Competitions
Where MCBA members compete.
The national contests our members enter, the season they run on, and the Summit and Startup Challenge that MCBA runs itself.
Our flagship event
MCBA Student Business Leaders Summit
Once a year, MCBA brings every chapter together for a day built to feel like the real business world. Learn from people who've done it, meet the people who can open doors, and put your own ideas on the line.
- When
- Date TBDExpected in spring 2027, exact date to be announced
- Tickets
- $32, 20% off
- On the day
- Three competitions, judged live
The national competitions members enter
Beyond the Summit, MCBA members compete on the regional, state, and national stage, and every member gets the study tools to be ready. Wharton is the exception: its rules bar outside prep, and MCBA keeps to them.
DECA
Regionals · States · ICDC
Role-play and written events across marketing, finance, hospitality, business management, entrepreneurship, and personal finance, with structured prep at every level.
Where it sits in the season
District competitions land in the winter, the state conference in late winter, and ICDC in the spring.
FBLA
States · NLC · Role play
Twelve role play events: the objective test that picks the finalists, then the role play itself, practiced out loud with an AI judge on the event's rating sheet.
Where it sits in the season
Regional rounds, where a state holds them, come in the winter; the state leadership conference is in the spring, and the National Leadership Conference in the summer.
National Personal Finance Challenge
NPFC · Team · Case study
Budgeting, credit, investing, and risk management, tested in a case-based team competition.
Where it sits in the season
Online qualifying windows open through the winter, with nationals in the spring.
National Economics Challenge
NEC · Micro · Macro
Micro, macro, and international economics in quiz-bowl and critical-thinking rounds, the most prestigious high-school econ contest in the U.S.
Where it sits in the season
Online qualifying runs through the winter, with the national finals in the spring.
Wharton Investment Challenge
Portfolio · Research · Global
Manage a simulated portfolio with your team and defend an investment thesis to Wharton judges. Wharton prohibits outside coaching and courses, so MCBA offers investing education, not Wharton prep.
Where it sits in the season
Registration and the trading period run in the fall, with finals in the spring.
Stock Market Game
SMG · Simulation · Trading
Live simulated trading over a full term, tracked on a real-time leaderboard. The mechanics of real markets, low-stakes.
Where it sits in the season
Sessions run through the fall and again in the spring.
Data Analytics
Analysis · Simulator
Read the news, charts, and datasets like an analyst and run a portfolio simulator, MCBA's own training in reading markets.
For everything above except Wharton, members get full prep inside the Competition Academy: flashcards, practice exams, mock challenges, and progress tracking. Wharton's rules bar outside coaching, so for it MCBA offers investing education, not prep.
MCBA is independent of DECA Inc., Future Business Leaders of America and the organizer of every other competition listed here. Their names are used only to identify the competitions.
The competition season at a glance
From fall kickoff to spring nationals, open any milestone to see what happens and when.
Chapters onboard new members, everyone picks the competitions they'll compete in, and prep begins inside the Competition Academy.
Teams register for the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition and start managing their simulated portfolio online.
Members trade a simulated portfolio through the fall, tracked on a live leaderboard. The mechanics of real markets, low-stakes.
Members compete in DECA district events across role-play and written categories, aiming to qualify for the state conference.
Team online testing windows for the National Economics Challenge and National Personal Finance Challenge open through the winter.
Our flagship day: guest speakers, workshops, networking, and the live Startup Challenge pitch to a board of investors for real funding.
State-level DECA competition. Top placers earn a spot at the International Career Development Conference in the spring.
State-level FBLA competition: the objective tests, then the role play finals. Top finishers qualify for the National Leadership Conference in the summer.
National Economics Challenge finals, National Personal Finance Challenge nationals, and the Wharton Global Finale, the season's biggest stages.
DECA's international championship, where state qualifiers compete against the best chapters from around the world.
FBLA's national championship, where state qualifiers compete against chapters from across the country.
Each bar is a milestone's typical window across a school year, August to July. They are windows, not dates: exact dates are confirmed with chapters, and the Summit's date is to be announced.
The competitions MCBA runs
Three live competitions at the Summit. Every MCBA member can enter.
The MCBA Startup Challenge
Student members build a venture and pitch it to a board of investors live, at the Summit. If the board believes in you, they back you with real money. This isn't a mock exercise: the funding is real, and so is the pressure.
Currently
Up to $10K
awarded in real funding, decided live by a panel of investors
It may go higher. At the judges' discretion, under official rules published before entries open.
- Who
- MCBA student members
- Format
- Live pitch to an investor board
- Reward
- Funding for the ventures that earn it
MCBA Business Consulting Challenge
A real business case, 30 minutes to crack it, then present to judges.
Team: 1 to 3 students
MCBA Corporate Strategy Challenge
Run the company. Decide the strategy. Defend it under questioning.
Team: 1 to 3 students
Compete with a chapter behind you.
Members get study material for the national competitions inside the Academy, and a chapter to compete with. Wharton is the exception: its rules bar outside coaching, so MCBA offers investing education there, not prep.