Welcome to Illinois Personal Finance Challenge!
 

Fall Testing Window Open November 17 - December 12

The Illinois State Treasurer’s Office is proud to present the Illinois Personal Finance Challenge (IPFC). The IPFC is a fun and motivating team competition that provides students with the opportunity to get financially savvy and demonstrate their money management skills. 

High school teams in Illinois can showcase their expertise in earning income, spending, saving, managing credit, investing, and managing risk through online exams offered during fall and spring testing windows. All teachers will be able to access their students’ scores. Top scoring high school teams from fall and spring testing will be invited to compete in the Illinois State Finals.

One team of 3-4 high school students with one teacher will qualify to represent Illinois at the National Personal Finance Challenge by winning the Illinois State Finals. 

Registration is FREE and practice tests and resources are available online for all teams. Checkout the teacher toolkit with lessons and activities in the six personal finance subjects.
 

Illinois State Finals 

We are excited to host an in-person event for the Illinois State Finals and award Bright Start 529 college savings scholarships to the first place and second place teams. Each winning team member will receive: 

• 1st Place: $1,500 scholarship

• 2nd Place: $1,000 scholarship

The in-person event will be hosted at our historic Marine Bank building in Springfield on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. The Illinois State Finals competition will consist of a real-world case study round and a quiz bowl round. 
 

How It Works 

1.   Teacher Registration - High school teachers must register at least one team of 3-4 students. There is no limit to how many teams a teacher can have and no limit to how many teachers can participate from the same school. Online teacher registration for the fall testing window is open September 15 – December 8, 2025. Returning teachers can use existing login credentials. Spring registration will open January 12, 2026.
    
2.   Online Exam - High school students compete in the first round of competition online, with an open testing window from November 17 – December 12, 2025. The spring testing window is March 2 – March 20, 2026.
    
3.   Illinois State Finals - Top teams from fall and spring will compete at the Illinois State Finals. The in-person event will be hosted in Springfield, IL on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. 
    
4. National Finals – The winning team from Illinois State Finals advances to National Finals at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, GA on May 31 and June 1, 2026. 
    

National Finals offers cash prizes to nationally ranking teams. Each winning team member will receive:

• 1st Place: $2,000
• 2nd Place: $1,000
• 3rd Place: $500 
• 4th Place: $250

 

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Congratulations to last year's finalists and state winners!

• 1st Place: Naperville Central High School led by C. David Ashton

• 2nd Place: College Preparatory School of America led by Asim Gaffar

• 3rd Place: Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy led by Steven Goldblatt
   

Naperville Central High School 

"In an age where transactions have become instant, it is more important than ever to learn how to properly manage your finances." 

- Rohan Jain, student
 

Left to right: Michael Antipov, Rohan Jha, Audrey Cheng, Rohan Jain