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FinanceChallenge

Rules

TEACHER REGISTRATION:

1.  Go to http://financechallenge.unl.edu and click on Kansas.  BE SURE TO READ, “THE RULES.”  Register as a teacher/coach.  After you have registered as a teacher/coach, you’ll receive authorization to begin creating your online team(s) of 4 students (be sure to select the appropriate division - middle or high school). 

2.  While the online program requires students to be entered on a team, we will look at the top individual scores to determine scores for the school.  After creating your team(s), download unique access codes for your students.  Distribute an access code to each student when (s)he is ready to begin the competition.  Please keep these codes safe.  A code cannot be used by a student for whom it was not generated. 

Round 1 – ONLINE COMPETITION

1.  Team Composition

a. Although teachers will create teams for online student qualification, this is merely a formality. Teams will be allowed to be reconstituted for the state finals.

b.  Teams shall be comprised of Three (3) or four (4) members.

c.  All members of a team must be from the same public, private, or home school co-op group

d.  A school which qualifies for the state competition may reconstitute the members of its team(s) prior to the state competition. The reconstituted team member(s) must meet eligibility conditions and have participated in the current year’s online competition.

2.  Student Eligibility 

  1. Students must be enrolled in grades 9-12 for the 2025-26 academic school year to compete in the high school division or grades 6-8 to compete in the middle school division.
  2. Students must be registered by and participating with their teacher, or another teacher at their school who was designated by their teacher as the team coach. For home-based teams, one parent is to serve as the sponsor/teacher.

 

3.  Competition Process

  1. Teachers register student teams 3-4 students. Following student eligibility verification, team coaches will receive an e-mail regarding how student teams can be created. This should happen with 1 day of registering.
  2. ONLINE! testing takes place November 3 - December 19 or February 2 - March 27. Scheduling of the preliminary online testing is done at each teacher’s own discretion with the team coach as the proctor to ensure the online testing protocol is adhered to. Students may compete in only the fall or spring challenge - not both.
  3. Teachers will be provided with a unique access code for each student. Distribute these codes to your students only when they are ready to take the online test.
  4. Registered students will enter the Kansas Personal Finance Challenge ONLINE! website and complete an online test of 30 questions. Each student will be allowed a maximum of 35 minutes to answer the questions.
  5. All Kansas Personal Finance Challenge ONLINE! testing must be done on an individual basis to be eligible for participation in advanced level competitions.
  6. Scoring: Scoring on individual tests is done as follows: +10 points for each correct response; 0 points for each incorrect response.
  7. Top performing teams will be invited to a case study competition at Wichita State University on April 22.

 

HIGH SCHOOL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

The top scoring teams from the Fall and Spring challenge windows will be invited to the in-person 

Team Structure

  1. Team composition
    1. Teams shall be comprised of three or four members.
    2. All members must be from the same high school or home school co-op group.
    3. The state championship team may reconstitute the members of its team prior to the national competition. Students must however, meet the general student eligibility conditions.
  2. Student eligibility
    1. Students must be currently enrolled in a high school or home-based school from the state they are representing.
    2. Each team must be sponsored by a teacher from its school. For home-based high school teams, one parent is to serve as the sponsor/teacher.
    3. Students may participate each year that they are attending high school.

Prizes

Top performing teams at the Kansas Personal Finance Challenge will be awarded cash prizes as follows:

1st Place - $150 per team member

2nd Place - $100 per team member

3rd Place - $75 per team member

All participants at the State Championship will receive a t-shirt and will be eligible for gift drawings.

All teachers in attendance will receive a stipend of $150.

State Champions:  

State champions represent Kansas in the National Personal Finance Challenge Finals to be held May 31 - June 1 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, KCEE will pay the travel expenses (airfare, transportation to/from the airport) for the Kansas champions (up to 4 students and one teacher) to attend the national competition. 

We currently do not offer a state or national championship for middle school teams. 

Competition Integrity

It is our desire to ensure that fair competition exists at all levels.

We expect students to adhere to school honor codes.

GOOD LUCK!