Frequently Asked Questions

The Economics Challenge is a capstone experience for students in grades 9-12 to apply classroom learning on economic topics through a series of challenging tests in macroeconomics, microeconomics, and international economics/current events. Participants compete in both team and individual exercises.

The Economics Challenge tests student comprehension and reasoning in the fields of macroeconomics, microeconomics, and international economics & current events.

The Urban Economics Challenge serves schools where 60% or more of students qualify for Free and Reduced Price Lunch and are students are color, as reported by state educational agencies, in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. 

Those schools who qualify under this criteria receive an invitation to participate.  If you have not received an invitation, but feel your school qualifies, please contact us at mcee@umn.edu. 

• All participants, whether new or returning, must be currently enrolled or have completed an economics course in the preceding semester of the same academic year or an active member of a school's economics club in grades 9-12 in Minnesota (or North Dakota, if participating in the North Dakota Economics Challenge administered by MCEE).

• Participants must be registered on a team of 3-4 students from the same high school or club. Schools may not be represented in more than 4 teams per division. 

• Students may only participate in a division once and must compete in a higher division if competing again in the future (i.e., if a student competes in the David Ricardo division in their junior year and wants to compete again in their senior year, they must compete in the Adam Smith division). If no higher division exists, students may not compete more than once (i.e., a participant in Adam Smith can’t participate again because there is no higher division). 

• Students may participate in the Economics Challenge no more than two total times, only one of which may be while a member of an economics club if not also enrolled in an economics course concurrently.

*Students enrolled in a PSEO Economics class are not eligible to compete. 

For the National Economics Challenge, facilitated by the National Council for Economic Education, specific Rules and Eligibility details can be found here.

• Registration for the Economics Challenge will be available online beginning January 1 of the Competition year.

• Teachers may register up to 4 teams of participating students per division in up to 2 divisions for an in-person/virtual Regional Competition, excepting venue constraints and requirements. 

• Teachers may register teams to compete in both an in-person and online competition, but a school can only advance one team per division to the State competition. In the event that a team qualifies for the State competition in both an in-person and online competition, whichever team is not advancing will be replaced by the second highest scoring school (i.e. if a team wins 1st place in both the David Ricardo division of an in-person competition and the online competition, the team with the higher score will advance from that school in that in-person/online competition.  If the scores are tied, MCEE will default to the tie-breaker rules indicated under Test Scoring.

In order to allow students of different abilities, interests, and backgrounds to participate in a fun and challenging environment, the Economics Challenge shall have four divisions corresponding to school size and/or program rigor.

1. Adam Smith Division: Participating students are currently enrolled, or have currently been enrolled in the preceding semester of the same academic year, in an Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, College in the Schools, Honors, or other advanced courses in economics. Additionally, students who previously competed in the David Ricardo division are only eligible to compete in this division. Note: PSEO students are not eligible to participate in the Economics Challenge.

2. David Ricardo Division: Participating students are currently enrolled, or have currently been enrolled in the preceding semester of the same academic year, in a general or introductory course in economics or personal finance. Additionally, students who previously competed in the Joan Robinson division are only eligible to compete in this or the Adam Smith division.

3. Joan Robinson Division: Participating students are currently enrolled, or have currently been enrolled in the preceding semester of the same academic year, in any level of economics course at a school with a total enrollment of 600 or fewer students in grades 9-12.

4. Sadie Alexander Division*: Participating students are currently enrolled, or have currently been enrolled in the preceding semester of the same academic year, in any level of economics course at a school with a limited history of participation in the Economics Challenge program.

*The Sadie Alexander division is a non-competitive division intended to introduce schools and students to the Economics Challenge program. Participating teams are ineligible to advance to the State or National Competitions. Students will complete the exams corresponding to the competitive division in which they would otherwise be a participant; the Quiz Bowl round is not included. Teachers may only participate in this division once.  To better support new Competition teachers, on request, MCEE can assist with transportation and/or substitute teacher costs.

• The Competition will be composed of two rounds: the test round and the quiz bowl round.  Please Note: The online regional competition does not have a quiz bowl round.

• Participants will complete three 20-question multiple-choice exams in the test round, covering topics in macroeconomics, microeconomics, and international economics & current events. Participants will be allowed 20 minutes to complete each exam. The content of each exam will reflect the rigor of the associated classroom instruction for each division.  Please Note: The online regional competition will complete one 60-question multiple-choice exam in the test round and will be allowed 60 minute to complete the exam; this exam must be completed in one sitting.

