The competition has been offered annually since 1938 and is administered by the Mathematical Association of America.
[4] The Putnam competition takes place on the first Saturday in December, and consists of two three-hour sittings separated by a lunch break.
In earlier years, the twelve questions were worth one point each, with no partial credit given.
At a participating college, any student who wishes to take part in the competition may (limited by the number of spots a school receives); but until 2019 the school's official team consisted of three individuals whom it designated in advance.
The top five individual scorers are named Putnam Fellows and awarded $2,500.
Each first-place team member, as well as the winner of the Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize, receives $1,000.
[9] Many Putnam Fellows have gone on to become distinguished researchers in mathematics and other fields, including three Fields Medalists—John Milnor (also an Abel Prize laureate), David Mumford, and Daniel Quillen—and two Nobel laureates in physics—Richard Feynman and Kenneth Wilson.