Registration and Rules
Registration for the HSPC will begin on September 4, 2026.
A limited amount of space is available, so entries for up to three teams per school will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until October 2nd, 2026. If space is still available after, an additional team per school may be added from a waiting list on a rotating basis. A schedule
Registration rules
*Rules have changed. Only a limited number of teams will be able register. Any teams following will be added to a waiting list. This will allow more high schools to participate and create a more competitive atmosphere. We appreciate your cooperation in advance.
- Each high school may only register a maximum of 5 teams per category (beginning division and advanced division).
- For initial registration, only 3 teams will be accepted per school.
- If all 3 teams are in one catagory, only the first 2 will be accepted. The third will be placed on the waitlist. Similarly, any number of teams registered over first 3 per school will be placed on the waitlist.
- We will continue this until end of the registration period or until we are at capacity.
- At the end of the registration period, we will accept teams from the waitlist on a rotating basis by school until we are at capacity.
- Each high school will submit their team names and number of students.
- Each team can have four high school students listed. This number will not be adjusted.
Contest Rules
- Beginning Division teams will consist of at most four high school students, each of whom has completed no more than one semester of programming coursework and has no more than one year of cumulative programming experience. Eligibility for the Beginning Division is subject to verification by the faculty sponsor and contest officials.
- Advanced Division teams will consist of at most four high school students.
- Each school's team or teams must be accompanied by a faculty sponsor.
- All contest solutions must be created during the contest. Use of pre-written code, libraries, templates, or solution fragments is prohibited unless provided by the contest organizers.
- Contestants may not copy source code from any sample files, practice materials, or electronic documentation.
- Use of the internet is prohibited during the contest.
- Each team may use only one keyboard and one mouse during the contest. Printers are not permitted in the contest area.
- Audio output must be muted at all times.
- Each team may bring one printed reference book (such as a textbook or programming language reference/documentation manual). No other printed or electronic documentation is permitted during the contest.
- Use of generative AI tools, including but not limited to ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot, Gemini, and similar systems, is prohibited during the contest. Teams found using such tools may be disqualified from the competition at the discretion of the contest officials.
- Faculty sponsors must remain in the designated observing area and may not communicate with teams during contest rounds.
- Cell phones, smart watches, and other communication devices must be turned off and stored away during the contest.
- Any team found to be disruptive during the contest will be asked to leave.
- Solutions are scored on a correct/incorrect basis. No partial credit will be awarded.
- Style, formatting, and code organization will not be considered in judging.
- Each team may submit at most two solutions for each problem. Only the first two submissions for a problem will be judged and scored.
- Points for a round are awarded based on correct submissions and time remaining. A correct solution on the first submission earns 20 points plus the number of whole minutes remaining in the round. A correct solution on the second submission earns 10 points plus the number of whole minutes remaining in the round.
- No extra time will be granted for issues affecting individual teams. Contest officials reserve the right to adjust the contest schedule in the event of a widespread technical failure.
- Contest staff may request to inspect tabs/open windows on devices to assure no unauthorized materials or tools are being used.
- All decisions of the contest officials are final.
- Because different schools use different types of machines and programming languages, teams must provide their own computers and software. Any programming language may be used for the contest.
- Solutions to the contest problems will require numerical calculations, simple string manipulation and logical decisions.
- The main difference between the two divisions will be in the complexity of the programming logic required to solve the problems. For example, more use of nested loops will be required to solve some advanced division problems. Double-dimensioned arrays may be needed to solve advanced problems. Single-dimensioned arrays should be sufficient to solve the beginning problems.
- The contest will consist of five rounds.
- During rounds one through four, teams will have 25 minutes to solve a given programming problem.
- During round five, teams will have 40 minutes to solve two programming problems. Teams correctly solving the problem within the allotted time will receive 20 points.
- Furthermore, a team that correctly solves the problem before the time has elapsed will receive an additional point for each remaining minute.
- No points will be given for incorrect solutions. The contest, therefore, encourages teams to find correct solutions quickly.
- Teams may resubmit once after an incorrect submission. Scoring for a correct answer on the second submission will be 10 points plus the time remaining.
Registration Link
You will be asked to provide:
- Your name and contact information
- The names of each student by division
- The number and size of T-shirts your team will need
You must also make sure your students sign the K-State Photo Release that is linked in the registration survey. If they (18+) or their guardians are not comfortable signing this, we will note that they are not to be in pictures with their badge. The forms will need to be submitted via our secure file upload, which is also linked in the survey.
Volunteers
If you would like to help out at the annual Fall High School Programming Contest, please sign up for one or more shifts.
When: Nov. 4th, 2026
Where: Alumni Center,100 Alumni Center, 1720 Anderson Avenue, Manhattan, KS 66506
Volunteering instructions:
Use the link below to sign up for a time slot to help. Students who have arranged in advance with their professor may earn extra credit for volunteering.