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EconChallenge

How it Works

Students: This site is for teachers. If you are interested in competing, please find a teacher to serve as your coach and have them register here. Work with your coach to recruit a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of three (3) other students to be your teammates.

2025 Massachusetts & National Economics Challenge Timeline

  • Team Registration Period: January 1st, 2025 – April 11th, 2025 

  • Online Challenge Exam Period: January 1st, 2025 – April 11th, 2025 

The final day to take the online exam is April 11th, 2025, at 6:00PM EST. 

  • Massachusetts State Champions Advancing to National Online Semi-Finals Notified: April 16th, 2025 

  • National Online Semi-Finals: April 21st - 24th, 2025 

  • Teams Advancing to National In-Person Finals: May 1st, 2025

  • National In-Person Finals: May 28th - 30th, 2025

2025 Competition Overview 

This exciting team learning experience begins with competitions at the state level with the Online Challenge. The winning team from each state for each division in the Online Challenge then moves on to the National Semi-Finals. The top teams in the Online National Semi-Finals will advance and receive an all-expense paid trip (excluding transportation to/from state of origin) to compete in the National Finals in Atlanta, GA this spring. Below, each phase of the competition is detailed further:

Coaches register their teams to compete in one of two divisions:  

  • The Adam Smith Division is for advanced placement, baccalaureate, honors students, and returning competitors 

  • The David Ricardo Division is for students participating in the NEC for the first time and who have taken no more than one economics course. 

Massachusetts State Competition, The Online Challenge (January 1st to April 11th, 2025) 
The  Massachusetts Economics Challenge consists of only one round, the Online Challenge. Teachers and students throughout the state will be able to participate, regardless of travel or budgetary constraints. In this first round, teams of three or four members complete the online exam during which time each individual team member will have up to 35 minutes to complete a test covering micro and macroeconomic principles as well as knowledge of the world economy. This online exam will determine state champion teams in each division, each of whom will advance to the Online National Semi-Finals.  

National Online Semi-Finals (April 21st - 25th, 2025) 
The winning teams from each state for each division move on to the National Semi-Finals to compete for their spot in the National Finals. The Online National Semi-Finals will be a series of online test questions held within the testing window of April 21st–24th, 2025. The top teams in the Online National Semi-Finals will advance and receive an all-expense paid trip (excluding transportation to/from state of origin) to compete in the National Finals in Atlanta, GA this spring.

National Finals in Atlanta, GA (May 28th - 30th, 2025) 
The top 16 teams (8 from Adam Smith and 8 from David Ricardo) will advance to the in-person National Finals held in Atlanta, GA on May 28th-30th, 2025. The teams advancing to the National Finals will travel to Atlanta, GA on an all-expense paid trip (excluding travel to/from state of origin) to compete in-person and earn cash prizes for each team member, plus one coach: 1st place $1,000 | 2nd place $500 | 3rd place $250 | 4th place $200. 

The National Finals consist of two rounds – first, all teams participate in a Critical Thinking Round for their division. The top 8 teams (4 from Adam Smith and 4 from David Ricardo) will then participate in a Quiz Bowl to determine the National Champion in both divisions. 

  1. Critical Thinking Round: For each division, all 8 finalist teams will compete in this round. In the Critical Thinking Round, members compete as a team to develop an analysis for a current economic problem. Teams will have 25 minutes to prepare a presentation analyzing the economic issue. Then, teams will have 12 minutes to present their solutions to a panel of judges, and 7 minutes to answer questions from the judges. The top 4 scoring teams in each division then advance to the quiz bowl based on evaluations from the judging panels.
  2. Final Quiz Bowl: In this decisive round, the top four teams for each division will compete in an oral 20-question Quiz Bowl covering all topics in economics to determine the winners of the 2025 National Economics Challenge! 

 

You can find the full official rules for the 2025 National Economics Challenge here: 2025 NEC Rules and Eligibility 

Registration & Online Challenge

Login or Register Your Account 

Returning Teachers/Coaches Login

If you have participated in the NEC in the past and don’t need a reminder of the process listed below, you can simply register your student teams by going to Massachusetts Teacher Login.

