College Fed Challenge

2023 Fed Challenge UPDATE

The Federal Reserve, along with other co-sponsoring Federal Reserve Banks and regional planning universities, have made the decision to again host the National College Fed Challenge virtually to ensure the competition can be held in 2023. Please see College Fed Challenge 2023 Rules and Steps. The virtual format will continue to allow schools outside the current Fed Challenge districts to compete in a newly created "at-large" new region.


About

College Fed Challenge is a team competition for undergraduate students. Teams analyze economic and financial conditions and formulate a monetary policy recommendation, modeling the Federal Open Market Committee.

To watch past College Fed Challenge teams in action, visit the Board's video section and use the keyword search "Fed Challenge." You can also see photos from past College Fed Challenges.

2023 National College Fed Challenge
2022 National College Fed Challenge
2021 National College Fed Challenge
2020 National College Fed Challenge
2019 National College Fed Challenge

What Participants Can Expect & National Guidelines

Team Presentations (15-minute maximum)

Teams make presentations to a panel of judges who are experts in economics and monetary policy. Presentations should consist of the following elements:

  1. An analysis of current economic conditions (as of the day of the competition); these conditions may include broad macroeconomic conditions as well as conditions experienced in different geographic areas, in urban/rural areas, or among different demographic and socioeconomic groups (e.g., racial and ethnic groups, age groups), borrowers and savers, etc.
  2. A forecast of near-term economic and financial conditions relevant to the formulation of monetary policy
  3. A discussion of significant risks to the economy that should receive special attention in formulating monetary policy; these risks may include the possible effects (positive or negative) of monetary policies on different segments of the population
  4. A monetary policy recommendation, encompassing both traditional tools and newer approaches as warranted; presenters should give supporting reasons for their recommendation
Questions and Answers (15-minute maximum)

Following the presentation, teams answer questions from the judges about recommendations made in the presentation and macroeconomic theory as well as hypothetical questions or questions about the Fed.

Scoring

Judges evaluate and score the teams on economic analysis, responses to questions, teamwork, and presentation. The team with the highest score wins.

National College Fed Challenge Rubric and Scoring Sheet (PDF)

Accessible Keys for Video

[Space Bar] toggles play/pause;

[Right/Left Arrows] seeks the video forwards and back (5 sec );

[Up/Down Arrows] increase/decrease volume;

[M] toggles mute on/off;

[F] toggles fullscreen on/off (Except IE 11);

The [Tab] key may be used in combination with the [Enter/Return] key to navigate and activate control buttons, such as caption on/off.

Past National College Fed Challenge Winners

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Last Update: November 27, 2023