There is no financial cost to enter the PETE Prize competition, only the investment of your time and unwavering commitment.
Yes, the PETE Prize is open to all students across the college who satisfy the eligibility requirements.
Students must be enrolled at FIT as a full time or part time student in an undergraduate (Associates/Bachelor’s) or graduate program, and be scheduled to graduate in Fall ’25 or Spring ’26. Recent alumni who graduated in Fall ’24/Spring ’25 and Fall ’23/Spring ’24 are eligible to apply.
Spring ’26 AAS graduates scheduled to begin a bachelors program in Fall ’26 are ineligible to apply this year.
Pursuing an FIT degree in Fall ’26, at any level, may not be pursued concurrent with the PETE Prize innovation incubator, which begins in Fall ’26. For example, AAS graduates from Fall ’25/Spring ’26 who will be pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Fall ’26, are ineligible to apply. Bachelor’s graduates from Fall ’25/Spring ’26 beginning a graduate school program in Fall ’26 are also ineligible.
All non-student employees of the College and their immediate family members are ineligible to participate in the PETE Prize. Current students employed either part-time or otherwise engaged in College conducted projects or programs will share this information on their application, in order that eligibility will be determined.
Eligible applications include for-profit business concept proposals which have a focus on art, business, design, mass communication and technology connected to the creative industries and which promote FIT's core values of innovation, sustainability and diversity. Start-up businesses are eligible for inclusion in applications as for-profit ventures if the company has historically generated less than $10,000 in funding and/or revenue.
Yes! We want to experience your elevator pitch live. The video must be shared on an MP4 file, less than 10 MB and one (1) minute long.
You will be able to save your entries for 15 days, as long as you use the same device and browser for application updates.
As long as you meet the eligibility requirements, you are welcome to reapply to the 2026 event. (You may re-apply if you competed in the PETE Prize, too.)
Yes! International students are eligible to apply, provided PETE Prize eligibility requirements are satisfied and all visas and applicable international legal and procedural requirements are in compliance.
Please submit your application through the PETE Prize website. Digital submissions only, no hard copies.
All submissions require that 1-3 people apply. One person qualifies as a team!
As you develop your business, you may consult with external business partners at your discretion. However, only FIT students and alumni who meet the eligibility requirements may formally participate on a PETE Prize team, attend workshops and engage with team members on pitch presentations.
The format of the PETE Prize is a jury picked merit award competition.
Yes. The confirmation email lets you know that the application is successfully uploaded, but not whether the application entry is accurately completed.
No. The 12 teams selected to compete in the first round will be announced on October 10, 2025.
No. Please choose one idea that you are most passionate about and believe has the greatest business viability at application time.
Final pitches are May 7, 2026, with the winning team announced at the Grand Prize Award Ceremony on May 14.
