

ranked 7th out of 15 countries,trailing China, Canada, Russia and Australia, and was just slightly better than Poland-what a"Sputnik moment." 4 On an international financial literacy test of 15-year-olds, the U.S.Only 23% of kids surveyed indicated that they talk to their parents frequently about money, and 35% stated that their parents are uncomfortable talking to them about money. 3 In fact, parents are nearly as uncomfortable talking to their children about sex as they are about money. Rowe Price Survey noted that 69% of parents have some reluctance about discussing financial matters with their kids. Kids are not learning about personal finance at home.Many students do not understand that one of the most important financial decisions they will make in their lives is choosing whether they should go to college after high school, and if they decide to pursue additional education, what field to specialize in.Young people often do not understand debit and credit cards, mortgages, banking, investment and insurance products and services, payday lending, rent-to-own products, credit reports, credit scores, etc. The number of financial decisions an individual must make continues to increase, and the variety and complexity of financial products continues to grow.Here are just some of the reasons our young people need to learn about personal finance: Personal finance education in high school provides students with the knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being. The Case for High School Financial Literacy In the section of this report entitled "Extra Credit: State Policies and Programs That Are Making a Difference," we attempt to give you a small sampling of the many state initiatives that are trying to bring personal finance concepts to K-8 children and to young adults in college or the workplace. However, a lot of great things are happening in our colleges and universities as well as our elementary and middle schools. Definitive college data is equally hard to find in this area. It is very hard to measure the amount and intensity of personal finance instruction that is occurring in people's homes, and meaningful data on this topic is hard to obtain for the thousands of elementary and middle schools across the country.

The Center's High School Report Card focuses on each state's financial literacy education policy because that data is obtainable. The National Center for Education Statistics indicates that the high school dropout rate (the percentage of people ages 16 through 24 who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school credential) was about 6% in 2015. So, high school seems like the best and most logical place to deliver personal finance education to America's youth.Īdmittedly, a high school focus could omit some of the students who have dropped out of high school.
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Regardless of when a young person's formal education ends, they will be thrust into situations where they need to know how to manage daily living expenses. For those graduates who choose to go on to higher education, personal finance education in college is often scant and scattered, with few colleges offering a personal finance elective and even fewer requiring personal finance instruction as a graduation requirement. 1 That means that about 31% of students are likely entering the workforce after high school. But too many school districts teach personal finance for the first and only time in high school.Īccording to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2015, 69% of students enrolled in college in the fall immediately following high school completion. The basics of personal financial planning-teaching young people about money, its value, how to save, invest and spend, and how not to waste it-should be taught in school as early as elementary school. The reality is that many states and school districts do not provide any substantive personal finance education until high school, if at all. Personal finance education should be a cumulative process, with age-appropriate topics taught each school year. You need to learn letters before you can read. In mathematics, you start with counting, move on to addition and subtraction, and then move on to division and multiplication. Ideally, personal finance concepts should be taught in elementary, middle and high school, and should continue into college. Personal finance education should start early at both home and school.
