Competitions · Business and economics · USAEBO
USAEBO, the USA Economics and Business Olympiad.
Anyone can enter it from anywhere, and anyone can win a medal. Only students with US status can take one of the five Team USA places it exists to fill. Both halves of that are worth knowing before you register.
Read this first
Entering and being selected are two different things.
USAEBO is the only route for a K-12 student to reach the US team for the International Economics Olympiad. Whether that route is open to a particular student depends on where they study.
Entry is open to any nationality
There is no nationality restriction on competing. The only entry requirement is being aged 20 or under on the first day of the international olympiad that year.
Team USA is not
Selection for the national team requires US citizenship, US permanent residency, or full-time enrolment at a middle or high school in the United States.
Which still leaves the medals
A student outside the United States competes in both rounds on the same terms and is eligible for gold, silver, bronze and honourable mention. Only the five team places are closed.
So be clear about the goal
If the aim is a national team place, check the status requirement first. If the aim is a serious economics result, the competition is fully open.
At a glance
What the olympiad is.
USAEBO is an individual competition in two rounds, sat entirely online. It selects five students each year to represent the United States at the International Economics Olympiad, which draws entrants from more than sixty countries.
- Who can enter
- Anyone aged 20 or under on the first day of the international olympiad that year, of any nationality
- Who can make Team USA
- US citizens, US permanent residents, and full-time students at a US middle or high school
- Format
- Individual, in two rounds. Round two is reached by qualifying from round one
- Round one
- 25 multiple-choice questions, testing breadth of knowledge
- Round two
- Free-response questions requiring worked reasoning, testing depth of analysis
- Where
- Online, from school, home or a library
- Proctoring
- Required in both rounds, using the organiser’s designated technology
- Three subject areas
- Microeconomics, macroeconomics, and business and finance
- Round one awards
- Distinguished Honor Roll, High Honor Roll, Honor Roll
- Round two awards
- Five Team USA places, plus gold, silver, bronze and honourable mention
- Registration opens
- 1 September for the following year’s competition
The cheating policy
One instance, and they will tell the universities.
This is the most severe integrity policy of any competition on this site, and it is stated openly. It is worth reading before a student sits an online, remotely proctored exam.
A permanent ban
A student found to have cheated is disqualified permanently - from the current cycle and from every future one. There is no route back.
And proactive disclosure
If a disqualified student later applies to an educational programme - a university, a summer programme, a scholarship - and that body asks for the student’s USAEBO record, the organisers state they will disclose the cheating and the disqualification.
Decisions are final
The organisers state that all determinations are final. There is no published appeal.
Which makes the proctoring setup worth rehearsing
Both rounds are sat at home or at school under remote proctoring. Understanding exactly what the software permits, before the day, protects a student from an accidental breach.
The syllabus
Three areas, published in full.
The organisers publish the whole syllabus, which makes preparation unusually plannable. Read the note underneath about how it compares to AP.
| Area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Microeconomics | Demand, supply, elasticity and equilibrium; consumer choice; firm behaviour; non-competitive markets including monopoly; market failure; government intervention; labour markets; game theory |
| Macroeconomics | Macroeconomic data; economic growth; labour markets; the AD-AS model; the IS-LM model; monetary and fiscal policy; economic fluctuations; international economics |
| Business and finance | Financial planning; the banking system; the time value of money; saving and borrowing; investment, financial instruments and risk management; insurance |
The competition is described as overlapping heavily with AP Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, and most of it does. Two items do not: the IS-LM model and game theory are outside the AP economics courses. A student relying on AP preparation alone will meet both for the first time in the exam.
The two rounds
Breadth first, then depth.
The rounds test genuinely different things, and preparing only for the first leaves a student unready for the second.
Round one - twenty-five multiple-choice questions
Open to everyone who registers. It rewards coverage: knowing something about every part of a three-area syllabus beats knowing one area thoroughly.
