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Form a team of at least three people, then register for the competition by filling out this form. Team members must attend the same school or after school program and must be full-time high school students (U.S. equivalent of grades 9-12). Homeschool teams from the same geographic area are also invited to participate.

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After your team has registered, decide whether you would like to affirm or negate the 2023-24 IPPF topic, "Resolved: Governments should provide a universal basic income." Review the IPPF Topic Primer, which will be released over the summer, and conduct your own research before drafting your qualifying round essay. 

Note: Essays should be written following MLA style and include a cover page. Essays should be no more than 3,000 words, not including the cover page or works cited page(s).

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Submit your qualifying round essay by noon CDT on October 25, 2023, to ippf@brewerfoundation.com. (Click here to view sample essays from a prior year, on a prior topic.)

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Entries will be reviewed by members of the IPPF Essay Review Committee, who will evaluate the strength of each essay. (View the evaluation criteria here.) 

 

On November 8, 2023, the Top 64 teams will be announced. These teams begin a single-elimination, written debate tournament, with one school affirming the resolution and the other negating it. Essays are volleyed back and forth via email.

 

In December, judges will blindly review the essays in the order they were written and select the advancing teams. The process continues until the final eight teams are determined. (View the contest schedule here.)

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In March, the final eight teams will be named. These "Elite 8" teams earn an all-expenses-paid trip to New York to compete in the IPPF Finals on May 4, 2024. The IPPF Finals consist of oral debates in front of a panel of judges that includes professionals in law, business, politics, debate and academia. (Click here to review a list of judges from prior years.)

The IPPF World Champion is awarded a $10,000 grand prize and the Brewer Cup!

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