Paid Competitions for High School Students
EC Finder currently lists 58 paid competitions for high school students. Of these, 18 offer virtual participation. Examples include American Academy of Neurology Neuroscience Research Prize, American Legion National Oratorical Contest, and ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards.
- 58
- listed
- 18
- virtual
- 58
- with a listed deadline
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are paid competitions for high school students?
- Paid Competitions for High School Students are curated extracurricular listings for high school students. Each listing includes eligibility, cost, and deadline details where known, so you can compare options and find the right fit for your college application profile.
- Are these competitions paid?
- Yes, this page only shows paid opportunities. EC Finder also lists both free and paid options if you want to compare.
- Can I participate virtually?
- Yes — 18 of the 58 competitions listed here offer virtual or online participation.
Related Categories
58 activities found·Browse by category
American Academy of Neurology Neuroscience Research Prize
National competition co-sponsored with the Child Neurology Society for original high school research on the brain and nervous system, judged on relevance, creativity, and data interpretation.
American Legion National Oratorical Contest
A Constitution-focused public-speaking scholarship contest where students deliver prepared and extemporaneous speeches on the U.S. Constitution, advancing from post to state to national, with a $25,000 national top prize.
ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards
Juried national competition recognizing emerging jazz composers ages 13-30 with cash awards, judged on an original score and recording submission.
Bands of America Grand National Championships
America's premier national marching band championship, presented by Music for All at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Open to all high school marching bands, scored 60% music and 40% visual.
Berkeley Model United Nations (BMUN)
High school delegates simulate UN bodies at UC Berkeley, researching countries, writing position papers, and debating global issues across dozens of committees.
Bill of Rights Institute We the Students Essay Contest
An annual essay contest on U.S. government/founding-principles themes with a grand prize of $7,500 plus a scholarship to the Constitutional Academy summer program in Washington, D.C.
BruinMUN (UCLA)
One of the largest West Coast HS Model UN conferences, hosted by UCLA, with 27 committees including novice-friendly options.
BU Brain Bee (Boston University)
Regional Brain Bee run by Boston University's Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience.
C-SPAN StudentCam
A national documentary competition where students make a short film on an annual civic/political theme incorporating C-SPAN footage, with $100,000 in total prizes across 150 winners.
California Envirothon
Teams study soils, wildlife, forestry, aquatic ecosystems, and a current issue topic, then compete in a day-long field and knowledge competition; state winner advances to nationals.
California Mock Trial
Teams analyze a hypothetical criminal case and enact all trial roles as prosecution or defense before real judges/attorney scorers, advancing from county to state finals.
CHSSA State Tournament
State governing body for CA high school speech/debate; local leagues culminate in a state tournament across debate, oratory, and interpretation events.
Conrad Challenge (Energy & Environment)
Student teams design an innovation and business plan solving a real-world problem in tracks including Energy & Environment, progressing through Activation and Innovation stages to the Innovation Summit.
CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition
The Air Force Association's flagship youth cyber competition, the world's largest cybersecurity contest for teens. High school teams defend virtual networks by finding and fixing security flaws in Windows, Linux, and Cisco images. Runs fall–spring with online qualifiers and National Finals.
DECA Virtual Business Challenge – Entrepreneurship
Online simulation where DECA members run one of 20 virtual businesses, making financing, staffing, pricing, and marketing decisions scored via exam and judged evaluation.
Delaware BioGENEius Challenge
A state-affiliate biotechnology research competition run by the Delaware Biotechnology Institute at the University of Delaware, feeding into the International BioGENEius Challenge with original biotech/genetics research.
DownBeat Student Music Awards
A national jazz-education honor from DownBeat magazine open to junior high, high school, and college entries. Students submit instrumental/vocal recordings across performance, composition, arranging, and engineering categories.
EarthEcho International Youth Leadership Council
A competitively-selected leadership council (ages 15-22) founded by Philippe Cousteau Jr. that leads campaigns and programs on ocean and water conservation.
Essentially Ellington
National high school big-band jazz competition/festival from Jazz at Lincoln Center. Directors submit recordings of transcribed Ellington and jazz arrangements, and top bands are invited to New York to compete at Frederick P. Rose Hall each May.
FIRST Global Challenge
An international robotics olympics-style event with typically one team per country tackling a global-challenge-themed game each year, emphasizing international collaboration on grand challenges.
FIRST LEGO League Challenge
An entry-level FIRST program using LEGO-based robots plus a research/innovation project and core-values teamwork, primarily middle school but relevant for younger high schoolers and as a feeder to FTC/FRC.
Global Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (GYEC)
Teams have a 12-hour window to develop and pitch a sustainable business idea addressing a global issue, submitting a brief and video, with country winners advancing to finals.
Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament (HMMT)
A large student-run team math tournament held twice a year with individual and team rounds.
Houston Brain Bee (Rice Neuroscience Society)
Regional Brain Bee chapter run by Rice University's Neuroscience Society, with winners advancing toward the national Brain Bee.
Hult Future Leaders Challenge
Teams tackle a real corporate business challenge (2026 brief set by LEGO) over 11 weeks with masterclasses, pitching to judges with top 10 teams advancing to a Global Final.
International BioGENEius Challenge
The most prestigious high school biotech research competition, entered via 13 state partner competitions or an At-Large virtual track with original research in drug discovery, genetic engineering, or environmental sustainability.
International Neuroscience Olympiad (INO)
Global brain-science competition using exams, events, and collaborative learning to make neuroscience accessible to students worldwide.
Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) Essay Contest
An annual international essay contest on a set Jane Austen theme, open to students worldwide, with scholarship prizes and free registration/travel to the JASNA Annual General Meeting.
