber Challenge (Cyber Quests) — SANS Institute: Identify and recruit next generation cybersecurity professionals.
• River of Words Environmental Poetry & Art Contest — Library of Congress: Environmental poetry and art competition for K-12 students.
• New York Times STEM Writing Contest — The New York Times: Essay contest explaining the importance of STEM topics.
• Slamdance Screenplay Competition (Student Division) — Slamdance Film Festival: Screenplay competition at filmmaker-run festival known for discovering new talent. Winners receive industry recognition and festival access. Alternati
• Beta Bowl Entrepreneurship Competition — Beta Bowl: Virtual entrepreneurship competition for students.
• National PTA Reflections Program National Award — National PTA: National arts recognition through PTA in visual arts, music, literature, photography, film, and dance.
• National Classical Etymology Exam — American Classical League: Etymology competition testing knowledge of Greek and Latin roots in English vocabulary.
• USAMO Qualifier — Mathematical Association of America: Qualification to take the USA Mathematical Olympiad. Top ~250 AMC/AIME performers invited. Gateway to MOSP and IMO team.
• Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Competition — Toshiba/NSTA: Science and technology vision competition for teams. Envision future technology solutions.
• Young Animator Awards — Animation Magazine: Animation competition for young artists. Various animation techniques.
• Physics Unlimited Premier Competition — Physics Unlimited: Challenging physics competition testing conceptual understanding and problem-solving
• Voice of Democracy Audio Essay Competition — Veterans of Foreign Wars: Patriotic audio essay competition with scholarships.
• Interactive Fiction Competition (IFComp) — Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation: An annual global competition for creating and playing new works of interactive fiction and text-based games.
• Canadian Short Screenplay Competition — Canadian Short Screenplay Competition Inc.: An international contest recognizing outstanding short film screenplays, with prizes, promotion, and industry exposure.
• Makridakis Forecasting Competitions — Makridakis Open Forecasting Center (MOFC): A series of international data-driven forecasting competitions advancing methods in time-series prediction and uncertainty estimation.
• Spellman HV Clean Tech Competition — Spellman High Voltage Electronics: Join a global high school competition tackling sustainability and energy challenges. Build innovation skills, boost college applications, and make an
• The Earth Prize (Global Environmental Sustainability Competition) — The Earth Prize Foundation: Compete in a global environmental sustainability competition for high schoolers. Build innovative solutions, gain hands-on STEM experience, and boost
• APA TOPSS High School Psychology Student Competition — American Psychological Association (TOPSS): Showcase your psychology knowledge in this free online competition for high school students. Build writing skills, enhance college apps, and explore S
• Harvard International Review Academic Writing Contest — Harvard International Review: Join a selective global writing competition for high schoolers to explore international relations, build policy analysis skills, and enhance your coll
• AIcrowd Challenges — AIcrowd: Tackle real-world challenges in AI and data science through free virtual competitions for high schoolers. Boost STEM skills, enhance college apps, and
• NWEA Data Science for Everyone Competition — NWEA: Join a free virtual data science competition for high school students to predict student performance using real-world education data. Build skills for

Frequently asked questions