Frequently Asked Questions

High school students compete online in a series of tests on economic problems, theory, & current events to demonstrate their knowledge and critical-thinking abilities. The top teams being invited to the state competition to showcase their knowledge. 

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. 

• 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 as many teams as they like in up to 2 divisions for the Regional Competition. 

• Schools can only advance one team per division to the State competition.

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.

Regional Competition

• Participants will complete a online 30-question multiple-choice exam, covering topics in macroeconomics, microeconomics, and international economics & current events; this exam must be completed individually  in one sitting.. Participants will be allowed 35 minutes to complete each exam. The content of each exam will reflect the rigor of the associated classroom instruction for each division. 

• The top 20 teams between 3 division will advance to the State Competition. 

• 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. All team members must have competed in the Regional Competition.

• Participation in a Regional Competition, is required to be eligible to advance in the Economics Challenge series.

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

State Competition

• The Competition will be composed of two rounds: the case study/critical thinking round and the quiz bowl round.  

• The top 3-4 highest-scoring schools in each division from the case study/critical thinking round will advance to the quiz bowl round to answer questions from all four knowledge areas previously tested. 

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

Regional Competition Rules

• Supervision must be provided to ensure the legitimacy of results. MCEE is available to help with virtual proctoring if needed.

• Team members must be separated during the competition; tests are taken individually.

• 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.

Qualifying for the State Competition

• The top 20 teams between 3 division will advance to the State 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 Competition will be composed of two rounds: the case study/critical thinking round and the quiz bowl round.  Case study/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. 

• Teams will be given 20 seconds to confer with their teammates and write down their answers.

• 1 point for correct answers and 0 points for incorrect answers.

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

Regional Competition:

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

• Incorrect or missing answers in the multiple choice test 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 300 points and the highest possible team score is 900 points.

State Competition:

•  Case study/critical thinking - Coming soon!

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

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

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. 

• Round 1:  Regional Competition (Virtual): March 1-30, 2025

• Round 2: State Competition (In-Person - Location TBD): Date TBD

• Round 3: National Semi-Finals (Virtual) April 21-24, 2025

• Round 4: Finals/Nationals (In-Person - Atlanta, GA): May 28-30, 2025

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.

• • Case study/critical thinking - Coming soon!

  • 2024 Adam Smith Quiz Bowl

  • 2024 David Ricardo Quiz Bowl

  • 2024 Joan Robinson Quiz Bowl

  • 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:

• Individual Student Prizes: The top 10 students per division will receive a $50 cash prize based on their test score.

• Team Prizes: The top 20 team’s students will receive a $50 cash prize basted on their team score.

• The top 20 teams will receive a trophy based on their team score.

• Teacher Prizes: The top 20 team’s teachers will receive a $100 cash prize based on their team score.

State Competition:

• The 1st-4th place team’s students will receive a cash prize based on winning the competition: 1st Place: $100/student | 2nd Place: $75/student | 3rd Place: $50/student | 4th Place: $25/student

• The 1st-4th place team will receive a trophy and banner based on winning the competition.

• The 1st-4th place team’s teachers will receive a cash prize based on winning the competition: 1st Place: $100/teacher | 2nd Place: $75/teacher | 3rd Place: $50/teacher | 4th Place: $25/teacher 

• All participating students and teachers receive a t-shirt.

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 8:00 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.