High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The United States Academic Decathlon (USAD; often referred to as Academic Decathlon and abbreviated to Acadec and Acadeca, among other names) is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon Association. The competition consists of seven multiple choice tests, two performance events, and an essay. Academic Decathlon was created by Robert Peterson in Orange County, California for local schools in 1968 and expanded to a nationwide setting in 1981. That year, 17 states and the District of Columbia participated, a number which has grown to include most of the United States as well as occasional international schools since then.