United States Academic Decathlon National Championship


The United States Academic Decathlon is an American academic competition for high school students. The United States Academic Decathlon National Championship, first held in 1982, pits winners at the state level against each other for a national title. The Academic Decathlon consists of 10 events: art, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, math, music, science, social science, and speech. The Super Quiz replaces one of the seven objective events; since 2003, it has alternated between replacing science and social science. The Academic Decathlon requires participation from students of all levels of academic ability; teams generally consist of nine members, who are divided into three divisions based on grade point average: Honors, Scholastic, and Varsity. Though teams consist of nine members, only the top two individuals from each category are counted in the final team score. Each student has the possibility of scoring up to 10,000 points, for a combined team score of 60,000.
At the national competition, Schools compete based on size and are divided into three divisions. However, this separation is only limited to overall team score and overall individual score. Nine overall team medals are awarded: gold, silver and bronze for each division. Similarly, 27 overall individual medals are awarded: gold, silver and bronze for Honors, Scholastic, and Varsity in each division. The rest of the medals—for example, gold in art for Honors, or silver in math for Varsity—are awarded to the top scoring persons regardless of division. In addition, winning teams have often been invited to meet the President of the United States.
In April 1982, the first Nationals was held at Loyola Marymount University in California—16 states and the District of Columbia participated. However, the competition's founder, Dr. Robert Peterson, was inspired by the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He hoped to make Academic Decathlon an international event, and so at the 1984 Nationals, Canada, Mexico, and New Zealand fielded teams in addition to teams from 32 U.S. states. The inclusion of foreign countries did not become a regular occurrence, however. There was no more international participation until 1989, when teams from Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro competed. Since then, no more than a few teams a year have competed at Nationals. Since the first national event in 1982, only three states have ever won the National Competition: California, Texas, and Wisconsin, with California having won the majority of the National Competitions. El Camino Real High School from California currently holds the record for the most wins, having won its eighth national title in 2018. The current National Champion is Granada Hills Charter High School from Granada Hills, California.
In 2006, the small school virtual competition was created for schools with 650 or fewer students. Two years later, the medium school virtual competition was added to accommodate schools with a student population between 650 and 1300. In 2010, the virtual competition was expanded to include large schools by allowing the second-highest performing school in each state to compete in a large school e-Nationals. These contests are held via the internet and as such, the interview and speech events are excluded. The remaining eight tests are completed on the computer and results are submitted electronically to USAD for scoring. Because only the seven multiple choice tests and essay are used, team scores are out of 48,000 points instead of 60,000. Despite it being a virtual competition, winning schools are awarded trophies and medals for their efforts. According to USAD, the goal of the small and medium school competitions is to "enhance learning, growth and recognition" for more schools participating in Academic Decathlon.

National winners

YearLocationWinner SchoolScoreNotesReference-
1982Los Angeles, CaliforniaPalo Alto, California—The District of Columbia and 17 states participated at the inaugural competition.-
1983Los Angeles, CaliforniaPalo Alto, California——-
1984Los Angeles, CaliforniaJ.J. Pearce, Texas—This is the first year that drew competitors from other countries. Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and South Korea all participated.-
1985Los Angeles, CaliforniaJ.J. Pearce, Texas46,976—-
1986Los Angeles, CaliforniaJ.J. Pearce, Texas46,435—-
1987†Irving, TexasJohn Marshall, California49,369Varsity David Florey of John Marshall records an individual score of 8,936 points, the highest score of that year's competition.-
1988San Antonio, TexasJ.J. Pearce, Texas46,669—-
1989Providence, Rhode IslandW.H. Taft, California45,857—-
1990Des Moines, IowaLake Highlands, Texas46,627—-
1991Los Angeles, CaliforniaJ.J. Pearce, Texas48,946—-
1992Boise, IdahoJ. Frank Dobie, Texas49,710Tyson Rogers, an Honors from Mountain View Mesa, scores 9,100 points and is the first individual to break the 9,000 point barrier.-
1993Phoenix, ArizonaPlano East, Texas47,485—-
1994Newark, New JerseyW.H. Taft, California49,372—-
1995Chicago, IllinoisJohn Marshall, California49,935Honors Stephanie Camacho of John Marshall records an individual score of 9346 points, the highest score of that year's competition in mathematic and highest individual score team contribution.--
1996Atlanta, GeorgiaJ. Frank Dobie, Texas49,835—-
1997†St. George, UtahJames E. Taylor, Texas52,260—-
1998Providence, Rhode IslandEl Camino Real, California52,131—-
1999Orange County, CaliforniaMoorpark, California50,225—-
2000†San Antonio, TexasJames E. Taylor, Texas52,470—-
2001Anchorage, AlaskaEl Camino Real, California46,547—-
2002Phoenix, ArizonaWaukesha West, Wisconsin48,871—-
2003Erie, PennsylvaniaMoorpark, California51,423.5—-
2004Boise, IdahoEl Camino Real, California50,656.8—-
2005Chicago, IllinoisEl Camino Real, California49,009.4—-
2006San Antonio, TexasW.H. Taft, California51,659.7—-
2007Honolulu, HawaiiEl Camino Real, California52,148.4—-
2008†Garden Grove, CaliforniaMoorpark, California53,119.4Moorpark records the highest team score ever and beats the Wisconsin team, Waukesha West, by 23 points. Additionally, Alli Blonski of Waukesha West scores 9,321, then the highest individual score in the National Competition's history.-
2009Memphis, TennesseeMoorpark, California51,289.5—-
2010Omaha, NebraskaEl Camino Real, California49,951.7—-
2011Charlotte, North CarolinaGranada Hills Charter, California52,113.5—-
2012†Albuquerque, New MexicoGranada Hills Charter, California54,081Granada Hills wins for the second year in a row, breaking 54,000 points for the first time. Jimmy Wu of Granada Hills is the first Varsity student to break the 9,000 point barrier. His teammate Sean Wejebe scores 9,441, a new record for the National Competition.-
2013Minneapolis, MinnesotaGranada Hills Charter, California51,319.6Granada Hills wins for the third year in a row. They are the second public school to win the national title three years in a row.-
2014Honolulu, HawaiiEl Camino Real, California52,601.1El Camino Real's 7th title.-
2015†Garden Grove, CaliforniaGranada Hills Charter, California53,592.30Granada Hills's fourth title in five years.-
2016†Anchorage, AlaskaGranada Hills Charter, California54,195.1Granada Hills Charter wins fifth title in six years, and beats all-time record for highest score in the National Championship. Team member Melissa Santos also beats the record for highest individual score in the National Competition, with 9,511.3 points out of 10,000.-
2017†Madison, WisconsinGranada Hills Charter, California54,507.7Granada Hills Charter wins sixth title in seven years. Team member Melissa Santos beats her own record for highest individual score in the National Competition, with 9,551.4 points out of 10,000.
2018†Frisco, TexasEl Camino Real, California54,531.1El Camino real wins their eighth title.
2019†Bloomington, MinnesotaGranada Hills Charter, California53,108.5Granada Hills Charter High School wins their seventh title.-