LifeSmarts California
Teams complete online quizzes on personal finance, technology, consumer rights, and workforce topics, competing to become State Champion and qualify for Nationals.
Long Island Brain Bee (Zucker School of Medicine)
Regional Brain Bee for Long Island high schoolers hosted by the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.
MetaCTF CyberGames
An annual jeopardy-style capture-the-flag hosted by MetaCTF with challenges across binary exploitation, cryptography, web exploitation, forensics, and reverse engineering, open to all skill levels including high schoolers.
MTNA Student Competitions
Among the most prestigious student music competitions in the U.S., with three-tiered state, division, and national finals Performance Competitions (piano, strings, brass, woodwind, voice) plus Composition and Chamber Music competitions, Senior division ages 15-18.
National Cyber Scholarship Competition (NCSF)
A timed CTF-style competition reached via CyberStart that awards hundreds of college scholarships plus SANS course/GIAC certification vouchers to top-scoring high schoolers.
National Cyber Summit - Cyber Cup Challenge
A capture-the-flag challenge held alongside the National Cyber Summit in Huntsville, Alabama, giving students a chance to compete on real cybersecurity problems at a major industry conference.
National French Contest (Le Grand Concours)
Students of French take a written exam on grammar, vocabulary, reading, and culture, competing against peers at a similar study level.
National Geographic Slingshot Challenge
Global youth environmental-action challenge where individuals or teams create a one-minute video proposing an innovative solution to protecting nature, cleaning air, restoring the ocean, reducing waste, or addressing climate change. Top submissions receive $10,000 each.
National Greek Exam (American Classical League)
An annual Ancient Greek exam across six levels testing grammar, vocabulary, syntax, and translation, with top scorers on the Attic Prose exam eligible for a renewable $2,000 scholarship.
National Latin Exam
Standardized exam testing Latin grammar, vocabulary, and culture at the student's level; top scorers earn certificates, medals, and scholarship opportunities.
National Ocean Sciences Bowl
Teams of 4-5 compete in a buzzer-style academic competition on ocean biology, chemistry, physics, geology, policy, and current events at regional bowls.
NCF-Envirothon
North America's largest high school environmental education competition. Teams of five test their knowledge across soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and a rotating current environmental issue, plus an oral presentation, progressing from local to state to the international NCF finals.
NJCL National Certamen
A quiz-bowl-style competition run by the National Junior Classical League testing knowledge of Latin/Greek language, Roman life, mythology, history, and literature, held at the NJCL National Convention.
Northern California High School Ethics Bowl
Teams discuss real-world ethical cases in a collaborative (non-adversarial) format judged by academics/professionals; winners advance toward the National Championship.
NSA Stokes Educational Scholarship Program
A competitive scholarship with summer internships for U.S. high school juniors intending to study cyber, computer science, engineering, or math. Covers full tuition plus stipend and requires service commitment after college. Includes NSA internships in later summers.
NSDA National Tournament / Debate Circuit
Students compete in policy, LD, public forum, and congressional debate through school teams, qualifying via districts toward Nationals, which features legislation on topics like federal jobs guarantees and Arctic policy.
Princeton University Mathematics Competition (PUMaC)
A student-run team mathematics competition hosted at Princeton in the fall with individual and team rounds.
Regional Brain Bee at Rutgers (Newark)
Regional Brain Bee hosted by Rutgers Brain Health Institute in Newark, NJ.
Santa Clara Valley Model UN (SCVMUN)
One of the oldest/largest West Coast HS MUN conferences, held in San Jose, drawing 800+ delegates from 60 schools.
SCMUN (USC Model United Nations)
USC's Model UN team hosts a HS conference with 16 traditional and historical/crisis committees exploring global issues.
SkillsUSA - Robotics & Automation
A career-and-technical-education competition within SkillsUSA where small teams tackle robotics/automation challenges, advancing from state to national championships. Requires an active school SkillsUSA chapter.
Sphinx Competition
Annual national competition in Detroit for young Black and Latinx classical string players. Finalists perform with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra and compete for nearly $100,000 in prizes plus mentorship and instrument access.
Stanford Model United Nations Conference (SMUNC)
Stanford's flagship high school MUN conference with multiple committees where delegates debate, negotiate, and draft resolutions on international issues.
Synopsys Championship (Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair)
Students design and present independent research projects in categories including Environmental Science at this regional fair for Santa Clara County middle/high schoolers.
Technology Student Association (TSA) Robotics
TSA runs robotics-focused events within its broader STEM competitive program at state and national conferences, requiring an active school TSA chapter.
VEX IQ Robotics Competition
The snap-together entry-level tier of the VEX/REC Foundation ecosystem, where robots play a cooperative Teamwork Challenge plus a solo Robot Skills Challenge, best positioned as a beginner/feeder option.
Virtual Enterprises International – National Business Plan Competition
Students in a school's VE "firm" write and present a global business plan through preliminary, semifinal, and championship rounds at the Youth Business Summit.
We the People – California
Students study the Constitution and testify as constitutional experts in simulated congressional hearings; state champion advances to nationals in D.C.
YoungArts National Arts Competition (Music)
Application-based national award for emerging musicians ages 15-18 in categories including Classical, Jazz, Voice, Popular Voice, and Singer-Songwriter. Winners receive up to $10,000, mentorship, and eligibility for U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts.
Youth America Grand Prix (San Francisco Regional)
Pre-professional ballet dancers perform variations before international judges at a regional semi-final; top scorers advance to master classes and the international YAGP Finals scholarship competition.
ECFinder provides links to outside extracurricular opportunities for informational purposes only. Students and families should research each program before applying. ECFinder does not operate or control the listed organizations and is not responsible for their actions or policies.