Registration is open for the 2026 Montana Personal Finance Challenge!
The Montana Council for Economic Education, with support from the National Council for Economic Education hosts the Montana Personal Finance Challenge each spring semester. The challenge is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge of personal finance by connecting with other students from across the state in an online competition.
How does the Personal Finance Challenge work?
Timing: Registration is open now and students can test anytime following independent course preparation. Testing must be completed by April 10, 2026 to compete for cash prizes, trip.
Who: MCEE would encourage any classroom teaching personal finance to form teams and complement their instruction with a chance to win cash prizes. It’s a low commitment with a great pay-off.
Teams of 3-4 students will have 35 minutes to complete a 30-question online exam covering the principles of personal finance including money management, credit, investing, and insurance.
Students earn 10 points for every correct response and 0 points for each incorrect answer. Every question must be answered to move on, and students are not able to go back to previous questions.
New for 2026 thanks to the support of FICO as a lead sponsor we are announcing an enhanced prize structure!
There will be a cash prize for the top three teams in Montana:
1st Place: $1,000 per team
2nd Place: $500 per team
3rd Place: $300 per team
Every teacher who registers 5 or more teams automatically qualifies for $100 gift card for their top performing team. $100 gift card will also be provided to the top performing team from schools with 4 or less teams.
State Champions Invited to Compete in National Challenge
The 2026 National Personal Finance Challenge finals will be hosted in Atlanta on May 31-June 1, 2026. MCEE and its sponsors will cover airline costs while food, lodging, and all events are hosted by CEE.
Next Steps
- If you are new to the Montana Personal Finance Challenge, welcome! You will need to select “Teacher Registration” from the menu and create your teacher profile. Once you profile is created, you will be able to log in and begin creating your teams.
- If you are a returning teacher, welcome back! Your profile information is saved from your previous participation, and you can log in to begin creating your teams for this year’s challenge!
- Teachers sign up their team(s). *You may sign up multiple teams on your teacher admin page, after you log-in — no need to register more than once.
Teacher Drawing
Teachers win too: For every student team you register that completes the challenge, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $100 cash prize – so the more teams you add, the better your chances!
Teachers can create as many student teams as they’d like and the Montana Council for Economic Education has generously provided all registration and participation fees.
*In the event of a tie score, the team with the cumulative least amount of time testing will win.
Program Made Possible Thanks to Our Local Sponsors:
