Rules
Students must complete the online test individually. All tests must be proctored by a teacher or other school personnel before, during, or immediately following the school day (6am-5pm) to be eligible for state finals.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Team Eligibility
1. How many students can be on a team?
1A. Teams must consist of 3 or 4 students.
2. Can a student register a team for the IPFC?
2A. No, teams must be registered and coached by a teacher.
3. Can teams be comprised of students from different schools?
3A. No, teams must be comprised of students from the same school. Teams must be affiliated with the same school and registered by a teacher. This rule supersedes National Personal Finance Challenge eligibility requirements and must be followed for teams to compete in the Illinois State Finals.
4. Can homeschooled students participate?
4A. Yes, homeschooled high school students may participate in the IPFC if they team up with a local school – similar to homeschooled students participating in sports at local schools. If a team were to advance to Nationals, they would need to show that students live in the same county, school district, or within a twenty-mile radius of each other.
5. Can teachers have more than one team?
5A. Yes, teachers are encouraged to have more than one team. Ideally, they will include their entire classroom in IPFC. There is no limit to how many teams a teacher can have.
6. Can students be on more than one team?
6A. No, students can only compete on one team.
7. Can students participate in both the fall and spring semesters?
7A. No, students who participate in the fall session are NOT eligible to participate again in the spring.
8. Can teachers lead teams in both the fall and spring semesters?
8A. Yes, as long as there is a new roster of students.
9. If a student participated in a previous year of the IPFC, can they participate again?
9A. Yes. For instance, if a student participated in Fall 2025 or Spring 2026, they may compete again this academic year. Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 are part of a new competition cycle.
10. If a teacher participated in a previous year of the IPFC, can they participate again?
10A. Yes, teachers are encouraged to register teams every year.
Registration & Testing
11. Do returning teachers need to register again?
11A. No, returning teachers don't need to register again. They can simply log in with existing credentials.
12. How do teachers create a team?
12A. If you are ready to create teams for this year's competition, you may do so by accessing your Team Administration page and selecting 'Create New Team'. Watch this video for help: Creating a Team
New - you can use a CSV file to batch import teams! You're not required to use this feature. Check out this video to learn how to import teams via CSV: CSV Import
13. How do teachers get access codes for student testing?
13A. 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. Watch this video for help: Student Codes
14. How do students complete the challenge?
14A. When it is time for students to complete the challenge, they will select 'Student Access' and enter their access code that was assigned to them. They will then complete a short identification and challenge integrity confirmation before they begin the challenge. Watch this video for help: Completing the Challenge
Students will have 35 minutes to answer 30 questions. The challenge cannot be paused and students cannot skip questions.
15. Can teams work together to complete the online test?
15A. No, students must complete the online test individually. All tests must be proctored by a teacher or other school personnel before, during, or immediately following the school day (6am-5pm) to be eligible for state finals.
16. Can teachers access student test data?
16A. Yes, teachers can access student test scores, both individual and team scores. Teachers also have access to a category report that shows student performance in each subject. Access to test scores is only active during the testing window for that season. Watch this video for help: Accessing Student Data
17. How can students prepare for the IPFC?
17A. The National Personal Finance Challenge provides a free toolkit for teachers. The toolkit provides lessons, activities, videos, quizzes, and practice case studies to help teams learn about the six core knowledge areas of personal finance featured on the test. You can access additional free resources from Next Gen Personal Finance.
Illinois State Finals & National Finals
18. How are winners selected for Illinois State Finals?
18A. Top 10: The Top 10 teams from fall and spring testing across all regions will be invited to compete at the Illinois State Finals.
Team Scores: The top 3 scores from a team are totaled to determine the team score. In a team of 4 students, the lowest score will be dropped. Average quiz time is used as the tiebreaker for rankings.
Fall & Spring: We compare scores from both testing windows to determine who is invited to state finals. Students testing in fall won't find out if they are invited to finals until after spring testing is completed.
*New this year* Regions: The state is divided into 5 regions. The top scoring team from each region will be invited to Illinois State Finals. The remaining 5 spots will be invited based solely on score, regardless of region. If a region doesn't have any team scores, then another top scoring team from any region will be invited.
View the map and county list to determine which region your school is in.
19. What if a student of a winning team is unavailable to participate in the Illinois State Finals or National Finals? Can another student serve as a substitute for the team?
19A. Yes, teams may substitute team member(s) for the IPFC or NPFC. However, substitutes must have taken the online test during either the fall or spring session of the current competition cycle. Teams must also comprise at least 2 members of the original team. For example, a team of 3 students may only substitute 1 student, while a team of 4 students may substitute up to 2 students if needed.
20. Is the Illinois State Finals in-person?
20A. Yes, the Illinois State Finals will be an in-person event hosted in Springfield, IL on Tuesday, April 14, 2026.
21. Does the IPFC cost money?
21A. There is no fee to compete in the IPFC or the NPFC. However, top teams will need to cover transportation costs related to Illinois State Finals and National Finals.
22. Is there a prize for the Personal Finance Challenge?
22A. Winning teams from the Illinois State Finals will be awarded Bright Start 529 college savings scholarships. Each winning team member will receive:
- 1st Place: $1,500 scholarship
- 2nd Place: $1,000 scholarship
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
23. Who is awarded the Bright Start 529 college savings scholarship if team members are substituted to compete in the Illinois State Finals?
23A. Teams must follow substitution rules outlined in #19. Only students who compete at the Illinois State Finals qualify to win Bright Start 529 college savings scholarships for first place and second place.
Still have questions? Check out this library of how-to videos or contact Maggie Owen at mowen@illinoistreasurer.gov.