15 Finance Competitions for High School Students
If you’re trying to understand whether finance is something you want to study later, entering a competition in high school is one of the easiest ways to explore the field without committing to a full program.
What do finance competitions for high school students involve?
You get a chance to work through problems that mirror real decisions. You might manage a mock portfolio, study a company, build a small financial plan, or explain how a market shift affects an outcome. Finance competitions also stay practical in terms of cost. Most of them run online, which means you can complete every step from home.
Why should you participate in finance competitions for high school students?
Recognition in these competitions carries weight. Even being shortlisted shows that you can analyze a problem and defend your reasoning. It also shows that you can operate in a setting where your work is compared to students from other schools or states.
If you’re also interested in finance bootcamps, check this out! Alternatively, look here for quantitative finance internships for high school students.
With that, here are 15 finance competitions for high school students!
Disclaimer: A few items below are finance programs that will help you build the skills needed for successfully participating in finance competitions.
15 Finance Competitions for High School Students
1. Bank of America Financial Skills Challenge
Location: Online; schools from the West Region states are eligible
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate: Selective
Dates: 6 6-hour simulations that teachers schedule at any time during the school year
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High‑school students at schools in the eligible West Region states
Bank of America hosts the Financial Skills Challenge, where students test their financial skills through a fun, simulated game. The game stimulates real-life experiences of having to manage your finances as a college student and then as a graduate. You’ll navigate things like building an emergency fund, balancing saving goals, managing student debt, building a credit score, and much more. You’ll be assessed on criteria such as your character’s quality of life, credit score, savings, and net worth.
2. Wharton Global High School Investment Competition
Location: Primarily virtual (online trading and submissions). Top teams are invited to an in‑person Global Finale at the Wharton School in Philadelphia, PA.
Cost: Free to participate
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Over 1,800 teams submitted applications
Dates: Competition spans 10 weeks (September–December); Semifinals announced in January; Global Finale: Typically April
Application Deadline: September 12
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9‑12; teams of 4‑6 students guided by a teacher advisor.
The Wharton Global High School Investment Competition is a team-based competition where you’ll put your investment and analysis skills to the test through an online stock market simulator. The competition stimulates working with a real client, where you’ll analyze their business and work on long-term investment goals. You’ll develop an investment strategy and build a portfolio. The deciding factor in this competition will be your team’s strategy and not just portfolio growth.
3. Young Founders Lab
Cost: Varies by the program. Need-based financial aid is available.
Location: This program is 100% virtual, with live, interactive workshops
Application deadline: Deadlines vary by cohort. Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Program dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Eligibility: The program is currently open to all high school students
The Young Founder’s Lab is a real-world start-up boot camp founded and run by Harvard entrepreneurs. In this program, you will work towards building a revenue-generating start-up that addresses a real-world problem. You will also have the opportunity to be mentored by established entrepreneurs and professionals from Google, Microsoft, and X. Apart from building the start-up itself, you will also participate in interactive classes on business fundamentals and business ideations, workshops and skill-building sessions, case studies, panel discussions, and more. You can check out the program brochure here.
4. Ladder Internship Program
Cost: Varies by the program (financial aid available)
Location: Remote
Application deadline: Deadlines vary by cohort. Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Program dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8–12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program for ambitious high school students! In the program, you work with a high-growth start-up on an internship. Start-ups that offer internships span a variety of industries, such as finance, investments, consulting, tech/deep tech to AI/ML, health tech, marketing, journalism, and more. Ladder’s start-ups are high-growth companies that, on average, raise over a million dollars. In the program, interns work closely with their managers and a Ladder Coach on real-world projects and present their work to the company. The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long, and you can apply here.
5. The National Personal Finance Challenge
Location: Online qualifying and state rounds; top state teams advance to an in‑person National Finals event in the U.S. (host city announced each year)
Cost: Free; at the National Finals, all expenses, including food, hotel, and events, are covered (transportation is excluded).
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Over 15,000 students join each year, and only the top 16 teams at Nationals reach the final Quiz Bowl round.
Dates: Registration typically opens around January; state and national rounds take place in the spring
Application Deadline: Team registration closes April 10; exam period ends April 15
Eligibility: High‑school students (Grades 9‑12)
The National Personal Finance Challenge (NPFC) is a competition for high school students to test out their finance knowledge. You’ll be tested on finance concepts such as taxes, interest rates, inflation, compound interest, credit reports, investing, managing risk, and credit. The competition takes place over 4 rounds, first a qualifying round, then state finals, after which participants are moved to the national competition. In the first round of nationals, you’ll create a financial plan for a given scenario, after which the top teams will advance to a quiz bowl for the championship title.
6. ISU High School Accounting Challenge
Location: State Farm Hall of Business, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Cost: Free to participate
Acceptance rate: Selective
Dates: April 4
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school students; schools register four‑person teams. ISU runs both individual and team competitions
The Illinois State University (ISU) organizes a High School Accounting Challenge where students compete to test their accounting skills. You’ll be tested at a beginner accounting class level on topics such as depreciation, inventory, receivables, terminology, accounting cycles, and more. You can either compete individually or in teams. Individual students will win a partial scholarship to ISU’s accounting program, and teams will compete for trophies.
7. KSU High School Investment Competition
Location: Kansas State University, College of Business Administration, Manhattan, KS
Cost: Free to participate; Prizes: 1st place- $1,000 per team member, 2nd - $750, 3rd - $500
Acceptance rate: Not specified; schools register eligible teams until the competition reaches capacity.
Dates: Trading runs from January 8 to April 30. Registration closes February 14. Interim and final reports are due in March and early May.
