Dive Brief:
- Even though 45 states include financial literacy in state standards, only 17 require a personal finance course before graduation, and experts say this is a problem for students as well as the wider economy.
- District Administration reports the National Finance Educators Council recommends incorporating finance into pre-K lessons on decision-making, trading toys, and consequences, moving on to lessons about compound interest when fourth graders learn multiplication with decimals.
- To create effective financial education programs, districts must ensure teachers are properly trained, they choose quality content, they focus on real-world scenarios that impact students, and they assess student learning and adapt classes with well-designed evaluations.
Dive Insight:
College debt has surpassed $1.2 trillion and economists are warning it has delayed the timeframe in which students start thinking about buying cars and houses or getting married and having children.
Colleges are required to send students through loan counseling if they receive federal financial aid, and while higher education institutions are trying to improve this financial education, K-12 districts can provide a stronger base by starting early. They can also reach students who do not go on to college and instead start earning paychecks sooner from their first jobs.
After mandatory public education, there are few places young people can go to learn how to manage their finances, and even fewer that offer free guidance. While there are other curricular options that crowd out finance, there is still a void for district administrators to carve out the space.