68 customizable lessons, aligned with National Standards, exams and more.
Read NGPF's school-by-school analysis of financial education in America today
Today, 22.7% of high school students in the U.S. have guaranteed access to Personal Finance courses. This means that nearly 1 in 4 students are going to graduate in 2022 having received the education they need to be financially capable!
Current States
Implementing States
States with passed legislation in 2023
The live stats above show states that require a semester course in personal finance for graduation as of today. The 2023 annual report below was released in March 2023 and is composed of data up to March 2023. There may be discrepancies.
Momentum for financial education continued in state capitol buildings in 2022, with twenty-six legislatures introducing sixty different bills to expand access to Personal Finance instruction.
After unanimous votes in both chambers of the Florida legislature, the Dorothy Hukill Financial Literacy Act made Florida the largest state yet to guarantee a personal finance course for all high schoolers.
The law is a fitting tribute to the late State Senator Dorothy Hukill, who had long championed this effort. In order to make room for the course in students’ schedules, the law reduced the number of required electives from 8 credits to 7.5 credits. The 2023-2024 school year’s entering ninth grade class will be the first to be guaranteed to take the course before graduation under the new law, giving districts several years until full-scale implementation.
An earlier Florida law required all districts to offer a personal finance course as an elective, but only about 5% of high schoolers took that elective. This year’s landmark legislation closes the gap so that no matter a student’s zip code, they’ll take a one-semester course in personal finance.
Yanely Espinal, Next Gen Personal Finance
Before full-scale implementation begins, school districts throughout Florida will:
Next Gen Personal Finance has teamed up with the Stiles-Nicholson Foundation to invest $1 million in teacher professional development in Florida in advance of full-scale implementation. This grant funding will provide Florida Personal Finance teachers stipends for participating in NGPF professional development including Certification Courses, OnDemand modules and Virtual PD sessions, all of which will be aligned to the new course and already offered at no cost.
When looking at national numbers, nearly 1 in 4 students currently have guaranteed access to a Personal Finance course. However, when we remove the 8 states with fully implemented statewide guarantees, we find that fewer than 1 in 10 students in the remaining 42 states have guaranteed access. It is critical that educators, community advocates, and lawmakers prioritize Personal Finance courses to increase access nationwide.
Gold Standard (GUARANTEED ACCESS)
of high school students were guaranteed to take a standalone Personal Finance course of at least one semester* prior to graduation in 2022.
Silver Standard (ELECTIVE OR CLUSTER ACCESS)
of high school students had access to a standalone Personal Finance course of at least one semester* either as an elective or as one option to fulfill a graduation requirement (cluster) in 2022.
Bronze Standard (EMBEDDED ACCESS)
of high school students had access to some instruction in Personal Finance as part of another course in 2022.
NO FINANCIAL EDUCATION OFFERED
of high school students had no access to financial education in any of their courses in 2022.
Currently, only 8 of the 17 guarantee states have fully implemented their legislation statewide. 9 are in the beginning stages. When all 17 are finished with implementation, here’s what guaranteed access to Personal Finance will look like nationwide.
As evidenced by the movement of nine states in 18 months, statewide guarantees have the power to dramatically affect student access. Soon, 3 million students in Florida, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island, Georgia, Michigan, South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Kansas will gain guaranteed access to a one semester Personal Finance course.
of high school students will have access when 17 states are fully implemented.
* One semester = at least 60+ consecutive instructional hours
** Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee, Utah, North Carolina, Iowa
While 1 in 10 students outside Guarantee States will take a standalone Personal Finance course prior to graduation, this number dips significantly among students in schools with higher percentages of Black or Brown students or students eligible for federal Free and Reduced Lunch programs. This inequity is also evident amongst schools by locale. Students across the country are not getting equitable access to Personal Finance education.
In schools with >75% Black and Brown student population
students were guaranteed access
In schools with <25% Black and Brown student population
In schools with >75% Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility
In schools with <25% Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility
students in rural locales are guaranteed to take a standalone Personal Finance course.
students in suburb + town locales are guaranteed to take a standalone PersonalFinance course.
students in city locales are guaranteed to take a standalone Personal Finance course.
* Guarantee States: States that have fully implemented legislation guaranteeing a stand-alone Personal Finance course for all students (Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee, Utah, North Caroline, Iowa)
Missouri* MO*
Utah* UT*
Tennessee* TN*
Virginia* VA*
Alabama* AL*
Iowa* IA*
Nebraska** NE**
North Carolina* NC*
New Jersey NJ
Oklahoma OK
Arkansas AR
Wisconsin WI
Kansas KS
Wyoming WY
Ohio** OH**
Maryland MD
South Dakota SD
Connecticut CT
Maine ME
Rhode Island** RI**
Pennsylvania PA
Illinois IL
North Dakota ND
Vermont VT
Indiana IN
New Hampshire NH
Oregon OR
Montana MT
Minnesota MN
Massachusetts MA
Colorado CO
Nevada NV
Washington WA
South Carolina** SC
Kentucky KY
West Virginia WV
Delaware DE
Louisiana LA
Texas TX
New York NY
Michigan** MI
Idaho ID
California CA
Florida** FL**
Arizona AZ
Georgia** GA**
New Mexico NM
Alaska AK
Washington DC DC
Hawaii HI
Mississippi* MS*
* Guarantee States
** Transitioning to Guarantee State
Note: State percentages may not add up to 100% because schools with no Personal Finance offerings are not reflected
The surge in new statewide financial education guarantees - from 5 states in 2018 to 17 states in 2022 - will continue as expected in the coming school years. However, the nationwide community of educators who are expanding access to Personal Finance courses locally must also accelerate.
Mission: 2030 - By 2030, ALL students will take a one semester Personal Finance course before graduating from high school
With insights from bold educators who have helped guarantee Personal Finance courses for their students, Next Gen Personal Finance has built a 5-step roadmap for advocates.
Whether you’re starting from scratch, already have a Personal Finance elective in place, or are looking to expand your reach at the district or state level, NGPF’s How to Expand Access page has your back.
Before your subscription to our newsletter is active, you need to confirm your email address by clicking the link in the email we just sent you. It may take a couple minutes to arrive, and we suggest checking your spam folders just in case!
Great! Success message here
New to NGPF?
Save time, increase engagement, and teach life-changing financial skills with NGPF’s free curriculum
1.Register for a free TeacherAccount
2.ExploreSemester Course
3.Findstudent favorites
4.LeverageNGPF Academy
Your new account will provide you with access to NGPF Assessments and Answer Keys. It may take up to 1 business day for your Teacher Account to be activated; we will notify you once the process is complete.
Thanks for joining our community!
The NGPF Team
Complete the form below to access exclusive resources for teachers. Our team will review your account and send you a follow up email within 24 hours.
To speed up your verification process, please submit proof of status to gain access to answer keys & assessments.
Acceptable information includes:
Acceptable file types: .png, .jpg, .pdf.
Once you submit this form, our team will review your account and send you a follow up email within 24 hours. We may need additional information to verify your teacher status before you have full access to NGPF.
Take the quiz to quickly find the best resources for you!