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FinanceChallenge

Welcome to Illinois Personal Finance Challenge!
 

Spring Registration Open Now through March 1 

The UIC Center for Economic Education in partnership with the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office presents the Illinois Personal Finance Challenge (IPFC). The IPFC is a competition that provides students with an exciting and motivating opportunity to build, apply and demonstrate their knowledge in money management. In Illinois, middle school students will be able to participate in state-level competition only, while high school students will be able to qualify for the national level of the challenge. Also for high school only, UIC Center for Economic Education will offer an Access Zone (AZIL) in the spring to schools who qualify by income level (50%+ low-income students as reported on the IL School Report Card).  See information posted under the RULES section for more details.

Middle school and 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 the scores of their students. The top high school teams identified by the online testing will be invited to compete in a personal finance case study final round, which will determine the Illinois state winner. The case study round will be held virtually on April 17, 2024.

Teams of 3-4 high school students with one teacher can qualify to represent Illinois at the National Personal Finance Challenge by winning the Illinois case study final round. They will advance to the National Finals in Cleveland, Ohio on May 19 and 20, 2024.

How It Works

  1.   High school teachers must register at least one team of 3-4 students. Teachers can have multiple teams. Online teacher registration is open January 8 through March 1, 2024.
  2.   High school students compete in the first round of competition online, with an open testing window from March 5 to April 3, 2024.
  3.   Top teams will compete in the Illinois case study final round virtually on April 17, 2024.
  4.   The winning team from the Illinois finals advances to the National Finals in Cleveland, Ohio on May 19 and 20, 2024. The Finals will be held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Lodging and food will be covered for the team and a teacher.

 

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 areas of knowledge.