• The exams in macroeconomics and microeconomics will be completed individually, but the exam in international economics & current events will be completed as a team submitting a single exam copy for scoring. Please Note: The online regional competition tests (micro, macro, international/current events) are taken individually.

• The top two highest-scoring schools in each division will advance to the quiz bowl round to answer questions from all four knowledge areas previously tested. Teachers may reconfigure the roster of their teams between rounds, as long as at least 2 of the team members were from the original iteration of the winning team. Please Note: The online regional competition does not have a quiz bowl round.  

• The winning school of the quiz bowl round will advance to the State Competition automatically. The second-place school may be eligible to advance to the State Competition as a wildcard team. Please Note: The online regional competition does not have a quiz bowl round.

• Teachers may reconfigure the roster of their team between the Regional Competition and State Competition for any reason, as long as at least 2 of the team members were from the original iteration of the team. This includes circumstances where a school competes in both an in-person and online competition. All team members must have competed in the Regional Competition.

• The winning Adam Smith & David Ricardo winners from the State Competition will advance to National Semi-Finals and receive an opportunity to qualify for the National Economics Challenge in May.

Regional Competitions

• Participation in a Regional Competition, whether online or in-person, is required to be eligible to advance in the Economics Challenge series.

• In-person Competitions are conducted on behalf of MCEE by affiliated Centers for Economic Education at institutions of higher learning around Minnesota. 

• The online competition is conducted on behalf of MCEE using a platform and format endorsed by the national Council for Economic Education.

Regional Competition Rules

• Supervision must be provided to ensure the legitimacy of results. MCEE is available to help with virtual proctoring if needed & will proctor in-person competitions.

• Team members must be separated during the competition.

• During the competition, students are allowed a blank piece of paper and a pen or pencil.

• Calculators, phones, and/or other electronic devices are not allowed. The use of the internet or other resource materials is prohibited.

• Saving of test questions is prohibited and will result in school disqualification.

Please Note: The in-person competitions will have paper tests and proctored by MCEE/Center Staff.

Qualifying for the State Competition

• The top school in each division of the regional competitions (online and in-person) will advance to the State competition.  In the event that a team qualifies for the State competition in both an in-person and online competition, which ever team is not advancing will be replaced by the second highest scoring school (i.e. if a team wins 1st place in both the David Ricardo division of an in-person competition and the online competition, the school will need to determine which team will advance between the two groups of students and the team that doesn’t advance will be replaced by the next highest scoring team in that division).  *Please Note: based on school population in the metro area, the top two teams in the Adam Smith division will advance to the State competition from the Twin Cities Regional Competition.

• Additional teams may receive invitations to participate as wildcard teams at the State Competition. Depending on the facility size for the State Competition, MCEE will allow additional teams to join the competition as “wildcard teams”.  Wildcard teams are determined based on team scores (top three individual scores) from the regional competition.  *Please Note: schools advance to the state competition, not the individual team (i.e., if a school has already advanced to the State competition based on one of their regional teams, but their second team is the next highest scoring team, they will not be a wildcard team).

• The format of the State competition is similar to that of the Regional competition. Coming 2025: Critical thinking round requiring students to complete an economic analysis of a current event or policy case study. 

Quiz Bowl 

• Participants will be read a question on one of the topics from the test round and must buzz in first to respond. 

• If a student buzzes in before the question has been fully read, they have 5 seconds to answer and may not confer with their team. If a student buzzes in after the question has been fully read, they have 15 seconds to answer and may confer with their team.

• If the question is answered incorrectly by the first team, the second team will receive 15 seconds to consult among themselves before being allowed to answer the question for points. The question may be read again, if requested, and this will not count against the team’s time.

• The first team to win a majority of the available points (11 in the regional competition and 16 in the state competition) will advance to the next stage of the competition.

• Correct answers in the test round are worth 10 points each.

• Incorrect or missing answers in the test round are worth 0 points each.

• Correct answers in the quiz bowl round are worth 1 point each.

• Incorrect answers in the quiz bowl round are worth 0 points each.

• Team scores are calculated using the top three individual scores of team members. The highest possible individual score is 600 points and the highest possible team score is 1,800 points.

• Credit will be given in the quiz bowl round to the team with the higher team score according to the following formula: 1 point, up to a total of 3 points, will be credited for every 30 point difference in the score between the two teams (i.e. if Team A has a score of 820 and Team B has a team of 650, Team A will be credited with 3 points going into the quiz bowl round because the difference in the team scores is 170 points).

