Community College Innovation Challenge 2024

Community College Students: Innovate for a Chance to Shine at the National CCIC!

The CCIC is led by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF). It is a national competition where community college student teams, working with a faculty or administrator mentor, use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to innovate solutions to real-world problems; participate in an Innovation Boot Camp; and compete for cash awards.

Community College Innovation Challenge

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey)

AACC is pleased to announce that planning is underway to hold the Innovation Boot Camp in Washington, D.C. on June 10-13, 2024—and full travel support will be provided to the finalist teams to attend.

The Boot Camp provides professional development, mentoring, and coaching designed to build strategic communication and entrepreneurial skills to help students advance their innovations in both the private and public sectors. The event culminates in a poster session and engagement opportunity with STEM leaders and Congressional stakeholders, and a pitch presentation in front of a panel of industry and entrepreneurial professionals to determine the first, second, and third place winning teams.

The national CCIC is designed to enable community college students to discover and demonstrate their capacity to use STEM to make a difference in the world and to translate that knowledge into action.

Competition Rules & Eligibility

• Each team must have 2 – 4 student members, and a faculty or administrator at their college who will function as a mentor to the team.

• All student team members must be seeking a two-year degree in the U.S. or its territories at the time of entry (e.g., the spring 2024 semester).

• All team members must be 18 years of age by March 30, 2024.

• Student and faculty/administrator mentor team members must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents and will be required to check a box on the entry form verifying this status.

• Student team members must be in good standing with their academic institution, which is determined by the individual college.

• For teams chosen as finalists, the mentor and students must be available to attend the Innovation Boot Camp to be held in Washington, D.C., from June 10-13, 2024.  

  • Students and faculty/administrator mentors will receive full travel support to attend.
    Air fare and hotel costs will be direct billed to AACC. AACC will reimburse team members for food per diems, and other related travel expenses in accordance with AACC travel policies.

• Teams may not consist of members from multiple institutions. 

• Teams may not have submitted their innovation to any other competition. 

• Students who attended a past Innovation Boot Camp as a finalist/winning team may not enter the CCIC again. 

• Eligible students who submitted an entry to a past CCIC, but did not progress to the final round, may submit an entry in the 2024 CCIC. 

• Faculty/administrator mentors who have attended a past Innovation Boot Camp may lead another team in the 2024 cycle. 

• Employees, contractors, officers, or judges of the sponsoring organizations are not eligible to enter the competition.  

Submission Deadline: April 2, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PDT

What Do You Win?

AACC and NSF provide:

• A plaque for all finalist schools; 

  1. Recognition certificates from NSF and AACC for each finalist team member;

  2. Full travel support for all finalist team members to attend the Innovation Boot Camp in Washington, D.C.;

  3. A $500 cash honorarium for all finalist student team members and faculty/administrator mentors for attending the Boot Camp;

  4. Additional cash awards – awards are made to each first, second, and third place team member in the following amounts:

     • First place: $3,000

     • Second place: $2,000

     • Third place: $1,000