Bipartisan Blockbuster: Record-Setting Percentage of Congress Now Hosting App Challenges
More Members of Congress are hosting Congressional App Challenges in 2023 than ever before – with dozens more expected to sign up in the coming weeks! As of today, 345 Members of Congress are actively hosting Congressional App Challenges for students in their districts, representing 79% of the House of Representatives and eclipsing the previous record of 340 Members set in 2021.
The incredible reception of the Congressional App Challenge by both political parties represents a profound bipartisan success story. App Challenge Co-chairs Rep. Zach Nunn and Rep. Ted Lieu have been instrumental in ensuring that more of their colleagues embrace this groundbreaking initiative than ever before, inspiring students from every corner of the nation to spark their passion in STEM fields.
App Challenges are currently happening in all 50 states, and nearly 80% of Freshman Members of Congress have already signed up to host during their first few months in office.
Students, buoyed by congressional momentum, are also getting involved in the 2023 challenge at a record-setting pace, with over 3,000 teams already registered ahead of the November 1 deadline.
The Congressional App Challenge is a nonpartisan, congressional initiative to spark student interest in coding across the U.S.. The House created the Congressional App Challenge in 2013 to focus Congressional attention on the importance of developing a domestic STEM and computer science workforce. Since that time we have seen a two thousand percent increase in Congressional mentions of computer science and STEM. Over 340 Representatives are hosting district challenges for their high school and middle school constituents this year, making the CAC the largest student computer science competition in the world. Reps.Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Zach Nunn (R-IA) will lead the CAC in the 118th Congress as bipartisan co-chairs.
Students can register and submit apps for this year’s Congressional App Challenge through the November 1 deadline.