Career exploration is changing fast
High school students have long faced the question of what comes next. That question is even harder to answer today. Advances in artificial intelligence and other technologies are reshaping the job market, impacting the skills employers search for and the opportunities available.
As a result, students have more to navigate. They must connect their interests to career paths, understand the education and skills those paths require, and make important decisions about their futures — all while the workforce continues to evolve.
Making informed decisions about life after high school takes practical career guidance that is current and relevant to students’ lives. In many communities, the first education and career opportunities that students explore are close to where they live, making local employers and education pathways especially important.
Students can improve career exploration
Many existing career exploration tools were created for broad audiences, with little input from the students who use them. As a result, these solutions don’t always provide the information students find most useful or answer the questions they’re really asking.
The Careers in Your Community Challenge empowers students to help close that gap. Students experience career exploration firsthand, so they know where the process becomes confusing or difficult and what information is hardest to find. Solutions built by students — for other students at their school and in their community — can be more effective and connect better to local opportunities.
How the challenge works
The U.S. Department of Education invites high schools to propose solutions that improve career exploration opportunities at their schools.
By working in teams, students will create new ways to help classmates discover careers, education pathways, and opportunities in their local communities. Strong solutions will make career exploration easier to understand and more useful. For example, they might:
- Increase awareness of local employers and careers.
- Help students better understand the education, training, and skills that different careers require.
- Strengthen connections between students and local employers, colleges, or workforce organizations.
Teams are encouraged to think creatively and propose the approach they believe will have the greatest impact on their school and community — whether that’s a digital tool, guide, event, partnership, or something entirely new.
The submission period will run from August 4, 2026, to November 19, 2026. The deadline for submissions is 6:00 p.m. ET on November 19, 2026.
A panel of judges will use the challenge’s selection criteria to evaluate eligible submissions and recommend up to 10 winning teams. The U.S. Department of Education will announce the winners in early 2027. Winning teams will receive an equal share of the $50,000 prize pool.
Who can participate
The challenge is open to high schools eligible to receive funding under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins V). A school does not need to receive funding currently, but it must be eligible to receive Perkins V funding to participate in this challenge. For more information on eligibility, please refer to the Official Rules, Terms, and Conditions.
About CTE Momentum
CTE Momentum is a U.S. Department of Education annual challenge series to prepare high school students for rewarding careers and increase access to career and technical education.
Each school year, the U.S. Department of Education invites educators and high school students to participate in a new challenge focused on a topic of national importance. This annual series empowers educators with resources and ideas to help American schools become centers of innovation and possibility.
Start your submission today
The deadline to submit solutions is November 19, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. ET.