American Computer Science League (ACSL) organizes team computer programming and computer science contests for K-12 schools, organizations and local groups, led by an adult advisor. The 2021-2022 school year will be our 44th year of continuous operation! Last year, over 500 teams in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia participated.
ACSL offers multiple divisions, providing an appropriate challenge for students of varying ages and abilities. An unlimited number of students may compete in each contest.
Each season is divided into four contests, testing students on fundamental concepts in computer science, ranging from Number Systems to Boolean Algebra to Digital Electronics. In the upper divisions, each contest also includes a problem to solve by programming using Python, C++ or Java.
Contests are administered online. Team advisors facilitate students’ access to the online platform; the platform corrects the submissions and reports the scores to ACSL. Online resources assist advisors to prepare their students for each competition. Each topic on the Study Materials page is linked to the page of the ACSL Wiki that describes the topic in detail.
At the end of the year, the top students are invited to compete in an online Finals competition.