Round two - free response with reasoning
By qualification only. Answers must show the argument, not just the conclusion. This is where the national team and the medals are decided.
The shift is from recall to argument
A student who can select the right answer cannot necessarily write out why it is right. Practising written economic reasoning is the specific preparation round two needs.
And the destination is IEO
The five selected students represent the United States at the International Economics Olympiad, alongside teams from more than sixty countries.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for USAEBO.
A published syllabus and two online rounds make this one of the more straightforward competitions to plan - provided the gaps get filled.
Filling the two gaps AP leaves
IS-LM and game theory sit on the syllabus and outside AP economics. Both are teachable in a few weeks and both are places where an AP-prepared student is exposed.
Covering business and finance
A third of the syllabus is banking, the time value of money, investment, risk and insurance. No school economics course covers it, and most entrants skip it.
Writing economics, not selecting it
Round two is free response with reasoning shown. Practising written argument under time is the single most useful thing between the two rounds.
And testing the proctoring setup early
Both rounds are remotely proctored with required technology, and the penalty for a breach is permanent. Doing a full technical rehearsal is not optional here.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for USAEBO at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for USAEBO is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Case and submission pack
The same material our own USAEBO students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFPast cases and question sets
- PDFA worked example of a full submission
- PDFEvent categories and the judging criteria, broken down
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Bai
Master's in social entrepreneurship from Hult International Business School in San Francisco and a business administration degree from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, with an exchange at Texas A&M's Mays Business School. Accredited by the College Board, Cambridge International and the IBO, a certified intermediate economist, and a judge at the 2020 Diamond Challenge global final and the 2021 NEC China final.
Zhang
Master's in engineering management from NYU and a double degree in finance and supply-chain management from Syracuse. Nearly nine years overseas and in finance, including at a well-known venture firm - experience that feeds scenario-based teaching. College Board-accredited.
Jiang
Master's in business analytics from the Schulich School of Business, a finance and business economics degree from York University and a software engineering degree from the Harbin Institute of Technology. Years in North America, university teaching before returning, and long experience across the whole economics curriculum.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for USAEBO, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
USAEBO, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Can a student outside the United States enter?
Yes. There is no nationality restriction on competing - the only entry requirement is being aged 20 or under on the first day of that year’s international olympiad.
Can a student outside the United States make Team USA?
No. Selection for the national team requires US citizenship, US permanent residency, or full-time enrolment at a middle or high school in the United States. Medals and honour rolls remain open to everyone.
What are the two rounds?
Round one is 25 multiple-choice questions and is open to all registrants. Round two is free-response questions requiring worked reasoning, and is reached by qualifying from round one.
Where do I sit it?
Online, from school, home or a library. Both rounds require proctoring using the organiser’s designated technology.
What does it cover?
Microeconomics, macroeconomics, and business and finance. The micro and macro sections largely overlap with AP, but IS-LM and game theory are on the syllabus and outside the AP courses.
What awards are there?
Round one: Distinguished Honor Roll, High Honor Roll and Honor Roll. Round two: five Team USA places, plus gold, silver, bronze and honourable mention.
What happens if a student is caught cheating?
A permanent disqualification from the current and all future cycles. The organisers also state that if a disqualified student applies to a university, summer programme or scholarship that asks for their USAEBO record, the cheating and disqualification will be disclosed. All decisions are final.
What is IEO?
The International Economics Olympiad, an international economics, business and finance competition for secondary students drawing entrants from more than sixty countries. USAEBO selects the United States team for it.
When does registration open?
1 September for the following year’s competition.
Related
Other economics competitions.
What students enter alongside USAEBO.
USAEBO enquiries
Open to enter. Not open to be selected.
Every medal in USAEBO is available to a student anywhere; only the five national team places require US status. Tell us where the student studies and what they are aiming at, and an advisor will say plainly what is reachable and what the syllabus gaps are.