Brief History

The State Mathematics Contest was initiated in 1979 to provide state level competition in comprehensive mathematics for those students who had excelled in regional contests held earlier across the state. Under the sponsorship of the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the State Department of Public Instruction, regional site winners were invited to the Research Triangle Park for testing to determine the top math students in the state. Further, contest officials sought to locate new regional test sites where none existed at that time. Today, twelve comprehensive test sites exist, and the students who excel at any one of those sites are invited to participate in the State Math Contest.

The State Contest has expanded over the years to include state finals in Algebra I, II and Geometry. Results from three regional final sites are used to determine the top five performers in the three subjects.