Studies have long shown that high school students are woefully uninformed about personal finances and how to manage them. But the COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed how many American adults live on the financial edge, has boosted ongoing efforts to make financial literacy lessons a school requirement.
Seven states now require a stand-alone financial literacy course as a high school graduation requirement, and five additional states' requirements take effect in the next year or two. About 25 mandate at least some financial training, sometimes as part of an existing course. This year, another 20 states or so have considered setting or expanding similar rules.
Opponents of the state mandates say the requirements, while laudable, can infringe on limited time available for other high school electives and would impose costly teacher training or hiring requirements.
