Valuation Challenge 2025

Northern Illinois University's premier organization within the exceptional College of Business, NIU Investment Association, is proud to announce this year's ON CAMPUS NIUIA Valuation Challenge.  Participating teams of top students in schools potentially worldwide select and investigate the hypothetical merger of two publicly traded firms belonging to an assigned industry.  In the Challenge's 1st round, teams submit a written report containing a thorough industry and company analysis which considers both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the deal as well as the ramifications for the companies involved.  Teams advancing to the Challenge's second round will submit a slide deck and then later will present and defend their strategy to the live virtual full board of NIUIA judges and members (exemplars of this second-round deck are featured below). 

Timeframe

February 7, 2025: Teams are notified by email of the selected industry (some schools filter out our mass emails; please email gnicolos@niu.edu if you are missing key communications)

February 21, 2025: Registration deadline (free! see below)

March 7, 2025: First round written report (and slide deck drafts) due 

March 17, 2025: Teams advancing to the second round are notified by email

April 2, 2025: Advancing teams' finalized slide decks due

April 5, 2025: Second round presentations at NIU's DeKalb campus during the CoB's Business Olympics

Prizes

1st Place: $200/person

2nd Place: $100/person

Benefits

Learn skills relevant to all professions and educational tracks

Develop teamwork, leadership and communication skills

Learn about risk, diversification, company analysis, industry analysis and investing

Develop and apply critical thinking and reading skills throughout the competition

Enhance your college and scholarship applications by building your résumé

Getting Started

Students/Advisors register for free below. 

Parents/Guardians must submit releases (below) for all registered student participants within 3 days of registration

Questions or comments?  Please reach out to our NIU Investment Association President at president.niuia@gmail.com or our Faculty Advisor and Finance Department Chair, Dr. Gina Nicolosi, at gnicolos@niu.edu. 

Thank you and we look forward to having you on campus this Spring!  Get excited and best of luck.