The purposes of the University Interscholastic League Academic contests are to motivate students through comprehensive competitions, challenge students to think critically and provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of essential knowledge and skills.

The UIL academic program includes activities in multiple subject areas:

• Business Skills contests include Accounting and Computer Applications

• Essay contests include the Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Competition and Latino History Essay Competition

• Journalism contests include Copy Editing, Editorial Writing, Headline Writing, Feature Writing and News Writing

• Language Arts contests include Literary Criticism, Ready Writing and Spelling and Vocabulary

• Social Studies competitions include Current Issues & Events, and Social Studies

• Speech & Debate contests include Congress, Cross Examination Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Informative Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, Prose Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation.

• STEM contests include Calculator Applications, Computer Science, Mathematics, Number Sense, Robotics and Science

• Theatre contests include Filmmaking, One-Act Play and Theatrical Design

• A+ Academic contests includes 20 different events for grades 2-8