Florida is officially the largest state to mandate a financial literacy course for high school graduation.
“What the bill is doing with financial literacy is really providing a foundation for students that’s going to be applicable in their lives regardless of what path they take,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a March 22 press event, according to CNBC. “This will provide a foundation for the students to learn the basics of money management, understanding debt, understanding how to balance a checkbook, understanding the fundamentals of investing.”
The new law will apply to students entering ninth grade in the 2023-2024 school year, and require that they take a half-credit course in personal finance before they graduate.
Currently, 54 personal finance education bills are pending in 26 states. Now, 11 states, including Florida, require students to take a stand-alone personal finance course to graduate. More than 20 other states include some sort of personal finance education in their curriculum in different ways, and a bill proposed in Tennessee would mandate personal finance courses for middle school students. Tennessee is one of seven states that already guarantee personal finance courses for high schoolers, CNBC reported.
