Welcome to the 2024 Indiana Economics Challenge!
What is the Indiana Economics Challenge?
Every year, students from across Indiana demonstrate their economic literacy and compete against other students across the state to represent Indiana in the National Economics Challenge. Will you or your class join this challenge?
The Indiana Economic Challenge is an opportunity for teams of high school and middle school students to demonstrate their knowledge of a broad array of economic topics. The Purdue Center for Economic Education, with support from the National Council for Economics Education, is hosting the 2024 event.
How Does the Indiana Economics Challenge Work?
- The teacher or coach registers themselves on the registration page
- Teachers sign up their team(s). Each team should have four students.
- Individual students on each team take either a beginning or advanced online EconChallenge exam based on their Division.
- The top 3 teams from each High School Division attend the State Finals (held in person)
- The winning team from each High School Division advances to the National Semi-Finals
- The top 4 teams from the National Semi-Finals advance to the National Finals in New York City.
All the dates and additional information can be found on the dates and times page.
Teachers and other academic coaches can register as many teams of four students as they are willing to sponsor. Any Indiana high school student or middle school student (grades 6 – 8) enrolled in a public, private, or home-based school during the 2023-2024 academic year is eligible to compete. Students may also compete as part of an organization, club, or before/after school program. The Purdue Center for Economic Education will pay for all registration fees to enter the event.
Prizes:
Each teacher in an Indiana K-12 school that sponsors a team that completes the challenge will be entered in a drawing for a $200 classroom grant to that teacher.
There will be a cash prize for each student in the top three teams in each division, Round 1:
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1st place: $50 per student
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2nd place: $25 per student
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3rd place: $10 per student
The top 3 teams in each High School Division (David Ricardo and Adam Smith) will advance to the State Finals on April 12th, 2024.
Statewide Finals: Each high school student team member named a state finalist or champion will receive a tuition voucher to Purdue University corresponding to their team’s rank in the Indiana Economics Challenge Semi-Finals:
1st place: $500| 2nd place: $250 | 3rd place: $100
Each coach for the 3 top state teams will also receive a plaque recognizing their team’s accomplishment.
National Prizes:
Each student team member, as well as one coach from the top teams, will receive a medal and cash prize corresponding to their team’s rank in the National Finals:
1st place: $1,000|2nd place: $500|3rd place: $250| 4th place: $125
Divisions:
The competition runs in three divisions:
ADAM SMITH: For AP, international baccalaureate, and honors students (as well as any returning students who competed at the high school level)
DAVID RICARDO: For first-time Challenge competitors who have taken no more than one economics
course
MIDDLE SCHOOL: For middle-school students (grades 6 – 8).
Important Dates
REGISTRATION OPENS ON JANUARY 15, 2024:
Teachers may view the rules and register teams of four high school students. There are no team limits, so this makes a great class activity. Econ Challenge Registration page
February 20 – March 22, 2024 – Round 1 Online Competition - Students can enter the Indiana Economics Challenge website and complete the exam.
The State Finalists. The State Finalists of the Indiana Economics Challenge will receive a notification on March 25, 2024.
April 12, 2024 - Round 2 (State Finals) – The top 3 teams from each Division from Round 1 will compete in an in-person “quiz-bowl” style competition at Purdue University's West Lafayette Campus.
April 15, 2024 - Winners of the State Finals are announced
April 22 – 26, 2024 - National Semi-finals online: The winning team from each high school division in Indiana will represent Indiana in an online National Semi-Final Online Exam
May 1, 2024 - CEE announces team advancing to finals
June 1st - 3rd, 2024 - National Finals in New York, which will consist of a Critical Thinking Round and quiz bowl for the top teams.
Please contact the Purdue Center for Economic Education at pcee@purdue.edu if you need more information or require further assistance.