MATHCOUNTS is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that uses a mathematics-based competition to interest middle school students in engineering and science. MATHCOUNTS was started in Illinois over 30 years ago with the goal of providing enriching extracurricular opportunities to students and free, high-quality resources to educators.

The Illinois State competition is sponsored by the Illinois Engineering Initiative and administered by the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers (ISPE) staff and volunteers. ISPE chapters hold regional competitions during the month of February and the best teams advance to the state competition in March. Winners of the state competition then advance to the National Championships which occur in May.