1. What is the National Personal Finance Challenge?
NPFC is hosted by the Council for Economic Education (CEE) and is an engaging, impactful opportunity for students to demonstrate their financial literacy and decision-making skills. The National Personal Finance Challenge is a team-based competition designed to empower high school students with the knowledge and skills to make informed financial decisions, such as earning income, spending, saving, investing, managing credit, and managing risk.
Over 15,000 students participate annually, which makes the National Personal Finance Challenge a highly competitive and prestigious high school competition. We highly recommend that high school students interested in pursuing Economics, Finance, Math, or similar majors participate
The prizes at the National Finals are:
- First place: Banner and $2,000 for each team member.
- Second place: Banner and $1,000 for each team member.
- Third place: Banner and $500 for each team member.
- Fourth place: Banner and $250 for each team member.
All winners will receive an official CEE National Personal Finance Challenge trophy and banner.
2. Who Can Participate in the National Personal Finance Challenge?
The NPFC is open to high school students across the United States. Teams must have at least 3-4 members from the same public school, private school, community organization or club, or afterschool program. This structure allows students from different schools to form a team if they are in the same organization.
Team Modification for Nationals: The state championship teams may adjust their team members before registering for the National competition. However, at least two original team members must remain on the team for Nationals. All participants must meet the general student eligibility criteria.
Participation typically involves forming teams, often facilitated by a teacher or coach. Specific eligibility criteria, such as grade levels and team composition, may vary by state. Students are encouraged to consult their state’s guidelines to ensure compliance with local requirements.
3. Topics covered in National Personal Finance Challenge
Earning Income | How it’s generated and how factors such as taxes, interest rates, and inflation impact income. |
Spending | Buying goods and services by examining personal budgets, expenses, and income. |
Saving | Analyzing compound interest and financial institutions and services. |
Managing Credit | Credit reports, credit scores, and decision-making through consumer credit. |
Investing | Various investment instruments, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Students will also understand the concepts of risk and return and time horizon. |
Managing Risk | Different types of insurance and vigilance against common scams and identity theft. |
4. How to participate in the NPFC?
Here’s how it works:
First Round: Students form teams of 3-4 members and complete a 30-question online test. Participants demonstrating an exemplary understanding of personal finance topics will move on to the State Finals round with their team.
Team details: Team members must be from the same high school, community/student club, or after-school program. Note this means that students from different schools can be on the same team. Learn how to form a team through Aralia Education for the National Personal Finance Challenge.
As you progress through the NPFC, your team composition may change—some members may be excluded, and new members may join, depending on the competition’s rules for each round.
State Finals: High-scoring teams from the first round will be invited to the finals. State competitions take place during the school calendar year.
Team Details: State Championship teams may include the same members from the Initial Round teams
National Finals: The top teams from each state compete in the national competition, where students have to create a financial plan for a fictitious family scenario.
Case Study for National Personal Finance Challenge Finals Round
The Finals consist of a case study presentation. Teams will be given a fictitious family scenario and will have 75 minutes to prepare a comprehensive financial plan. After preparation, each team will present their plan to a panel of judges. Presentations will be scored based on personal finance content knowledge, teamwork, and presentation skills.
Teams will have a maximum of eight minutes to present their plan, followed by seven minutes for a question-and-answer session with the judges. Based on these evaluations, judges will determine the overall rankings and select the teams advancing to the Round of 16 quiz bowl.
Quiz Bowl: The top 16 teams in the National Finals will compete for the national championship title in the Quiz Bowl.
The teams with the highest scores within each of the groups from the case study round will advance to the round of 16 quiz bowl. The Quiz Bowl Rounds begin with groups of four teams facing off in an oral quiz bowl covering topics in personal finance.
- All teams will begin the First Round Quiz Bowl with a score of zero, 15 questions will be read. After the judge reads a question, each team will have 20 seconds to discuss it, and the team spokesperson will write down their answer on their whiteboard.
- In the quiz bowl round of 16, teams compete to move on to the Final quiz bowl round and to be awarded 1st place-National Champion, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. The top-scoring team from each group will move on to the final quiz bowl round.
- The Final Quiz Bowl Round is an oral quiz bowl covering all topics in personal finance with a total of 20 questions.
Team Details: Teams for Nationals must include at least two original team members from the Initial Round teams.
5. Dates and deadlines
National Finals are held June 1st to 2nd, 2025, in Atlanta, GA.
Teams will be notified by May 1st, 2025, if they qualify to advance to the National Finals.
Statewide Finals of NPFC are held before the National Finals, and each state has different dates and locations. Find a program in your state.