New Teachers/Coaches Registration 

  • You will need to complete the Teacher Registration and be approved by the Econ Challenge administrator before you can begin creating teams.  

  • Enter your information, create a password, and click ‘Register’.

  • Click on ‘TEACHER LOGIN’ and enter your email and password. Make sure your profile is up to date.

Teachers and coaches: Click on the “teacher login” tab on the left to start creating student teams. Be sure to place student competitors in the correct division: 

  • David Ricardo Division: For first-time Challenge competitors who have taken no more than one general economics course. 

  • Adam Smith Division: For AP, international baccalaureate, and honors students (as well as any returning competitors).

For more information on rules and student eligibility, visit “the rules.”

Download Student Access Codes: 

Once your teams have been created:

  • Each student will be assigned a unique access code that can only be used once at the time of completing the Challenge and can only be used by that student. Access codes should be shared with the students as they prepareto takethe test and not before.

The Online Challenge

The Massachusetts Economics Challenge online exam is open from January 1st to April 11th, 2025, at 6:00 PM Eastern Time.

Teachers select one day within this period for each team to take the Online Challenge. You may choose to have all your teams take the test on the same day or choose specific dates for each.

Teachers and coaches: Proctor teams. Ensure that all members of a team work independently, not collaboratively. The team score is the sum of the three highest scores on a team.

Completing the Challenge: 

  • When it is time for students to complete the Challenge, they will select 'STUDENT ACCESS' and enter the access code that was assigned to them. 

  • They will then complete a short identification and challenge integrity confirmation before they begin the challenge.

  • Teachers and coaches: Before your teams compete, download the access codes. Go to the “teacher login” tab on the left menu bar, log in, then click “Download Teams and Access Codes” to retrieve a unique access code for each student.

Accessing Student Results: 

  • Once all of your student teams have completed the challenge, teachers can access their scoring and category data from their team administration page.  

  • Scoring data will show both the individual student score as well as the team score, while the category report will show student performance in each subject. 

The Massachusetts State Champion Team from each division will advance to the Online Semi-Finals and will be notified by April 16th, 2025.

The National Finals Competition

The State Champion Teams in each division will advance to the Online National Semi-Finals. 

Online National Semi-Finals: April 21st –24th, 2025 

  • The Online National Semi-Finals will be a series of online test questions held within the testing window of April 21st –24th, 2025. 

  • The competition consists of three (3) consecutive rounds with no breaks in between. 

  • Students will have a total of 45 minutes to answer 45 questions. 

  • All questions will consist of four-option, multiple-choice questions in each round. 

  • Each Division shall have its own set of tests for these rounds.

The eight highest scoring State Champion Teams in each division will advance to the National Finals and will be notified by May 1st, 2025.

  • The Council for Economic Education will be responsible for covering the cost of lodging and group meals for the National Finals' teams (team members and one team coach). 

  • The Council for Economic Education will not cover the teams' travel costs to the National Finals.Advancing teams will be responsible for providing transportation to and from the in-person National Finals located in Atlanta, Georgia.

In-Person National Finals: May 28th – 30th, 2025

  • The Council for Economic Education will host the in-person National Finals in Atlanta, Georgia. 

  • All teams advancing to the National Finals in Atlanta will participate in a Critical Thinking Round. 

  • In the Critical Thinking Round, members compete as a team to develop an analysis for a current economic problem. Teams present their solutions to a panel of judges who assign each team a score and ranking based on the following: completeness of response, economic analysis and insight, background knowledge, and presentation.

  • The rank from the Critical Thinking Round is used to determine the top four teams that advance to the Quiz Bowl Round.

  • The Quiz Bowl is a 20-question oral quiz bowl covering all topics in economics. Prior to the competition, the teams that advance to the Finals Quiz Bowl are provided with a copy of the rules for this final round. 

  • Cash prizes, a trophy, and medals will be awarded to the top-performing teams in each division. Cash prizes for each team member and one teacher-coach will be in the following amounts: 1st place: $1,000 | 2nd place: $500 | 3rd place: $250 | 4th place: $200.