Only 21 States Require High School Students To Take Classes In Personal Finance To Graduate

You may remember that I recently said that American teachers are not qualified to teach personal finance to our children in our schools. And, they still aren’t. The article turned out to be one of the most popular postings for Own The Dollar, and it brought about the most comments and the most passionate comments of any posting I have ever written so far.

Now, the JumpStart Coalition For Personal Finance Literacy, a national coalition of organizations dedicated to improving the financial literacy of kindergarten through college-age youth, has put together an interesting graphic showing which states require personal finance education in the classroom for graduation.

Only three states require a separate semester long course dedicated solely to personal finance education. Eighteen other states require that the topic be covered as a prerequisite to graduation. Those eighteen states satisfy the personal finance instruction requirement by teaching the subject during a portion of economics, social studies, or civics classes already required for graduation.