Celebrating the Spring 2026 Up to Us Campus Competition

Net Impact is excited to announce the winners of the Up to Us Spring 2026 Campus Competition. In its 14th year, over 30 student leaders across over 25 campuses led high-impact campaigns. During a period when fiscal policy was often in the news, students mobilized their campus communities to educate peers about the national debt and its impact.

Student leaders from the University of Southern California won the top prize for their creative campaign, which included 6 events on their campus that brought together over 700 peers. Led by Izzy Del Gaudio, the winning campaign featured outreach to elected officials, creative social media efforts, and interactive events, including a voter registration drive, virtual focus groups, and a letter-writing campaign. Research from their events and focus group was sent to three different congressional offices in competitive districts to inform how elected officials engage voters on fiscal responsibility ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. They also hosted a debate, which connected the national debt to affordability and economic opportunity. Their campaign held 7 classroom presentations, collected nearly 300 pledge signatures, and engaged 20,353 people on social media.

The judges were also impressed by the entire Campus Competition cohort. The spring teams hosted 118 events, engaging over 6,500 people. They also contacted elected officials more than 800 times. Perhaps most impressive is the 11,009 pledge signatures collected, which is over 450 per team. Their leadership demonstrated the importance of civic engagement and of educating their peers about the national debt and its impact.

The Up to Us Leadership Network is dedicated to building a sustainable fiscal and economic future for America by mobilizing, educating, and empowering the next generation of leaders to drive change. Through a series of programs, the Up to Us Leadership Network provides emerging leaders with the knowledge, skills, and community to advocate successfully for national debt reform.

The top 5 teams will receive prizes totaling over $9,500, with the top team receiving a $5,000 prize. Representatives from the top 3 teams will also attend a Prize Trip in Washington, DC, where they will continue their engagement with fiscal policy and leaders in the space.

The top 5 teams from the Spring Campus Competition are:

1. University of Southern California
2. Florida State University
3. Southeastern Louisiana University
4. Spring Hill College
5. University of Tennessee Knoxville

Net Impact congratulates all of the top 5 teams and all participating students. If you are interested in participating in the Fall 2026 Campus Competition, you can fill out the interest form here. You can learn more about Net Impact’s programs here: netimpact.org/programs, and you can learn more about opportunities through the Up to Us Leadership Network here: itsuptous.org/network.