High School Fed Challenge - About the Program

The Fed Challenge is an academic competition that provides high school students (grades 9 to 12) with an insider's view of how the Fed makes monetary policy. The program is designed to encourage students to learn more about economics and about the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the policy-making group that makes interest rate decisions to foster economic strength and stability.

Student teams take part in a simulated FOMC meeting. Each team of five students takes 15 minutes to analyze the U.S. economy, presents a short-term forecast for the economy, and makes a monetary policy recommendation. The team must then defend its presentation before a panel of Fed economists in a 10-minute question-and- answer session.

Each participating Federal Reserve district (currently eight out of the 12 districts) selects a champion, based on competitions within its district. The champions are all flown to Washington, D.C. to take part in the national Fed Challenge competition. Of the eight participating teams, four are selected as finalists, and they compete for the national championship.

Benefits of participating

• Students learn about the Federal Reserve, the FOMC, and the U.S. economy.
• Students develop analytical and teamwork skills.
• Team members learn to look past superficial data and find deeper meaning in national economic data and information.
• Team members learn how to present themselves and their information, and to quickly develop answers to a variety of questions.