Young coders hone skills in annual competition.
Cornell Bowers and Cornell Tech collaborate annually on the Cornell High School Programming Contest, inspiring the next generation of computer scientists through hands-on competition. Contest events are open to all high school students living in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania.
Prior to each competition, Cornell Tech and Cornell CIS Bowers hosts hands-on programming workshops on both the Cornell Ithaca and Cornell Tech NYC campuses to help students build and practice skills.
2026 High School Programming Contest Beginners’ Workshop
Co-Sponsored by Women in Computing at Cornell, Underrepresented Minorities in Computing, ACSU, Cornell Tech Women in Tech, and the Inclusion and Belonging Committee at Cornell Tech.
Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026
Registration Opens December 1st
Schedule:
- 12:00 p.m. - Arrival and registration
- 12:30 p.m. - Introduction to programming contests
- 1 p.m. - Problem walk-through
- 2 p.m. - Solve problem in small groups
- 2:45 p.m. - Share solutions
- 3:00 p.m. - Solve problem in small groups
- 3:45 p.m. - Share solutions
- 4:00 p.m. - Contest sign-up
Programming contests are fun and challenging, help build computing skills, and add significantly to college applications. The more students compete, the stronger their skills become.
On February 7 , 2026, Cornell and Cornell Tech will partner with undergraduate and graduate student groups to host a hands-on programming contest workshop to build and practice skills for students with less experience competing. Our goal is to prepare you for our February 8th contest. This workshop is open to all but focused on helping beginners strengthen their skills.
The workshop will include problems from prior contests ranging from “very easy” to “medium-hard”. Only limited programming experience is required, but you should be able to write some code in C, C++, Java (not JavaScript), or Python.
The Beginners’ Workshop will be held in person on both the Cornell Ithaca and Cornell Tech NYC campuses. We will take you step-by-step through several problems, then give you some time to work on problems in small groups. Cornell and Cornell Tech student mentors will be there to help groups strategize and debug. Students will learn how to submit solutions, and read error messages. Bring your laptops and your love for problem solving!
Cornell’s HS Programming Contest events are open to all high school students living in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania.
Have more questions? Want more information? Contact Cornell (Ithaca) Anthony Loinaz arl1 [at] cornell.edu (arl1[at]cornell[dot]edu) or Cornell Tech (NYC) at k12 [at] tech.cornell.edu (k12[at]tech[dot]cornell[dot]edu)
Frequently Asked Questions
2026 Cornell University High School Programming Contest
Date: Sunday, February 8, 2026
Registration Opens December 1st
We’re excited to announce that the 2026 High School Programming Contest will be held Sunday, February 8, 2026 at 11:30am EST. Our contest is open to all students who live or attend school in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania. The contest will be held in person on Cornell’s Ithaca and NYC Cornell Tech campuses. We can’t wait to see you on campus!
Students will compete in teams of 2-3. The Cornell HS Programming Contest generally includes 6-7 problems of varying difficulty (easy to very challenging) to be solved in 3 hours. Competitors will sharpen not only their computer science problem solving skills, but their strategy and teamwork as well. Students may compete using Python, Java, C, or C++.
Sunday, February 8, 2026
Schedule
11:30 a.m. - Arrival and registration
12:00 p.m. - Logistics and introduction to the competition
12:30 p.m. - Contest begins
3:30 p.m. - Contest ends
3:45 p.m. - Guest Speaker
4:00 p.m. - Awards Ceremony
Have more questions? Want more information? Contact Cornell (Ithaca) Anthony Loinaz arl1 [at] cornell.edu (arl1[at]cornell[dot]edu) or Cornell Tech (NYC) at k12 [at] tech.cornell.edu (k12[at]tech[dot]cornell[dot]edu)
Cornell Tech