The program builds skills, promotes strategic problem-solving, and exposes students to complex problems and hard-to-handle numbers. All of which are a critical part of our technological society. It provides an opportunity to bring 7th and 8th graders together to prompt lively exchange of mathematical ideas through competition.

MATHCOUNTS^® impacts these student mathletes^® at an age when they are formulating attitudes about math and technology. The program timing in the educational process is selected to impact students when they can still elect to take the appropriate math courses through high school. This prepares them for college and future math-oriented careers. In fact, career planning is a major component of MATHCOUNTS^®. Through the program, parents, educators and the general public are all made aware of career opportunities in math. Information on local sponsors, their fields of industry and how careers in math relate to those industries can be made an integral part of a local MATHCOUNTS^® information packet.

Students are coached in basic arithmetic operations, math logic, factorials, fractions, linear algebra, probability, statistics, and polynomials. All parts of a typical junior high level math educational program. The program begins in September with distribution of materials packets to all junior high and middle schools across the U.S. Between September and February, the MATHCOUNTS^® coaches work with the materials to develop their team's skills. In February, regional competitions are conducted by the 600 local chapters of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and the local councils of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). The top student teams and individuals from the regionals advance to statewide competitions held in each state in March. The top four individuals from each state form a team to compete in the national finals held in May in Washington, D.C. Student participants receive certificates and compete for medals and trophies at local and state events. Scholarships are added to the rewards at the national competition.

How is the Program Funded?
The MATHCOUNTS^® regional and state competitions are funded by NSPE's local and state chapters and local industry sponsors. Funding for the national program and competition is provided by the CNA Insurance Companies, the Dow Chemical Company Foundation, General Motors Foundation, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Phillips Petroleum Company, and the 3M Foundation. Corporate supporters nationwide include AlliedSignal, Inc., GTE Foundation, Rockwell International, and the TRW Foundation.

In Arizona, MATHCOUNTS^® is sponsored and supported by the Intel Corporation located in Chandler. Additional sponsor opportunities are available. For information on sponsorship and how you can be involved, please contact the Arizona Society of Professional Engineers at 602-995-2187 or Paul Tremels at az5@tremels.org. For more information regarding the national MATHCOUNTS^®, go to their website at MATHCOUNTS.org