The 2026 Congressional App Challenge (CAC) closes on Monday, October 26, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Pacific Time). California’s 47th Congressional District (CA-47), which represents Irvine, is on this year’s list of participating districts, so Irvine middle and high school students may submit an app they built, either individually or in a team of up to four.

Congressional App Challenge 2026: What Happened

The Congressional App Challenge is a coding competition that members of the U.S. House of Representatives host in their own districts. It is coordinated by the nonprofit Internet Education Foundation, and Roblox is the presenting sponsor for 2026. The official rules page and the 2026 rulebook list this year’s schedule.

Date Event
January 1, 2026 Student pre-registration opens
May 2026 Challenge officially launches and accepts submissions
October 26, 2026, 12:00 p.m. Eastern Registration and submission deadline
November 2026 Judging
December 2026 District winners announced

The rulebook states that a submission cannot be modified in any way after the deadline. Winners are announced directly by the hosting member’s office, and the CAC team does not disclose any district’s results before January 15, 2027.

What the Congressional App Challenge Means for Irvine Families

The competition runs by congressional district. Students may compete only in a district that hosts a challenge, and they may choose either the district where they live or the district where they attend school, but only one. The office of Representative Dave Min describes CA-47 as including Irvine, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and other cities. On the 2026 participating list, both CA-47 and CA-40 (Representative Young Kim) are confirmed as hosts.

Students whose home and school fall in different districts should first look up each address with the House “Find Your Representative” tool and then check the CAC participating district list. The rules summary on the CA-47 office web page still reflects a past year, so the 2026 rulebook governs dates and eligibility. The 2025 winning apps in CA-47 and CA-40 were ReadWell, a reading app, and TeenCivics, a civics education app; both appear on the CAC winners page.

Congressional App Challenge Eligibility: Who Can Compete

Requirement Rule
Grade Enrolled in middle school or high school on October 26, 2026
District The district of residence or school, if that district hosts a challenge; only one district
Teams Individuals or teams of up to 4; at least half of the team must live or attend school in the district
Status U.S. resident at the time of submission; no citizenship requirement
App Created after October 30, 2025; for a 2.0 version, only the new code is highlighted
Entries One app per student per year; no entries across multiple teams

Registration requires a personal email address that is not a school account, both a home and a school address (each with a 9-digit ZIP code, the congressional district, and the member’s name), and the name and email of a parent or guardian. The name of a coding teacher or mentor is optional. For a team, one member creates the team profile and invites the others.

Congressional App Challenge App Requirements and AI Rules

There is no restriction on topic or platform (web, desktop, mobile, browser extensions, robots, AR and VR, wearables, and embedded systems all qualify) or on programming language, and block-based coding is accepted. The rulebook sets three firm requirements for the app.

Requirement Rule
Functionality The app must demonstrate some degree of functionality to be competitive
Originality All coding and technical development must be done by the student or student team; open-source libraries, frameworks, and external tools are allowed but must be documented
AI AI tools are permitted if all AI usage is fully disclosed in the submission; AI may support specific parts of the project but may not constitute the entirety of the technical development

Judges may ask to see the app and its source code in person or by other reasonable means to verify that it works as described; a submission is disqualified immediately if the student does not comply.

Congressional App Challenge Submission: Demo Video and Six Questions

Students first complete a personal profile and an eligibility quiz, receive an email once eligible, and then fill out the app application. The rulebook names the demonstration video as the most critical component.

  • Demonstration video: 1 to 3 minutes, with possible penalties for going over; it must state each participant’s name and the app name, explain the app’s purpose in one clear sentence, identify the target audience, list the tools and programming languages used, and show the app working. The video is uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo and set to public.
  • Questions: the app title, its purpose, what inspired it, a technical difficulty and how it was solved, the biggest takeaway from the challenge, and what a 2.0 version would change.

After the deadline, every team member must complete the exit questionnaire individually.

Congressional App Challenge Judging and Prizes

Each district’s entries are judged by the member’s office, which may use a panel of judges; the CA-40 challenge page states that a panel of expert judges selects the winner. The rulebook lists three judging criteria: the quality of the idea (including creativity and originality), the implementation of the idea (including user experience and design), and demonstrated excellence in coding.

The prizes are recognition rather than cash. Each district’s winning app is featured on House.gov and on the CAC website, is eligible for a copyright registration fee waiver through the ARTS Act, and the winning students are invited to the #HouseOfCode event at the U.S. Capitol. The CA-47 office page also states that the winning app is displayed in the Capitol for one year. District offices may add items such as certificates of nominal value.

EDUBUS Advice on the Congressional App Challenge

Confirm the district before filling out registration. A student whose home and school are in different districts may compete in only one, and a team must have at least half of its members in that district. The registration form asks for a 9-digit ZIP code, the district, and the member’s name for both the home and school address. EDUBUS advisors suggest finishing registration and the eligibility quiz a week before the deadline to leave time for the video and the questions.

Once the app runs, polish the video first. Judges rely mainly on the demonstration video and the written answers, and the rulebook asks the video to state the purpose in one sentence and show real functionality. In the final ten days, a clear recording of existing features is more useful than a new feature, and the source code should be ready to show on request.

Document AI and open-source use clearly. The rules allow AI tools and open-source libraries but require full disclosure and evidence of individual technical contribution. The question about a technical difficulty and its solution is where that contribution can be shown.

Treat the app as part of a longer plan. A CAC app can return the following year as a 2.0 version, and it can also become an entry on a college application activities list. The full list of computer science competitions is in the EDUBUS Computer Science Competitions guide, the rhythm of algorithm contests is covered in USACO Season Structure, and overall competition and application planning is covered by Competition Prep and University Admissions Planning.

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