Application Deadline: February 14
Eligibility: High school students work in teams of up to five members
Kansas State University offers an Investment Competition where you’ll compete in teams. You’ll test out your investing and financial market skills by managing a virtual investment portfolio that runs on actual market data. You would aim to maximize the assets in your investment portfolio while also documenting your investment strategy, the rationale behind decisions, and tracking your portfolio performance through the program. The portfolio will be judged on total returns, risk-adjusted returns, and quality of investment strategy documentation and presentation.
8. Virtual Business Challenge - Personal Finance Track
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free to participate
Acceptance rate: Selective
Dates: Round 1: October 14 – November 7 | Round 2: February 2 - February 27 | Final round: Spring
Application Deadline: Registration opens Sept 30, up to the first round
Eligibility: High‑school students from grades 9‑12; enrolled in FBLA member schools; can participate, either individually or in teams of up to three members
The Virtual Business Personal Finance Challenge is a competition for students to test their financial literacy skills. You’ll be competing in teams where you’ll have to make financial decisions for a simulated person. Your team will be scored on managing concepts such as filing taxes, applying for credit cards, budgeting, paying bills, opening bank accounts, and more. For each round, teams will be ranked based on their person’s net worth after running the simulation for two virtual years.
9. Global Stock Pitch Competition
Location: Virtual for initial rounds; the top teams are invited in‑person to New York City for the Global Youth Investment Summit
Cost: Registration Fee: US $25 per person
Acceptance rate: Selective
Dates: Registration and submission close on February 20. Top teams attend the Global Youth Investment Summit in New York City in late May.
Application Deadline: February 20
Eligibility: High school students (grades 9‑12); can compete individually or in teams of up to 2 students
The Global Stock Pitch Competition allows high school students to test their financial analysis skills. In the competition, you’ll research publicly traded companies and choose the best stock to invest in. This involves looking at financial performance, business model, and future potential. You’ll then prepare a report detailing a buy or sell recommendation along with a video and presentation detailing your pitch. You will defend their findings to a panel of finance industry professionals. The top 100 students get a chance to go to The Global Youth Investment Summit, featuring interactive workshops, case study competitions, and networking opportunities.
10. Intuit Hour of Finance Challenge
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free to participate
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Approximately 40,000 students from 700 schools
Dates: The challenge takes place during April (Financial Literacy Month)
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Middle school and high school students
Intuit Hour of Finance Challenge gives students the chance to test their financial skills through an interactive game format. You’ll create an avatar and enter a gameplay where you’ll be judged on your ability to maintain your budget goals, your impact on the narrative environment, answering quiz questions, and your character’s overall financial health. Your score will also be impacted by other students from your school doing well in the challenge. The final score will be determined through both these factors.
11. Southern Illinois University Accounting Challenge
Location: Southern Illinois University Carbondale, School of Accountancy, Carbondale, IL
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 200 students attend from multiple schools
Dates: January 23
Application Deadline: January 19
Eligibility: High school and community college students
Southern Illinois University hosts an accounting challenge where students compete to test their accounting skills. You’ll first take a written exam, after which you’ll compete in teams and engage in accounting-related challenges for a team trophy. The competition gives you the chance to showcase your knowledge in accounting and build collaborative skills by working in teams. You will learn about accounting pathways through interaction with like-minded peers, accounting faculty, and students from SIU.
12. ACEE Personal Finance Case Study
Location: Teams participate statewide in Arizona; state finals held at a designated venue
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Several thousand students participate
Dates: Qualifying rounds: March 27 and March 30 | State Finals: April 17
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Middle and high school teams who have taken an economics or related course; open to teams of 3‑4 students.
The Arizona Council of Economic Education hosts a personal finance case study competition eligible for students who’ve studied economics. You’ll participate in teams and will play the role of financial consultants to a simulated family with financial challenges. Your goal would be to analyze their situation and recommend strategies. Participants will also develop a financial plan for a case study. Teams will present their financial plan to judges at the end of the challenge. Winning teams will get a prize of $500.
13. International Finance Olympiad
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate: Selective
Dates: Global Grand Test: August 22 | International Final: September 5–12
Application Deadline: August 12
Eligibility: High school students
The International Finance Olympiad (IFO) is a competition for students interested in the fields of finance and economics. The Olympiad emphasizes real-world scenarios, and you’ll be tested on your financial literacy and finance-related knowledge through a qualifying test that covers various topics. Top performers from each region would move to the final round, where you’ll be taking a test, followed by a case analysis and presentation.
14. US Junior Investment Challenge
Location: Virtual
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate: Selective
Dates: July 1 – August 15
Application Deadline: Registration opens June 1; deadline not specified
Eligibility: Students from grade school through high school interested in finance and investment
The United States Junior Investment Challenge (USJIC) is for students to test their investment and finance-related knowledge. In the challenge, you’ll gain practical investing experience by managing a simulated stock portfolio of $100,000. The challenge lasts 6 weeks, and you’ll be judged on your portfolio performance. At the end of the competition, you will have to submit a report detailing your investment strategy.
15. Ithaca College High School Investment Competition
Location: Ithaca College School of Business, Ithaca, NY
Cost: Free to participate; Winners receive cash prizes: First place: $3,000 (team + school) | Second place: $2,000 | Third place: $1,000.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Over 500 teams competed in one year
Dates: November 17–April 3
Application Deadline: November 16
Eligibility: High school students in teams of 3‑6 students, plus a teacher or advisor
Ithaca College hosts a High School Investment Competition where students compete in teams to test their investment skills. Your team will receive $1,000,000 in virtual dollars at the start of the competition, and there’s a cap to the trades you can make through the competition. Participants are encouraged to have a defined strategy and use online materials such as Google Finance to make their investment selections. You’ll learn stock market basics and get a waiver if you’re a senior and apply to Ithaca College post-participation.
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