HHS opens $10 million Presidential Fitness School Innovation Challenge
Schools and youth organizations can seek cash prizes or equipment credits for fitness-test programs through Feb. 5, 2027.
By Tom Brennan · Health & Medicine Correspondent
3 min read
The Department of Health and Human Services has opened the Presidential Fitness School Innovation Challenge, a $10 million competition intended to increase participation in the revived Presidential Fitness Test. The program offers schools and youth-serving groups a chance to win funding or equipment credits; it does not make the test a requirement for all U.S. schools.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the competition Oct. 1 at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. HHS also launched Fitness.gov as a resource for Presidential Fitness Test materials and challenge registration information, according to the department’s announcement.
Who can enter the Presidential Fitness School Innovation Challenge?
Individual schools, school districts, state and local education agencies, and qualifying youth-serving organizations can apply. The official challenge page lists public, charter, private, parochial, Tribal and alternative schools among eligible entities, along with nonprofits, community and faith-based groups, libraries, museums, parks programs and youth clubs.
For-profit businesses and commercial entities cannot enter. Registration is required before applicants can access the submission portal, and entries are due by 5 p.m. ET on Feb. 5, 2027. HHS expects to announce winners in spring 2027.
How the $10 million is divided
The competition has two tracks. The first, called PFT Implementation and Innovation, has $7 million in cash prizes for entrants that have put an approach to the test into practice with students and can show results, lessons learned, and a plan to continue or expand the work.
- Cash awards range from $20,000 to $1 million. The listed structure includes 100 local awards of $20,000, 30 regional awards of $100,000, two $500,000 awards and one $1 million grand prize.
- The second track, PFT Participation and Equipment, provides $3 million in credits for fitness or sports equipment. Those awards range from $1,000 to $5,000 and cannot be converted to cash.
An organization may submit to both tracks, HHS says, but each entry must meet the requirements of its track and cannot reuse the same narrative. The department also says it may change the competition or its prizes, and may decline to make awards if submissions do not satisfy the stated thresholds or requirements.
What is the Presidential Fitness Test?
HHS said it formally began restoring the test in June 2026. Under the department’s description, updated age-appropriate standards assess strength, endurance, speed and agility while encouraging progress and individual improvement.
A version of the test was used in public schools from 1956 through the 2012-13 school year, NBC News reported. It was replaced during the Obama administration by the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which emphasized individual health and reducing comparisons among students.
Some researchers have raised concerns about competition-based assessments. Russell Pate, an exercise-science professor at the University of South Carolina, told NBC News that the test does not measure overall health and that only a small share of children could realistically reach its highest performance benchmarks.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.