Skip to main content

EconChallenge

Rules

The Competition Rules


For a complete guide on how and when to participate, visit the “how it works” section. All participants in the National Economics Challenge are bound by the following rules.
 


ELIGIBILITY

Team Divisions: 

1) There will be two (2) divisions: David Ricardo and Adam Smith. 

2) The David Ricardo Division is open to teams of high school students who are currently enrolled or were previously enrolled in no more than one general economics course or in courses that include introductory economics concepts (social studies, business, personal finance, etc.).  Students who have never taken an economics course are eligible to compete. Students may only participate in the David Ricardo Division one time. 

3) The Adam Smith Division includes teams of students, currently or previously enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, or both), International Baccalaureate (pre-IB and IB), honors, or any other advanced courses in economics (including courses where students earn college credit).  Students may participate in the Adam Smith Division multiple times.  Students who are or have been enrolled in more than one general economics class must participate in the Adam Smith Division.

4) If a team has one or more students enrolled in a course listed for the Adam Smith Division above, that team must compete in the Adam Smith Division. 

5) Teams shall only compete against other teams in their own division.

Team Composition:

1) Teams shall be comprised of three (3) or four (4) members. 

2) Competing with only three (3) members, if necessary, is possible and permissible. 

3) All members of a team must be from the same public school, private school, community organization or club, or afterschool program. This means that students from different schools are eligible to be on the same team if they are all part of one of the groups mentioned in this section. Home-based high school students may join teams of any of the groups mentioned in this section, or they may start a team with other home-based high school students if the students reside either in the same county or within a twenty-mile radius of each other. 

4) A team that qualifies for the Online National Semi-Finals may reconstitute the members of its team prior to the competition. However, if a team must reconstitute members of a team, the team must retain a minimum of two original team members. All team members of the reconstituted team must meet the team composition conditions listed above, the general student eligibility conditions, and the eligibility conditions for the division in which the team qualified.

5) Team reconstitution is permitted between National Semi-Finals and National Finals only in extraneous circumstances. Teams will be permitted to reconstitute one to two of their members with approval from the Council for Economics Education.  Approved reasons to reconstitute include but are not limited to: family emergency, illness, graduation, internship conflicts. Team reconstitutions between National Semi-Finals and National Finals, once approved, must follow the same guidelines of reconstitution between state and semi-finals  In addition, the new team member(s) competing in the National Finals team must have also competed in their state competition at a minimum in the first-round competition. 

6) All teams must have a coach, who is an associate (e.g. employee or volunteer) of the team school, organization, or program, and who is fit to accompany students, should the team advance to the finals. 

Student Eligibility:

1) Students must be enrolled for credit in a qualifying public high school, private high school, or home-based high school course at some time during the current academic year. 

2) High school students who have taken or are taking economics courses for college credit from a post-secondary instructor are eligible to compete. 

3) Students who have taken more than one semester of economics at any time must compete in the Adam Smith Division. 

4) No student is permitted to compete in the David Ricardo Division for more than one year. Any returning student who has already participated in the National Economics Challenge (at the state level or higher) must compete in the Adam Smith Division in subsequent years, regardless of previous or current coursework. 

5) Home-schooled students must compete in the Adam Smith Division.


TEST PROCEDURE RULES

  • Coaches are responsible for ensuring adequate access to computers and a reliable internet connection.
  • It is not the responsibility of the Council for Economic Education or EconChallenge ONLINE! to resolve or mitigate technical issues on the school’s end. All students will participate by utilizing the EconChallenge ONLINE! portal and the school/organization’s internet connection.
  • Any problems resulting from interruptions to internet connections, computer failure, student error, etc., are the responsibility of the coaches and students. To help avoid any issues, we recommend teachers have students log in and take practice tests
  • Supervision must be provided for the online Challenge to ensure legitimacy.
  • Each student will have a maximum of 35-minutes to complete their exam.
  • Team members are prohibited from working collectively on any part of the exam.  No outside help is allowed. 
  • During the online exam, each student is allowed a blank piece of paper and a pen or pencil to work out solutions.
  • Aside from the computer that is being used to take the exam, students may not use electronic/personal devices (calculators, phones, laptops, other computers, etc.).
  • Aside from the testing portal, the use of the internet or other resource materials is prohibited.
  • If there are enough computers available, each student must use a separate computer.

     

SCORING

For the Economics Challenge online exam, the sum of the top three (3) individual scores on each team make up the team score. The scoring on the individual tests is as follows:

  • +10 points for each correct answer
  • 0 points for each incorrect answer
  • 0 points for each unanswered question

Questions are randomly pulled from a database so each student will answer different questions. At the conclusion of the online exam, teachers can log back into their account and download student team scores.

In case of a tie, the first tie breaker for placement is the team with the highest score when counting the scores of all four team members will advance.  In the event of a continued tie, the second tie breaker for placement is the team with the member who has the highest total individual score will advance, with the subsequent team member scores used if both teams have an equivalent highest individual score.  In the event of a continued tie, the final tie breaker will be the team with the least combined time to complete the exam will advance.