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The 2023 Hawaiʻi State Economics Challenge (HSEC) returned to an in-person format for the first time in four years, and the Challenge was hosted for the very first time by HPU. On April 5, over 40 students from three Hawaiʻi high schools competed in this year’s State Challenge Final. The HSEC is the premier economics competition for high school students in the state, testing micro and macroeconomic principles and knowledge of international economics and current events. Schools that competed this year were Kalani High School, Maryknoll School, and ʻIolani School.

“Our students are the future, and HPU is proud to be partnering with the Hawaiʻi Council on Economic Education to run student-centered events like the Hawaiʻi State Economics Challenge that promote economic literacy throughout the state,” said HPU Director of the Center for Economic Education Gerard Dericks, Ph.D.

Teams competed in groups of three to four students, and they were guided by a teacher-coach. The top four teams competed in a final round of competition in a Jeopardy-style format, and the winner of the final round becomes the state champion.

The HSEC runs in two divisions. The Adam Smith division, for AP, international baccalaureate, and honors students, and returning competitors; and the David Ricardo division, for first-time challenge competitors who have taken no more than one economics course. 

This year, ʻIolani School won both the David Ricardo division and the Adam Smith division. The school will proceed to the national semi-finals where they will compete in a 45-question online quiz. The finals will be held in New York City.

For the first time in HSEC history, the Challenge was hosted by HPU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Economics Education. Dericks helped lead the final round of the HSEC in the afternoon, and HPU Associate Professor Noelia Paez served as a judge in the final round of the competition. 

The HPU Center for Entrepreneurship and Economics Education launched in 2021 with the mission to empower Hawaiʻi to build a more robust economic future through broadening and deepening economic education, and helping to cultivate entrepreneurial values throughout the state.

The Center also conducts “Teach the Teacher” programs for Hawaiʻi high school teachers to help educate and equip teachers to incorporate economics principles and entrepreneurial values into their lessons.

To learn more about HPU’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Economics Education click here.