California Academic Decathlon Association

California Academic Decathlon promotes academic excellence and life-long learning development to Sacramento area students during and beyond their high school education.

For the past 43 years, CAD has provided learning skills and support to over 500,000 of California’s high school students so they can succeed in school and beyond.  Through CAD’s program, students work collaboratively and learn the importance of academic success, rewarding them for their efforts. Students of all achievement levels participate in a variety of demanding and challenging academic events while building teamwork and a competitive spirit.  Our state competition is expanded to offer a Heptathlon which is an individual competition for students not participating in the championship. 

Academic Decathlon works in teams of student members, known as Decathletes.  Each team consists of Honor decathletes (GPA 3.80-4.0), Scholastic decathletes (GPA 3.20-3.79), and Varsity decathletes (GPA 0.0-3.19).  Each team spends months working together in preparation for a rigorous competition season against other high schools. 

The Decathlon is one of the most rigorous and challenging academic competitions of its kind.  Students from all academic success levels prepare yearlong by studying for ten different testing events, including Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Literature, Math, Music, Science, Social Science and Speech.  The California Academic Decathlon is excited to announce that the overall curricular theme for 2022–2023 is The American Revolution and The New Nation.