International Economics Olympiad (IEO), with the US selection route USAEBO

They can sit the exams. USAEBO states registration is open regardless of citizenship, so anyone may take both rounds. To be selected for Team USA at the IEO, however, a student must be a U.S. citizen, a green card holder, or a full-time middle or high school student studying in the United States, and must be 20 or under on the first day of the international competition. Students on a visa attending U.S. schools meet that third condition.

Round 1 is 40 multiple-choice problems in one hour online, set for March 13, 2027 at 8 pm Eastern. Round 2 is open only to students who qualify from Round 1 and runs two hours of free-response problems where students must show their reasoning, on March 27 at 8 pm Eastern. Both rounds are taken digitally from home under the proctoring setup USAEBO specifies, so test the equipment early.

Round 1 awards Distinguished Honor Roll, High Honor Roll and Honor Roll. Round 2 awards Gold, Silver and Bronze medals plus honorable mentions, and five students are chosen from it to represent the United States at the IEO. For most high schoolers, any Round 2 medal is already a nationally comparable credential; making Team USA is a five-slot-a-year achievement.

Yes. USAEBO is open to K-12 students, and the only age limit is being 20 or under on the first day of the IEO. The difficulty sits at or above AP Economics and includes finance content outside the AP outline, so nearly all entrants are high schoolers. A middle schooler who has already worked through AP Micro and Macro loses very little by attempting Round 1, and can keep building toward it later through the Economics Olympiad club at Northwood High School in Irvine.

Finance and business. On top of micro and macro, the IEO track covers the time value of money, valuation, and risk and return, plus a team business case analysis - none of which sit in the AP outline. The usual path is to secure AP Micro and Macro first, add a separate finance block, then practice written reasoning on past open-response papers published on the official site.

Yes. The IEO has three parts: an economics paper, a finance paper, and a team business case presented and defended in English. Each country sends at most five competitors plus one or two team leaders. Individual gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded along with special honors such as Best in Economics, and the team business case is ranked separately. For reference, Team USA took one gold, one silver and one bronze at IEO 2026 in Shenzhen.

Japan has been confirmed as the host, but as of September 2026 the IEO has not published exact 2027 dates or the host city; watch ieo-official.org for the announcement. The U.S. selection route is already fixed: USAEBO registration closes February 27, 2027 at 11:59 pm Eastern, Round 1 is March 13 and Round 2 is March 27.

The IEO states that participation in the international olympiad itself is free, with travel usually arranged by each country's sending organization. USAEBO's 2027 page does not publish a registration fee, so the amount has to be checked on its own registration page - do not rely on third-party write-ups for a number the organizer has not posted. Verify fees, deadlines and proctoring requirements directly at usaebo.org.