Due to continued grading issues in many schools and districts caused by the pandemic, GPAs for the 2021-2022 competition season will be calculated in accordance with the following:
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GPAs will be based on one academic year of calculable grades (letter and/or numerical grades and not pass/fail), not two years as in the past.
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Terms without calculable grades cannot be used.
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Grades used from the 2019-2020 academic year, including summer grades, must be calculated in the same way they were calculated for the 2020-2021 competition season.
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Finding 12 months of calculable grades may require using graded terms from a year or two before the pandemic.
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The 12 months of calculable grades may be separated by non-calculable terms (i.e. there may be a term or terms not used chronologically in the middle of the terms used).
The eligibility guidelines and GPA calculation forms have been updated for the 2021-22 season and can be found under the "Coaches" link.The 2021 USAD
Virtual Nationals Preliminary Results.
The outlines for the 2021-2022 Academic Decathlon curriculum have been posted!
The curricular theme for the 2021-2022 Academic Decathlon will be Water: A Most Essential Resource. Click here for more details.
GPA calculations and school closures due to COVID-19:
Click here for details on USAD’s updated eligibility guidelines which address how GPAs will be calculated from the impact of school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Check out the video from the 2019 USAD Nationals in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Check out the video from 2019 USAP Nationals in Nashville, Tennessee.
United States Academic Decathlon®
The United States Academic Decathlon® is a ten-event scholastic competition for teams of high school students.
Each high school enters a team of nine students: 3 Honor students (3.80 - 4.00 GPA), 3 Scholastic students (3.20 - 3.799 GPA), and 3 Varsity students (0.00 - 3.199 GPA).
The theme for the 2020–2021 Academic Decathlon is The Cold War.
United States Academic Pentathlon®
Get ready for the Decathlon: the rapidly-growing Pentathlon program allows middle school students a chance to start experiencing the benefits of Academic Decathlon ahead of schedule.
Academic Pentathlon is comprised of five academic events: Literature, Mathematics, Fine Arts, Science and Social Science.
Click here for more information.
USAD Individual Competition
The United States Academic Decathlon Individual Competition has been created to help individuals achieve their individual academic goals.
Home school students, alternative school students, team alternates, and Academic Decathlon team members, this competition is for you!
USAD International Competition
USAD continues to recruit new schools for the International Competition. All English speaking International Schools are encouraged to participate. Teams for the International Academic Decathlon are created in the same manner as for the Academic Decathlon. Click here to find out how to get involved!