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A Unique Achievement by Four High School Students

You might think you know a lot about credit and banking, taxes and insurance. However, four teenagers from Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego probably know more than most adults. Their impressive knowledge led them to win the 2025 National Personal Finance Challenge, a financial literacy contest that concluded in June in Atlanta.

The competition started with nearly 18,000 students across the country. It is part of a broader national initiative aimed at promoting personal finance education in schools. The effort has shown results, as 38 states now require personal finance for graduation, up from 23 states in 2022. Christopher Caltabiano, chief program officer at the Council for Economic Education, which organizes the contest, emphasized the importance of financial literacy: “This is a real discipline with a real set of things you need to know. This is stuff you use every single day of your life.”

Close Contest and Unusual Wins

For the Scripps Ranch students, the journey to victory was dramatic. They narrowly won the contest by just one point, edging out a strong team from Mount Hebron High School in Maryland. Initially, they were on the verge of losing by a point, but the team managed to persuade the judges to reconsider two of their answers.

One question asked for the term describing a home or car loan where the balance exceeds the asset’s value. The students answered “negative equity,” which is correct. However, the judges were looking for the colloquial term “upside down.” Robert Schumann, a 17-year-old rising senior, explained, “Initially, they didn’t give it to us. From what we’ve seen, nobody has ever won a challenge, so we were stressing out a little bit that we got it incorrect.”

Another challenge came when answering a question about the first step to take if someone suspects they are a victim of a scam. The team responded with “Freeze your assets,” while the correct answer was “Call your bank.” They argued that calling the bank would naturally lead to freezing assets. Ultimately, the judges agreed with their reasoning.

Self-Taught Financial Experts

Scripps Ranch High School is located in California, one of the states that now requires personal finance education. However, this mandate will not take effect until 2027. Despite this, the students taught themselves through various resources. Ian Rasmuson, a history teacher who coached the team, noted that the students were self-taught. “These students really self-learned and self-taught themselves,” he said.

The students revived the school’s dormant entrepreneurship club last year, hoping to bring in guest speakers to discuss business and finance. Ryan Langsam Williams, a 17-year-old rising senior, shared, “What I had in mind was to do competitions like these, and to have everyone in the club involved.” He found the National Personal Finance Challenge online and helped prepare the team by reviewing coursework on the Council for Economic Education website, studying past contests, watching YouTube videos, and using artificial intelligence to create practice quizzes.

Test Your Financial Knowledge

If you're interested in testing your own financial literacy, here are 10 questions from the final round of the 2025 National Personal Finance Challenge:

1. What is the term given to the amount in an account that is separate from any earnings or interest that has accrued?
2. What is the name given to a digital credential that allows users to sign in to apps and websites without using a password?
3. Insurance companies evaluate risk for the purpose of issuing insurance coverage. This process is called what?
4. A system where people earn money by providing services or goods on demand, usually through digital platforms, is called what kind of economy?
5. What credit card transaction requires you to pay interest every day, including the first day of the transaction, until it is repaid in full?
6. On your way to work, you get caught in a hailstorm that damages your car. What type of car insurance covers the damage?
7. Steven contributes pretax dollars to an account managed by his employer for his health care expenses. If he does not spend all of his money by the end of the year, he will forfeit it. What kind of plan does he have?
8. Fred does not believe in banks and keeps his money in a sock buried in the backyard, under a new concrete patio. He faces little risk of having the money stolen, but his sock money is subject to what kind of risk?
9. You buy bonds from a corporation and notice that the company can buy the outstanding bonds from you before the maturity date. What is this feature called?
10. What is the name given to a stock that pays a higher-than-average dividend?

The answers are: 1) Principal. 2) Passkey. 3) Underwriting. 4) Gig. 5) A cash advance. 6) Comprehensive. 7) A Flexible Spending Account. 8) Inflation risk. 9) A call feature. 10) Income stock.

Christopher Caltabiano noted, “I think you should feel pretty darn good about yourself if you get seven out of 10.”