Compete

Business

DECA

DECA International Career Development Conference

Hundreds of role-play and written business events, competed through a school chapter up to an international conference.

Run by DECA Inc.

Official website How to prepare Reviews and tips

Key facts

Eligible grades
High school. A separate Collegiate DECA exists for college students, with its own conference and calendar.
DECA does not publish a numbered grade range; membership runs through a chartered school chapter.
Source, checked 2026-09-02
Eligible ages
Not confirmed. This organiser may set eligibility by grade rather than age. We do not convert one into the other.
DECA sets eligibility by school level and chapter membership, not age.
Individual or team
Individual or team · Varies by event. A rule worth knowing for team events: if one member of a Team Decision Making event cannot attend the next level, no substitute is allowed and the remaining member cannot switch to another event. The team either competes together or withdraws together. For prepared written events, members may not be substituted between the state and international conferences.
Where it runs
In person · United States, Canada, International
Entry cost
Membership dues plus conference fees, commonly $100 to $600 in totalLayered and set locally: national and chartered association membership dues, then state conference registration, then ICDC registration, plus travel and hotel. Associations add their own conditions; one state requires membership invoices paid in full by 15 February to be eligible to attend ICDC, another charges a $25 late penalty after 12 March plus a 5% credit card processing fee. Ask your advisor for the full figure early.
Registration deadline
Set locally, not published as a single national date Set by each chartered association, months before ICDC. Membership payment deadlines in February are common and missing one can make a qualified student ineligible to attend.
Competition dates
The 2027 International Career Development Conference is 17 to 20 April 2027 in Anaheim, California. Attendees must arrive by 5 p.m. on the Saturday and the conference finishes at 11 p.m. on the Tuesday.
Difficulty
CompetitiveSerious preparation over a season. Advancing past the first round separates prepared students from unprepared ones.
Prizes
Medals, trophies and scholarshipsInternational champion titles and recognition; scholarship opportunities exist through DECA partners but were not confirmed on the pages checked.

What DECA is

DECA is a career and technical student organisation running competitive events in marketing, finance, hospitality, management and entrepreneurship. Students compete through a school chapter at district, then state, then the International Career Development Conference. Events range from ten-minute role-plays where you are given a business scenario and prep time, to written projects developed across a whole year. The breadth means almost any interest in business has an event that fits it.

How the competition works

A competitive events programme across marketing, finance, hospitality and management, including role-play, written projects and testing events. Some associations require competitors in testing events to complete practice exams before ICDC. Members may also take part in Leadership Academies and the Emerging Leader Series.

Eligibility notes

You must be a member of a DECA chapter at your school. If your school has no chapter, a teacher can charter one.

Is DECA right for you?

Experience needed
None. Events range from introductory to advanced and there is a written specification for each.
Time commitment
A few hours a week during the season.
What you actually do
Most events give you a business scenario and ten minutes to prepare a role-play, which you then perform for a judge acting as a client.

A good fit if

  • You are interested in marketing, management or entrepreneurship
  • Your school has a chapter
  • You are comfortable improvising in front of an adult

Probably not for you if

  • Students without chapter access
  • Students who dislike role-play formats

Compare this against competitions matched to you

Common mistakes

  • Memorising a script. Judges probe, and rigid answers collapse.
  • Ignoring the performance indicators listed on the event sheet, which are literally the scoring rubric.
  • Entering too many events instead of preparing two properly.

How to register

  1. Find out whether your school has a DECA chapter. Ask in the business or careers department.
  2. If it does not, a teacher can charter one through deca.org.
  3. Join the chapter and pay membership dues.
  4. Choose your competitive event from the published list, and read that event's official guidelines and rubric.
  5. Compete at district level, then advance through state to the international conference.

Register on the official site

What skills you need

  • Business terminology
  • Role-play and improvisation
  • Written business documents
  • Presentation to a judge
  • Marketing and finance fundamentals

How to prepare

DECA role-plays are won on structure. Judges score against a published rubric with a fixed set of performance indicators, and the students who advance are those who explicitly address every indicator rather than those who know the most business theory. Reading your event's rubric is the highest-return hour you will spend.

What to study

Your event's performance indicators
Every event publishes the exact indicators judges score. Address each one aloud and by name. This is the whole game and most competitors do not do it.
Business terminology
The multiple-choice exam draws from published DECA business administration standards. Vocabulary is most of it.
Role-play structure
Greeting, restate the scenario, deliver recommendations tied to indicators, summarise, invite questions. A reliable structure beats improvisation under a ten-minute clock.
Written events
For project events, the written document is judged against a detailed rubric with page limits and required sections. Follow the format exactly; deviations lose points before content is even considered.

Full preparation guide, including a week-by-week plan

Recommended resources

Past problems and materials

Only materials the organiser or an authorised archive publishes openly are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

Can I compete in DECA without a school chapter?

No. DECA competition runs through school chapters. If your school has none, a teacher can charter one through deca.org, which is how most chapters start.

Which event should I choose?

Start from the published event list and read three or four rubrics. Role-play events suit students who think fast on their feet; written project events suit students who prefer sustained work over a year.

How expensive is DECA?

Membership dues are small. The significant costs are conference registration, travel and accommodation, particularly for the international conference. Many chapters fundraise specifically for this.

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