Students from Towson University’s College of Business and Economics reached the semifinals of the 2025 College Fed Challenge for the first time in TU history. The challenge is a team competition hosted by the Federal Reserve System for undergraduate students, where teams analyze economic and financial conditions and formulate a monetary policy recommendation, modeling the Federal Open Market Committee. TU’s team competed against 139 schools from 36 states.

“Seeing our students reach this level is a tremendous achievement and a real tribute to their hard work,” says assistant professor of economics Shuwei Zhang, who advises the team. “They showed a level of professionalism well beyond their years. I couldn’t be prouder of what they accomplished together.”

Representing the Federal Reserve’s Richmond District, TU placed among the top three teams in its region, alongside Davidson College and Wake Forest University, and earned a top-18 national ranking.

“With inflation still above target and the labor market continuing to cool, we recommended holding the federal funds rate steady while maintaining a slower, gradual reduction of the balance sheet,” says team leader Hannah Chang ’27. “This preserves flexibility to adjust monetary policy as incoming data evolve.”

The 2025 team members selected to present orally included Chang, Liam Walker ’27, Luke Ober ’26, Nolan Wilson ’27 and David Rosa Da Costa ’28.

Group of students from Fed Challenge