• In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following will be used to determine advancement in this order:

If one or both teams have only have 3 members:

1. The answer of the lowest scoring team member on the 3rd question of the macroeconomics exam.

2. The answer of the lowest scoring team member on the 8th question of the microeconomics exam.

3. The answer of the lowest scoring team member on the 14th question of the macroeconomics exam.

4. The answer of the lowest scoring team member on the 11th question of the macroeconomics exam.

5. The answer of the lowest scoring team member on the 2nd question of the microeconomics exam.

6. If the tie has still not been broken (i.e. if the scores are still identical because the students got all the same questions (in)correct), the tie will be broken by a coin flip administered by the staff member responsible for the competition.

If both teams have 4 members:

1. The scores of the fourth team member will be added to the computation of the team score for comparison purposes (but would be excluded from the calculation of advantage in the quiz bowl round).

2. The answer of the previously excluded team member on the 3rd question of the macroeconomics exam.

3. The answer of the previously excluded team member on the 8th question of the microeconomics exam.

4. The answer of the previously excluded team member on the 14th question of the macroeconomics exam.

5. The answer of the previously excluded team member on the 11th question of the macroeconomics exam.

6. The answer of the previously excluded team member on the 2nd question of the microeconomics exam.

7. If the tie has still not been broken (i.e. if the scores are still identical because the students got all the same questions (in)correct), the tie will be broken by a coin flip administered by the staff member responsible for the competition.

There is no registration or entry fee to participate in the Economics Challenge, however, all teams will need to invest time and effort to prepare for the competition. Please connect with MCEE if your team needs help with transportation, hotel, etc. costs. 

• Online Regional (Virtual): March 1-31

• Great Plains Regional (Moorhead-area/North Dakota): April 4 at MN State University - Moorhead

• Duluth Regional: Online (Online Regional) or participate at the Heartland Regional at St. Cloud State University

• Heartland Regional (St. Cloud-area): March 29 at St. Cloud State University

• Southwest Regional (Mankato-area): TBD at MN State University - Mankato

• Southeast Regional - New!: Online (Online Regional) or participate at the Southeast Regional at MSU Mankato

• Twin Cities Regional: March 30 at St. Catherine University

• Urban Region Invitational (Invite-Only): March 30 at St. Catherine University

Visit the registration page for specific dates and information.

Visit the registration page for specific dates.

Visit the registration page which includes dates, forms, instructions, and deadlines for each competition, both regional and online.

We recommend reviewing sample tests and practicing quiz bowl questions.

• • 2023 Adam Smith Quiz Bowl Questions

  • 2023 David Ricardo Quiz Bowl Questions

  • 2023 Joan Robinson Quiz Bowl Questions

  • 2022 Adam Smith Quiz Bowl Questions

  • 2022 David Ricardo Quiz Bowl Questions

  • 2022 Joan Robinson Quiz Bowl Questions

  • 2021 Adam Smith Division - Quiz Bowl Questions

  • 2021 David Ricardo Division - Quiz Bowl Questions

  • 2021 Joan Robinson Division - Quiz Bowl Questions

  • Past National Competition Tests - Critical Thinking Round

  • Past National Competition Tests - Multiple-Choice Round

Ready Assessments is a free educational technology tool where you can easily access ready-made K-12 personal finance and economics tests and quizzes on EconEdLink.org.  This tool offers:

• Over 2,800 personal finance and economics national standards aligned questions.

• Ready-made tests including 8 nationally normed pre- and post-tests like Test of Economic Literacy, Test of Economic Knowledge, Test of Understanding College Economics - Macro, Basic Finance Test, Test of Financial Literacy, and more!

• Simple rostering using class codes.

• Auto-grading with built-in gradebook and reports.

Regional Competition:

• 1st Place Team: $75/student | 2nd Place Team: $50/student | 3rd Place Team: $25/student for each division

• 1st Place Team (Quiz Bowl): Team Trophy & Certificate for each division 

• Teacher Prize for 1st Place Team (Quiz Bowl): $100 for each division

• All participating students and teachers receive a t-shirt (excludes online competition)

State Competition:

• 1st Place Team: $75/student | 2nd Place Team: $50/student | 3rd Place Team: $25/student for each division

• 1st Place Team (Quiz Bowl): Team Trophy & Certificate for each division 

• Teacher Prize for 1st Place Team (Quiz Bowl): $100 for each division

• All participating students and teachers receive a t-shirt (excludes online competition)

We recommend that you try to have all team members test simultaneously, but we recognize that isn't always possible. It's not necessary for all students on a team to take the test at the same time.  *Please Note: Students must test within two days of one another.

The competition day begins at 8:30 am with a continental breakfast and will conclude by 2:00 pm, with lunch served in the afternoon.

Note: This tentative outline may be subject to change.