- Grades1 to 12
- CostFree to $100
Business competitions for high school students
Pitch competitions, case events and finance challenges for grades 9 to 12. Pitch contests want a venture concept with real customer research behind it; career organisation events run hundreds of role-play and written events through a school chapter.
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person
Business
InvestWrite
A free national essay competition on investing, judged on reasoning rather than returns.
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- Grades4 to 12
- CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline
Engineering
The Paradigm Challenge
Solve a real social problem however you like, from age four upward, with a large prize pool.
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- Grades1 to 12
- CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereOnline
Business
The Stock Market Game
Manage a virtual $100,000 portfolio against other school teams over a full trading season.
Business
Blue Ocean Competition
A fully online entrepreneurship pitch competition with no written business plan required.
Business
Business Professionals of America
Competitive events in business, IT, digital media and management, with a strong technical event list.
234 days left
- Grades4 to 12
- CostFree to $30
- FormatTeam
- WhereOnline
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- Grades9 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatEither
- WhereOnline
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- Grades6 to 12
- Cost$20 to $1,500
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person
Business
FBLA
More than seventy competitive events in business, technology and finance, competed through a school chapter.
83 days left
- Grades6 to 12
- Cost$20 to $600
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person
Business
Global Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
A twelve-hour online startup sprint: the problem is revealed on the day and you pitch by the end of it.
Business
National Personal Finance Challenge
A team competition on earning, spending, saving, investing and managing credit, free to enter.
Coding
Technovation Girls
A free global season where girls aged 8 to 18 build an app or AI project and pitch it as a venture.
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- Grades9 to 12
- CostNot confirmed
- FormatTeam
- WhereOnline
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- Grades9 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatTeam
- WhereBoth
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- Grades3 to 12
- CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereOnline
Environment
The Earth Prize
A global environmental sustainability competition for teenagers, free to enter, with a substantial prize pool.
Business
Conrad Challenge
A year-long innovation competition where teams build a product and a business around a real global problem.
Business
DECA
Hundreds of role-play and written business events, competed through a school chapter up to an international conference.
Business
Diamond Challenge
Pitch a business or social venture concept against teams from more than a hundred countries, for a prize pool above $100,000.
Business
Harrington Foundation Accelerator
A free eight-week virtual accelerator ending in a live pitch, with real investment for the winner.
Math
Modeling the Future Challenge
Analyse a real dataset, quantify a risk, and make a recommendation, mentored by a working actuary.
Business
National Economics Challenge
The only national economics competition for United States high school students, run in two divisions.
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- Grades7 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatTeam
- WhereOnline
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- Grades6 to 12
- CostFree to $499
- FormatTeam
- WhereBoth
Check site
- Grades9 to 12
- Cost$20 to $600
- FormatEither
- WhereIn person
Check site
- Grades9 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatTeam
- WhereBoth
Check site
- Grades7 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatIndividual
- WhereOnline
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- Grades11 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatTeam
- WhereOnline
Check site
- Grades9 to 12
- CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereBoth
Scholarships and challenges
Prudential Emerging Visionaries
Awards for young people using financial or social innovation to solve a problem in their community.
Engineering
STEM Racing (formerly F1 in Schools)
Design, manufacture and race a miniature air-powered car, and run the team like a racing outfit. Rebranded from F1 in Schools to STEM Racing in 2024.
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- Grades9 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatIndividual
- WhereOnline
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- Grades6 to 12
- Cost$200 to $3,000
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person
Business
Wharton Investment Competition
Manage a virtual portfolio for a fictional client and defend your strategy to Wharton judges.
Check site
- Grades9 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatTeam
- WhereBoth
2 days left
Questions people ask about this
What is the best business competition for a beginner?
Start with something rated 1 or 2 out of 5 for difficulty on this page. Those assume no prior competition experience and usually publish past problems or past winning entries so you know exactly what you are walking into.
Are there free business competitions?
12 of the 20 listed here have no entry fee for the student. Note that a free entry fee is not the same as a free competition: team-based events can carry materials and travel costs, which each listing states separately.