Skip to main content

EconChallenge

 

Welcome to the Illinois Economics Challenge! 

 

Enroll student teams for the spring session. Test between March 3 and March 13, 2025.

 

New this year -  monetary prizes to be awarded to top teams, their teachers, and a randomly selected teacher from each division.  


Create teams of 3-4 for your high school level or AP level students to give them a chance to show their understanding of economics. The Illinois Economics Challenge (ILEC) competition is free to school-sponsored teams. Teachers may enter as many student teams as desired, but each student can participate on only one team per school year.  Teachers have access is to individual and team test scores, providing insight into student knowledge in economics. Once testing is complete, teachers will be able to pull reports to see how your students performed in the four categories below;

Fundamentals: scarcity, decision making, allocation, incentives, markets and prices, roles of prices and entrepreneurship.

Microeconomics: competition and market structures, role of govenment and market failures, government failure

Macroeconomics: money and inflation, interest rates, economic growth, economic fluctuations, unemployment and inflation, fiscal and monetary policy

International Trade: trade, specialization

Teachers NEW to the challenge should register by March 1 for the spring testing window .  Please click on the top left tab (green tab) to register. Only teachers can register teams.  If you have previously registered and no changes exist for your school or contact information, you do not have to register again. 

Who should participate? The competition is open to Illinois high school students in divisions based on the amount of economics taken and who has taught it.  

  • Advanced Placement
  • International Baccalaureate
  • Honors
  • Two-semester high school classes with economics content 
  • High School single semester class

or

  • Any other advanced courses in economics (including courses taught by a secondary teacher where students earn college credit). The course must be taught by a secondary teacher.

TESTING WINDOWS:

Spring - March 3-13, 2025.

Fall -November 18-December 13, 2024 - now closed.
Students compete in teams of three or four with each student eligible to participate as a member of only one Economics Challenge team. In the 2024-2025 school year, teams may be set up in the Adam Smith (advanced) or David Ricardo (high school) divisions.For more specific information regarding student eligibility, team composition, and other details relating to the Economics Challenge competition, please contact Joy Joyce at jljoyce@uic.edu.