For the first five weeks of the semester, a group of Siena economics students were hard at work developing a presentation for the 2025 College Federal Reserve Challenge.
The College Fed Challenge is a national undergraduate competition held each year by the Federal Reserve. Student teams are tasked with assessing recent economic conditions in order to create a monetary policy recommendation. Teams then virtually present their analysis and decision in early October through a 15-minute video submission.
Dr. Aaron Pacitti has been teaching Siena’s Fed Challenge course since 2017. In his words, “It’s a unique class because students have an opportunity to not just learn about economic policy, but actively put themselves in the shoes of the Federal Open Market Committee. Presentations are watched and judged by Federal Reserve economists, so students have to level up and pitch their talk not to a professor, but to some of the world’s best economists.” The emphasis on hands-on experience within the course sets it apart. “The Fed Challenge was an incredible opportunity to learn more about monetary policy. The class really broadened my understanding of how the Federal Reserve decides the appropriate path for policy,” said economics major Bradley Fraser ‘26. “Such a hands on, real-world class is not only incredibly engaging, but also so informative and helpful for future decisions, whether that be career-wise or financial decisions.”
Hands-on activities enable the Fed Challenge course to achieve its main objective of building practical skills. Dr. Pacitti said, “The competition between schools is fun, but the goal isn’t to advance or to win–though that would be nice–but to give students a chance to really get in the weeds of economic policy-making and to sharpen their communication and analytical skills.” Kerry Wise ‘27 an Economics & Applied Data Science Major spoke about her experience as a presenter for the Fed Challenge, saying, “This class greatly enhanced my presentation skills and deepened my understanding of real-world economic issues that focus on the analysis of actual economic data.” Courses like the Fed Challenge drastically help put students’ knowledge into real-life models that encourage them to collaborate as a group in making decisions.
In addition to writing and communication skills, students developed both teamwork and leadership skills. Both Bradley and Kerry took part in the presentation team, in Bradley’s words, “The group aspect was a great test of how well myself and my classmates can collaborate in a large team. Also the policy decisions that we made can be applied to real-world decisions, such as when is the right time to take out loans, and what to invest in given the current state of the economy.”
The Fed Challenge is a uniquely beneficial experience each year thanks to the incorporation of current economic and political conditions. Given the weakening labor market and rising inflation rates, combined with ongoing uncertainty from government shutdown during Trump’s administration, the team felt a modest rate cut was the best way to support growth while keeping inflation in check. The government shutdown did occur days before the project, prompting the team to reevaluate the original plan. These current events were given special focus in the team’s final video, which was submitted to the Fed on October 8.
Although the project has been submitted, Fed Challenge students will continue to participate in outreach activities to share what they’ve learned. For the third year in a row, groups of students will be joining Dr. Pacitti as guests on the daily current events Roundtable of Albany’s National Public Radio, which broadcasts to roughly one million people. “It is rare to be able to give your opinion and have so many people actually listen!” Dr. Pacitti said. He also noted, “This will be a particularly interesting year as students will be on four different Fridays following the new administration’s controversial policies,” allowing for dialogue about how political circumstances have impacted the economy and the Federal Reserve. Anyone interested in this project can listen to Fed Challenge students on WAMC 90.3 F on alternating Fridays starting October 31 at 9 a.m.