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High School Students Named Best in America at the Council for Economic Education’s 2025 National Economics Challenge

By: via Business Wire

Teams from Maryland, New Hampshire & Georgia Claim Top Honors along with Finalists from Indiana & Florida

High school students who quickly answered tough questions posed to state-championship teams at the Council for Economic Education’s National Economics Challenge (NEC) finals may not change the world today.

But they’ll be ready to change it tomorrow.

Question: What does a linear indifference curve tell us about the relationship of the goods measured on the axes?

And question: If the United States trade deficit with China increases by $100 million, what can we conclude about the financial account of the U.S. international balance of payments?

By correctly answering more questions like these than high schoolers from other states, teams of students from Mt. Hebron High School in Ellicott City, Maryland, earned first place finishes in both the NEC’s Adam Smith Division for returning, advanced and honors economics students and the David Ricardo Division for first-time competitors who have taken no more than one economics course. It’s the eighth straight NEC in which the Howard County public school emerged as a national champion or finalist.

Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, also continued wins, capturing first runner-up in both divisions.

Lambert High School from Suwanee, Georgia, was named second runner-up in both divisions in front of a home-area audience in Atlanta where this year’s NEC was held.

Carmel High School from Indiana scored third runner-up in the Adam Smith Division, while Belen Jesuit Preparatory School of Miami took that honor in the David Ricardo Division.

A total of 16 teams competed at the national finals following their wins in state competitions. But taking any economics class in high school remains elusive across most of America; only slightly more than half of the states - 28 - require economics coursework to graduate high school, according to CEE’s most recent Survey of the States.

“No one expects young people to teach themselves how to read or write,” said Christopher Caltabiano, CEE’s interim chief executive officer and chief program officer. “But too many states let students graduate without teaching them the basic economic principles that are building blocks for success for their lives, their communities and the nation.

“We congratulate all who taught and learned about economics this year, and all who earned their way to the top in their state and advanced to compete in CEE’s National Economics Challenge finals,” he added.

Raphael Bostic, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and a CEE board member, welcomed students to the NEC finals and noted the value of broad access to financial and economic literacy.

“Early economic education can be an important steppingstone for establishing a positive personal trajectory,” Bostic said, adding his congratulations to the winners. “Research and experience tell us that sound economic and financial habits can be established as early as age seven, so the sooner we reach young people, the better. We want today’s young learners to become adults whose decisions maximize well-being for themselves, their families and their communities.”

2025 NEC Adam Smith Division winners:

  • First place: Mt. Hebron High School
    • Joseph Jeong, Mehin Pandya, Aadarsh Shah and Vishva Rao
    • Coach: Vann Prime
  • First runner-up: Phillips Exeter Academy
    • Eli Orbach, Dron Gaddam, Dhruv Nagarajan and Steven Chen
    • Coach: Aykut Kilinc
  • Second runner-up: Lambert High School
    • Arhan Barve, Neal Karani, Shivam Gupta and Balaskanda Sivanandame
    • Coach: Catherine Arbeiter
  • Third runner-up: Carmel High School
    • Alan Lai, David Jiang, Alex Tichindelean and Akshat Kannan
    • Coach: Michelle Foutz

2025 NEC David Ricardo Division winners:

  • First place: Mt. Hebron High School
    • Daksh Mathapati, Tanvi Anand, Caleb Son and Vitus Li
    • Coach: Vann Prime
  • First runner-up: Phillips Exeter Academy
    • Alex Ren, David Liu, Lake Zhou and Chris Spencer
    • Coach: Aykut Kilinc
  • Second runner-up: Lambert High School
    • Ethan Baek, Vivan Kotla, Raghava Murthy and Nidhi Madam
    • Coach: Catherine Arbeiter
  • Third runner-up: Belen Jesuit Preparatory School
    • Manuel Irurita, Pablo Castro, Anthony Kiami and Max Erdmann
    • Coach: Andres Jimenez

All finalists in both divisions also receive a cash award. Caltabiano thanked Morgan Stanley for its support of the Challenge this year and CEE’s state-based affiliates for their work in advancing economic and personal finance education in the states.

Mt. Hebron High School also won international rounds with teams who traveled from China; Shanghai High School International Division and Beijing Haidian Foreign Language Shiyan School took second place honors.

The Council for Economic Education's (CEE's) mission is to equip K–12 students with the tools and knowledge of personal finance and economics so that they can make better decisions for themselves, their families and their communities. We carry out our mission in three ways. We advocate to require financial and economic education in every state. We provide training, tools and resources — online and live through over 180 affiliates nationwide — to more than 40,000 teachers annually, who in turn bring the highest quality economics and personal finance instruction to over 4 million students. We deepen knowledge and introduce high school students to critical career capabilities through our national competitions and Invest in Girls program. Learn more at CouncilForEconEd.org and on LinkedIn and on Facebook.

As economic uncertainty swirls, high schoolers from across the US showed they have answers to tough questions. Kudos to teams from Ellicott City MD, Exeter NH, Suwanee GA, Carmel IN & Miami who nabbed top honors in @CouncilEconEd's National #EconChallenge

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