Cost to Attend Finals Round of NPFC 2025
All expenses, including lodging, group meals, hotel, and events for the National Finals teams and one coach, will be covered by CEE. However, transportation to/from the state of origin is excluded.
6. How to Sign up for the National Personal Finance Challenge
Register your team through the official CEE NPFC website.
7. How to Prepare for and potential win the National Personal Finance Challenge
Preparing for the NPFC requires knowledge, teamwork, and practice. To succeed in the NPFC, students need to prepare ahead of time with their team members and coaches. Here are some tips to help students get started:
Understand the Competition Structure: Familiarize yourself with the rules, scoring criteria, and types of questions. The competition often includes multiple-choice questions, case studies, and team-based problem-solving activities.
Learn Key Personal Finance Concepts: Following the study structure of the six core areas of personal finance mentioned by the competitions will help you accelerate your learning and master topics. Understanding the distinction between finance and economics can also provide valuable context. For further reading, see Differences Between Finance and Economics.
Follow official study resources: Take advantage of educational tools, books, and online courses to deepen your understanding of personal finance. Some examples are:
- https://npfc.councilforeconed.org/ – The competition provides students and teachers with toolkits that include lessons, activities, videos, and quizzes to help students learn about six core knowledge areas of personal finance: Earning Income, Spending, Saving, Managing Credit, Investing, and Managing Risks.
- The Council for Economic Education provides sample practice questions to help students familiarize themselves with the contest and the questions that will be asked.
- Guide to Personal Finance for High School Students: Aralia also wrote an article discussing personal finance in detail; read more to learn about in-depth personal finance concepts.)
Practice Test for the National Personal Finance Challenge
Drill official practice questions with 20 total questions and 20 minutes to complete the test. Sample questions include:
1. The first three steps of economic decision making are to:
a) draw a conclusion, construct a model, and make a generalization.
b) identify assumptions, make a policy, evaluate the policy.
c) gather facts, form a theory, and conduct a simulation.
d) define the problem, list alternatives, and state criteria.
2. The expression “there is no such thing as a free lunch” means:
a) free lunches are a scam but cannot be avoided.
b) scarce resources are rare and therefore expensive.
c) individuals, but not society, suffer from a lack of resources.
d) resources used for one purpose could have been used for another purpose.
3. Who generally benefits from a loan transaction?
a) the lender only
b) the borrower only
c) both the borrower and the lender
d) neither the borrower nor the lender
View the official lessons from the CEE website, categorized into the six test subjects of income, spending, saving, credit, investing, and risk. Each link includes essential and supplemental lessons/activities with videos, downloadable worksheets complemented by practice questions, and additional resources such as Kahoot! and other student study tools. EconEdLink, a CEE program, offers 16 online lessons for the National Personal Finance Challenge, covering topics from Bankruptcy Basics to The Economics of Homebuying to Preparing Your Form 1040. While some of these lessons guide how teachers should direct a class of students, the list of additional resources and exercises in each lesson is helpful to look at.
Quizlet for the National Personal Finance Challenge
Quizlet offers countless flashcard sets to get you up to speed with NPFC terms. The competition organizer CEE has a Quizlet account with flashcard sets directly relevant to the challenge. One set has nearly 600 flashcards with bowl practice questions. This set covers everything from the standard list of financial vocabulary to identifying insurance agent functions to naming famous figures. Another folder has three sets of flashcards covering financial literacy vocabulary and math questions on topics such as APR. Finally, check out this set with vocabulary and True False and Multiple-Choice questions from a similar program Finance and Investment Challenge Bowl.
Previous Winners of the National Personal Finance Challenge
At previous NPFCs, nearly 15,000 students across all statewide and nationwide rounds participated. A team of four students from Maryland won first place in 2024, and a team of four from California won first place in 2023. Watch the NPFC 2024 Finals Livestream and the 2023 Livestream.
Participating in the National Personal Finance Challenge is a valuable opportunity for high school students to develop essential financial skills that will serve them throughout their lives. By engaging in this competition, students not only gain knowledge but also build confidence in managing personal finances, setting a strong foundation for future success.
7. How Aralia Can Help You Succeed
Preparing for the NPFC can be challenging, but with the right guidance and resources, students can significantly improve their financial knowledge and competition performance. Don’t worry if you can’t form a team with your high school classmates! Aralia can help you form a group with our afterschool class. At Aralia Education, our NPFC test preparation class offers expert-led instruction, practice materials, and even opportunities to form teams with like-minded students. Join us today and take the first step toward excelling in the NPFC!
National Personal Finance Challenge is the nation’s premier personal finance competition for teens. Through this program, students will have the opportunity to learn about topics such as budgeting, saving, investing, and credit management from experienced instructors.
