Research shows that students with knowledge of personal finance and economics are more responsible with spending and in control of reducing their financial risks. But a report by the Council for Economic Education shows that those subjects have been slow to catch on in schools throughout the U.S.
The report, the “2018 Survey of the States: Economic and Personal Finance Education in Our Nation’s Schools,” found that only 17 states require high school students to take a course in personal finance. That number had not changed over the past four years. However, New Jersey and Wisconsin recently got on board and added financial-literacy instruction requirements for lower grades.
The report, which has been conducted every two years for the past 20, pointed out that since 2016 no additional states have added personal finance to their K-12 standards or requirements. It also found that there has been no change since 2014 in the number of states that require standardized testing of economic concepts. And only 22 states require high school students to take a course in economics, two more than in 2016.
Nan Morrison, the president and CEO of the Council for Economic Education, said teaching kids about personal finance in school gives them an important tool for achieving economic mobility. She said high school course requirements in economics, as well as “educator-developed standards, well-trained teachers, and educator-developed resources, are the best ways to engage kids, even the youngest ones, and to create the right learning environment to make the ideas stick. Research supports that.”
Courses in personal finance and economics should be treated like any other subject, Morrison said, but “unfortunately, each state has their very own process for adopting requirements, and competing priorities on which subjects should be taught.”
“We encourage parents, teachers and companies to ask for standards and requirements at the state level, but also to work at the school level to just get the job done. [The Council for Economic Education] and our national network of affiliates can deliver training and resources, online and offline, in your communities,” she added.
Although the gains are small, it’s worth noting that in 1998, when the survey was initiated, only one state, Illinois, required enrollment in a personal finance course, while only 13 states required enrollment in an economics class. Morrison pointed out that Michigan, Georgia, Utah and Texas are leaders in requiring that both economics and finance be offered and taken, as well as in implementing state standards and standardized testing.
The report collects data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and includes commentary from experts and educators in the field to provide a comprehensive look into the state of K-12 economic and financial education in the United States.