The Budget Simulator leaderboard ranks students based on how they've managed their personal finances within the simulator. Unlike Course Performance, which measures completion, this one measures outcomes — and outcomes are the result of dozens of small financial decisions.
Selecting Budget Simulator
From the Rankings tab, set the Category dropdown to Budget Simulator.
The Metric Cards
Top Performer — Currently leading student (e.g., "Kerry Ao")
Class Avg (Checking + Savings) — Combined average balance across checking and savings (e.g., $2,393.66)
Class Avg Savings — Average savings balance specifically (e.g., $2,076.41)
Category — "Budget Simulator" (label only)
The Leaderboard Columns
The Budget Simulator leaderboard table shows:
Rank — Position (1, 2, 3, …)
Student — Student name
Checking Account — Current checking balance
Savings Account — Current savings balance
Credit Card — Current credit card balance (debt)
Current Phase — Where the student is in the simulator timeline (e.g., "College Student")
How Students Are Ranked
The primary ranking metric is Checking + Savings combined balance, with credit card debt subtracted. So a student with $317.25 Checking and $2,076.41 Savings — but with $0 Credit Card debt — would rank above a student with $5,000 total but $3,500 in credit card debt.
Why this metric? The Budget Simulator teaches that wealth-building isn't just about earning more — it's about saving and avoiding bad debt. The leaderboard reflects net financial health, not gross income.
Reading the Data
The Budget Simulator leaderboard reveals as much about how students play as how well they play. Things to look for:
High Savings, low Checking This student is disciplined — they move money to savings rather than letting it accumulate in checking. They likely have specific savings goals.
High Checking, low Savings This student isn't separating money for the future. They may be making good immediate decisions but not building wealth. Discussion opportunity: what's the role of savings vs. checking?
Credit Card with a balance This student has used credit and hasn't paid it off. Could be intentional (e.g., they used credit to handle an unexpected expense and are paying it down) or unintentional. Drill into their Event History in Student Performance to see the story.
Current Phase variation across the class Students don't all move through the simulator phases at the same speed. Students in "Career" phase have had more decisions and more income than students still in "College Student" phase. The leaderboard naturally rewards students who've engaged longer, but it's worth knowing why one student is ahead.
Facilitating Discussion
The Budget Simulator leaderboard is one of the best discussion-starters in the entire platform. Some prompts:
"Why is Kerry leading?" Have the top performer share their general strategy. They don't have to share specific events — just the philosophy. This makes financial concepts concrete: "I always skipped expensive events," "I built savings before buying anything optional," etc.
"What does the Credit Card column tell us about decisions?" Use the leaderboard to compare students who avoided credit card debt vs. those who didn't. Connect it to real-world financial principles.
"What's the gap between Checking and Savings?" Some students have aggressive savings rates; others don't. This is a window into how students think about delayed gratification.
"How does Phase progress affect ranking?" Talk about how having more time/decisions correlates with outcomes — but also how some students with fewer decisions are still doing well per-decision. Quality vs. quantity.
Tying to Real Financial Concepts
The leaderboard mirrors real financial reality: people who save, avoid bad debt, and make consistent good decisions outperform people who don't. Use this as the connective tissue between simulator gameplay and real-life financial literacy.
Related articles:
9.1 Rankings Tab Overview
9.6 Using Leaderboards in the Classroom
7.6 Student Performance Tab Deep-Dive (for drilling into individual student decisions)