Competitions
Browse verified academic, arts, service, and STEM competitions for high-school students.
Stars highlight editor-reviewed programs and award results with documented competitive recognition.
This is a rough guide, not an admissions rating. Opportunities without a star can still be valuable.
AI-assisted research may be used; publication is editor reviewed.
371 verified published opportunities
Theater is a named high-school participation pathway published by National YoungArts Foundation; current availability and local rules must be checked.
Theater is a named high-school participation pathway published by YoungArts, with details that vary by current cycle and local organizer.
Theater Award is a named high-school recognition published by YoungArts; students should record only the result they actually received.
Top 10 Finalist is a named high-school recognition published by Regeneron Science Talent Search; students should record only the result they actually received.
Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision is an organizer-run high-school competition or award program in science, technology, engineering.
Tournament of Champions in Speech and Debate is an organizer-run high-school competition or award program in speech, debate.
Trail Stewardship is a named high-school participation pathway published by National Park Service; current availability and local rules must be checked.
The U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad Local Competition is the first stage of the American Chemical Society's four-tier high-school chemistry program. The 2026 local exam was offered February 27–March 16 and consisted of 60 multiple-choice questions in 110 minutes across stoichiometry, laboratory chemistry, states of matter, thermodynamics, kinetics, equilibrium, redox, atomic structure, bonding, and organic or biochemistry. Local sections select their strongest students for the April National Exam; registration is coordinated by a parent or guardian and the local ACS coordinator.
The USNCO National Exam is the second stage of the American Chemical Society's chemistry olympiad and is taken by more than 1,000 local nominees each April. It includes a 90-minute, 60-question multiple-choice section, 105 minutes for eight written problems, and a 90-minute laboratory practical with two experiments. The top 20 students attend a two-week June study camp, from which four represent the United States at the International Chemistry Olympiad; approximately 50 receive High Honors and the next 100 Honors.
The U.S. Physics Olympiad Exam is the proof-oriented second exam in the American Association of Physics Teachers' U.S. Physics Team pathway. Students first take the mechanics-focused F=ma Exam; top scorers are invited to the longer USAPhO, whose free-response problems require complete physics reasoning rather than selected answers. In 2026, F=ma ran February 12 for three hours and USAPhO ran April 10 for four hours. Later selection included a May USAPhO Plus exam and May 30–June 9 training camp at the University of Maryland.
U.S. Presidential Scholars Program is an organizer-run high-school competition or award program in academic recognition, arts, career education.
United States Academic Decathlon is a team academic program spanning ten events: seven subject tests in art, economics, literature, mathematics, music, science, and social science, plus essay, speech, and interview, culminating in Super Quiz. The 2026–27 theme is “Journeys of Transformation: An Exploration of Travel and Transportation,” including animal behavior and migration in science. Teams advance through local and state programs; the 2027 National Finals are scheduled for April 29–May 1 in Bloomington, Minnesota.
