APPE IEB® National Competition
The 2026 APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (APPE IEB)® National Competition will be held in St. Louis on March 7 and 8 at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch.
Over two days, 36 teams of undergraduate college students from across the country will discuss issues using a set of cases that are drawn from real-life ethical challenges in education, business, life, and politics. The teams participating in the APPE IEB® are judged not by their answers to specific questions, but by their ability to identify and analyze the ethical dimensions of each case in a clear, focused, and thoughtful manner and with an appreciation for varied perspectives.
A team of case writers works on cases throughout the summer and fall and students have approximately two months to prepare for the competition. More than 200 teams from more than 170 schools compete in regional competitions each fall to earn a berth to the national competition.
The national competition is held in conjunction with APPE’s annual conference each year.
Tentative Event Schedule
Saturday, March 7, 2026
*All times Central
Noon: Optional Lunch and Panel Discussion (free to students who register in advance; limited to first 50 registrants)
1:00 p.m.: Team Check-In Opens
3:00 p.m.: Judge and Moderator Check-In
Opening Snack (free to all team members and coaches)
3:30 p.m: Volunteer Training
4:30 p.m.: Opening Plenary
5:00 p.m.: Round One Matches
6:30 p.m.: Round Two Matches
Dinner on own
Sunday, March 8, 2026
8:00 a.m.: Breakfast (free to all team members and coaches)
9:00 a.m.: Round Three Matches
10:30 a.m.: Round Four Matches
Noon: Announcements
Lunch (free to all finalist team members and coaches)
1:00 p.m.: Quarterfinals
2:30 p.m.: Semi-Finals
4:00 p.m.: Finals, Award Ceremony
Location
The competition will take place at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch which is located at 315 Chestnut Street, and just steps away from The Arch.
Ethics Bowlers goers can take advantage of a special rate of $174/night. Use this link to reserve your room by Feb. 10 at 11:59 p.m., ET. If you wish to reserve your room by phone, you may call Hyatt at 888-591-1234. Please, notify them you are with the APPE annual conference to receive the conference rate (Group Code: G-APP1).
Please note: APPE's contract requires a minimum number of nights at the conference hotel, and we get rebates and complimentary staff rooms based on the total number of night stays. If at all possible, we encourage you to stay at the conference hotel and be sure to use the APPE code and rate instead of a third party booking site so that we get credit for the booking.
St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) is 14 miles and approximately 20 minutes away.
The hotel does not have a complimentary shuttle to the airport or other destinations. Learn more about transportation options from the the St. Louis airport.
There is both valet and self-parking accessible to hotel guests. APPE registered guests who stay overnight receive 20% off parking at the hotel.
Self Parking: $40 / day (Only available Sunday - Thursday)
Valet Parking: $50 / day (Available 7 days a week)
More parking and transportation information.
There is no cost to attend for spectators. Seating is limited, especially in qualifying rounds.
2026 Qualifying Teams
- Bowling Green State University
- Cameron University
- Colorado School of Mines
- DePauw University
- Georgia Southern University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Louisiana State University
- Macalester College
- Northwestern University
- Occidental College
- Ohio Northern University
- Seattle University
- Snow College
- Spelman College
- St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Stanford University
- United States Military Academy
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- University of Central Florida
- University of Florida
- University of Houston
- University of Iowa
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- University of Missouri
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Richmond
- The University of Texas at San Antonio
- Utah State University
- Utah Valley University
- Washington and Lee University
- Whitworth University
- William & Mary
- Yale University
- Youngstown State University
2025 National Competition
Undergraduate students from Macalester College took home the national championship in the APPE Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (APPE IEB)®, which was held February 22 and 23 in Norfolk, Virginia. The final match against Stanford University featured cases about space weaponry and term limits for federal judges.
In the final, the students discussed the following questions:
- If you were tasked with outlining the United States’ policy with respect to the use of space weaponry, what would that policy look like?
- If you were tasked with producing a policy regarding the term lengths for federal judges (up to and including lifetime appointments), what would that policy look like?
Semi-finalists in the competition were teams from Seattle University and Youngstown State University. Quarterfinalists were teams from University of Arizona, University of California—Santa Barbara, University of Colorado—Boulder, and U.S. Military Academy, West Point.
