About the Challenge

The National Personal Finance Challenge (NPFC) is a nationwide competition that provides high school students the opportunity to build and demonstrate their knowledge of money management. Teams showcase their expertise in the concepts of earning income, spending, saving, managing credit, investing, and managing risk.

How it Works

This fun and motivating team experience begins with competitions at the state level. This motivating and fun team learning experience begins with competitions at the state level. The winning team from each state moves on to the National Finals. Finals consist of a case study where teams present to a panel of judges. For spring 2024, the National Finals will be held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland where teams will compete in-person. While in Cleveland all expenses will be covered (this includes food, lodging, and all events. This excludes travel costs to/from state of origin). 

Get ready for your state competition

Form one or more teams of 3-4 students from the same school or organization. Then prepare your students by teaching the six core knowledge areas of personal finance and taking a practice test.

Compete at your state level

Register yourself as a teacher and create your teams. Download unique access codes for each student and when they are ready, send your team to the Finance Challenge ONLINE website where they will complete a 30-question, rapid-fire exam.

The National Competition

There is no fee for teachers/coaches or students to participate. There is no limit to the number of teams that can register, so the NPFC makes a great class activity.

State Competitions

This fun and motivating team experience begins with competitions at the state level.

Finals

In-person in Cleveland, Ohio on May 19-20! Finals consists of a Critical Thinking Round where teams present a solution to a panel of judges.

National Finals

The National Finals offers competitors the opportunity to prepare a financial plan for a detailed fictitious family scenario. Students will apply their knowledge from the six knowledge areas, make recommendations to help the family achieve their financial goals, and prepare a PowerPoint or Google Slide presentation to persuade the judges. Teams will have two hours to prepare and presentations will be 20 minutes with an additional 5 minutes for the judges to ask questions.