Class of 2025

For the 2025 NRF Foundation University Challenge, teams of two to four students from NRF University Member schools competed in the business case competition for a chance to earn tuition scholarships and industry recognition.

Carter’s, the largest branded marketer of young children’s apparel in North America, tasked teams with taking a deep dive into how the company could expand in their wholesale space and beyond. In this case, teams identified new and innovative retailing opportunities, outside of Carter’s physical store locations and e-commerce as points of sale.

Pitches were evaluated by a group of retail executive judges on their research and understanding, creativity and feasibility, visual effectiveness and structure and quality. Ten teams advanced to the semifinals, which included Q&A calls with a panel of new retail executive judges.

Three teams advanced to the final round, where they pitched to a third panel of judges.

The Scholarships

The first-place team will receive a $30,000 tuition scholarship per team, the second-place team will receive $20,000 per team and the third-place team will receive $20,000 per team.