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SBU News > Student Spotlight > First-ever coding competition for SUNY and CUNY students is on

First-ever coding competition for SUNY and CUNY students is on

Coding challenge

Student teams are invited to create a technology-based platform to promote the Excelsior Scholarship Campaign 

As part of his Excelsior Scholarship Campaign, Governor Andrew Cuomo has launched “Making College Possible Coding Challenge,” inviting students to create a digital prototype of a mobile app or website that will provide information about the Excelsior Scholarship and share what “making college possible” means for SUNY and CUNY students.

coding challengeClick here to register by the February 13 deadline.

As part of the campaign, the Governor will tour SUNY and CUNY campuses in support of his plan to make college tuition free for middle-class families across New York. Under this groundbreaking proposal, more than 940,000 middle class families and individuals making up to $125,000 per year would qualify to attend college tuition-free at all public universities in New York State.

“The cost of college has become too high, with skyrocketing tuition cost and student debt becoming an insurmountable barrier for too many students,” said Governor Cuomo. “A college education is a necessity to compete in today’s economy, and the Excelsior Scholarship will ensure that college is accessible to New Yorkers across the state — no matter their income. With our innovative coding challenge, I look forward to seeing how creative our New York students can be in sharing information with their peers about the Excelsior Scholarship, and telling us what making college possible means to them.”

The “Making College Possible Coding Challenge” invites student developers and designers from all 64 SUNY and 25 CUNY campuses to build unique digital prototypes inspired by the Excelsior Scholarship around the theme “making college possible.” The prototypes can be for mobile applications or websites, and will be informational tools students and scholarship applicants can use to learn more about the scholarship and life at SUNY and CUNY.

The competition will be conducted in two rounds over the coming weeks, ending with a final judging hosted by Governor Cuomo in New York City. In addition, SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher announced that the university system will award its top three finishers an additional $2,000 per team as an added incentive to compete.

All teams must register by Monday, February 13, after which an official prompt will be sent to all registered teams. The preliminary judging will take place in late February, and the top five entrants will move on to the final judging and pitch session, to take place in early March. The finalists will work with mentors from New York’s technology community and pitch their final products to a judging panel that will select one winner. The winning submission will be used to promote the Excelsior Scholarship.

To learn more, visit the Making College Possible website.

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