The USA Computing Olympiad (USACO) is one of the best-known algorithmic programming competitions open to high-school students worldwide. It is free to enter, run primarily online, and organized into four ascending divisions, so participants start at their own level and work their way up. MIT Admissions’ blog lists USACO as the US qualifying competition for the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), which gives a sense of where the contest sits in the broader competitive-programming landscape.
2026 USACO Contest Schedule
For the 2025-26 season, USACO runs three online contests followed by the US Open championship. Each online contest opens for a multi-day window, and you take it in a single block of four to five hours at a time of your choosing within that window. A contest usually has three problems (occasionally four), each worth 333.33 points for a maximum of 1000, and every problem is graded on about ten test cases.
- First online contest: January 9-12, 2026
- Second online contest: January 30 to February 2, 2026
- Third online contest: February 20-23, 2026
- US Open championship: March 28, 2026
Two changes are worth noting for this season. The US Open is now proctored and taken in person at designated sites rather than freely from home. In addition, Gold and Platinum contestants who want a certified score must start the contest on the Saturday at 12:00 ET, when the problems are released, within a short start window of roughly 15 minutes.
USACO Divisions
USACO has four divisions of increasing difficulty. All new participants begin in Bronze and move up by clearing the promotion cutoff in a contest. The cutoff is set per contest and varies from round to round.
| Division | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Bronze | Entry level: basic programming, simple logic, and straightforward implementation such as simulation, sorting, and brute force. |
| Silver | Common algorithms: greedy methods, binary search, prefix sums, and graph traversal (DFS). |
| Gold | Dynamic programming, graph theory and shortest paths, and efficient data structures such as union-find. |
| Platinum | Advanced modeling and algorithm design, with no fixed syllabus and no upper bound on difficulty (segment trees and advanced dynamic programming are typical). |
Frequently Asked Questions About USACO
Can I take all of the season’s contests?
Yes. If you do not reach the promotion cutoff in one contest, you stay in your current division and can enter the next contest in the season to try again. Whether to attempt every contest is up to you, based on your schedule and how prepared you feel.
Can I make more than one attempt in a single contest window?
No. You take each contest once, in a single block of four to five hours within the multi-day window, using your own single account. During that block you may resubmit as many times as you like, and only your last submission is graded, but you cannot restart the contest or use more than one account. USACO requires you to work alone, and sharing or using multiple accounts is treated as a violation that can void your scores.
Do I have to start from Bronze again each season?
Traditionally, no: a division you have been promoted into has carried over to future seasons, so you would continue from where you left off. That policy can change from year to year, however. For the 2025-26 season, Platinum competitors were reset to Gold at the start of the season, and USACO has said it may repeat that practice in the future. Check the current season’s rules before assuming your division carries over.
Does USACO issue certificates?
USACO does not mail paper certificates. Your results are recorded in your account on the official site, and contest results and division cutoffs are posted publicly on usaco.org. The top USA competitors each season are recognized through invitations to the USACO training camp and, ultimately, selection for the US teams at the IOI and the European Girls’ Olympiad in Informatics (EGOI).
Which programming language should I use?
USACO supports C, C++, Java, and Python. C++ is the most widely used and is recommended for the higher divisions, partly because it is the only language supported at the IOI. Python is fine for Bronze and for learning, but on some harder problems it can be too slow to pass every test case within the time limit.
Is there a registration fee?
No. USACO is free to enter, with no fee for participation, and students register individually with their own account at usaco.org.
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