Personal finance standards, state by state.
See what each state requires, which students are covered, and when new rules take effect.
Personal finance curriculumBrowse standards by state
Select a state to see course requirements, graduation rules, and when changes take effect.
51 jurisdictions
Alabama
Alabama students entering grade 9 in the 2024-25 school year and later must complete approved personal financial literacy instruction and take a 50-question state financial literacy exam. The instruction is embedded in approved Career Preparedness courses, which carry one credit within Alabama's diploma framework, rather than imposed as a separate additional personal finance credit. Students must take the exam, but they do not have to earn its 30-answer passing score to graduate.
Alaska
Alaska has adopted 13 personal finance standards for grades 9-12 within its social studies economics framework, but the statewide graduation rule does not require a personal finance or financial literacy course or credit. District graduation plans must require at least 21 credits in specified subject areas, and districts may add local requirements. A proposed statewide half-credit financial literacy program did not become part of the current graduation rule reviewed for this record.
Arizona
Arizona requires high school students to complete at least one-half credit in economics for graduation, and that economics credit must include financial literacy and personal financial management. Arizona does not currently require a separate statewide personal finance course. Districts and charter schools may add a stand-alone course or additional integrated instruction beyond the state minimum.
Arkansas
Arkansas requires covered public high school students to earn credit before graduation in a grade 9-12 course containing the State Board-approved Personal Finance Standards. The current 22-credit diploma framework includes 0.5 credit of Economics with Personal Finance, while DESE also identifies approved mathematics, Advanced Placement, career-focus, and dedicated Financial Literacy courses that embed the statutory standards. Arkansas therefore requires personal finance for graduation but not one universally titled stand-alone course.
California
California requires a separate, stand-alone one-semester personal finance course beginning with the graduating class of 2030–31. Public schools, including charter schools, must begin offering the course in 2027–28.
Colorado
Colorado requires public high school students to complete a course containing all of the state's high-school financial literacy standards as a condition of graduation. The requirement is in effect beginning in the 2025-26 school year. Colorado does not require the course to be named financial literacy or delivered as a separate stand-alone class: a district may place all five standards in an existing graduation-required course such as social studies, mathematics, or economics. State law does not assign a uniform credit amount.
Connecticut
Connecticut requires students in the graduating class of 2027 and later to earn one-half credit in personal financial management and financial literacy. The credit may count toward humanities, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or electives within the state's 25-credit minimum. Connecticut does not mandate one universal stand-alone course: districts may use aligned existing courses, mastery-based learning, capstones, work-based learning, independent study, online coursework, or other approved credit-bearing pathways.
Delaware
Delaware requires students entering grade 9 in the 2026-27 school year or later to complete one-half credit in financial literacy for a high school diploma. The credit may be earned through a course aligned only to Delaware's financial literacy standards or through a one-credit economics course aligned to both the financial literacy and economics standards. Because the combined option is permitted, Delaware does not impose a universal stand-alone personal finance course requirement.
Florida
Florida students entering grade 9 in 2023–24 or later must earn one-half credit in personal financial literacy and money management for a standard high school diploma. Approved stand-alone and combined course options can satisfy the requirement.
Georgia
Georgia requires every student to complete at least one-half credit of financial literacy during grade 11 or 12 as a condition of graduation, beginning in the 2024-25 school year. The instruction may be provided within existing coursework, so Georgia does not require a separate stand-alone personal finance course.
Hawaii
Beginning with the Class of 2030, Hawaii public school students must complete a financial literacy educational opportunity before graduation and document it through the required half-credit Personal Transition Plan. Hawaii does not require one stand-alone personal finance course: schools may use a stand-alone elective, integrate the standards into existing courses, offer self-paced learning, or use another aligned design.
Idaho
Idaho requires financial literacy coursework for graduation. The statewide social-studies minimum includes one credit in economics and financial literacy, effective in the 2023-24 school year. Idaho does not require every student to take one stand-alone course: an LEA may use one combined course, separate economics and financial literacy courses, an approved CTE pathway, or the state digital-learning personal finance course.
Illinois
Illinois requires every public high-school student to take at least nine weeks of consumer education before completing grade 12. The instruction includes personal finance and financial literacy and may be embedded in another course; the statewide diploma-credit statute does not make it a separate graduation credit or require a stand-alone personal finance course.
Indiana
Indiana requires students in the Class of 2028 and later to complete personal financial responsibility as a separate subject before graduation. For the Class of 2028, state guidance identifies the one-semester Personal Financial Responsibility course as the preferred option and a two-course finance pathway as an alternative. Beginning with the Class of 2029, the redesigned Indiana Diploma places one credit of approved personal finance coursework within the mathematics requirement.
Iowa
Iowa requires each public school district and accredited nonpublic school to offer and teach one-half unit of personal finance literacy. The instruction may be a dedicated course or incorporated into science, social studies, English language arts, mathematics, additional mathematics, or career and technical education. Since July 1, 2023, completing the half unit is not a statewide graduation requirement; local boards may still require it, and approved flexible student and school support plans may temporarily exempt a school from the offer-and-teach standard.
Kansas
Kansas requires students in the class of 2028 and later to complete one-half unit of financial literacy for graduation. KSDE describes it as a one-semester Financial Literacy course focused on earning income, spending, saving, investing, managing credit, and managing risk. Districts retain flexibility over course placement and teacher assignment, but the half-unit is a distinct state minimum graduation requirement.
Kentucky
Kentucky requires students entering grade 9 on or after July 1, 2025 to complete a one-credit financial literacy course for public high school graduation. The credit counts as an elective and must align with the student's Individual Learning Plan. KDE publishes qualifying course-code options, including interdisciplinary and special-education routes, while districts choose their local offerings. Earlier covered cohorts, beginning with students who entered grade 9 in 2020-21, must complete one or more courses or programs meeting Kentucky's financial literacy standards but do not owe the new full-credit course.
Louisiana
Louisiana requires public high school students who entered grade 9 in the 2024-25 school year or later to successfully complete a one-unit Financial Literacy course for graduation. State law lists 14 minimum topics, from bank accounts and debt to taxes, contracts, investing, and postsecondary financial aid. The one-unit course is also incorporated into the state's career-diploma and TOPS-related curriculum rules, while the Department's course description confirms that successful completion earns one graduation unit.
Maine
Maine requires personal finance as part of the two years of social studies and history needed for a high school diploma. The law permits separate, integrated, or applied learning and equivalent standards achievement, so Maine does not impose a separate statewide personal finance course or credit. The Maine Learning Results also include personal finance expectations from kindergarten through diploma level.
Maryland
Maryland requires every local school system to provide a personal financial literacy instructional program in the elementary, middle, and high school years, aligned to six state standards. The statewide rule does not require a separate personal finance course, a uniform credit, or completion of a financial literacy course for graduation. Local systems decide whether to embed the content across existing subjects, offer stand-alone classes, or add a local graduation requirement. Cross-filed 2026 bills proposing a statewide half-credit stand-alone course for the Class of 2030 did not enact and are not current law.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts has adopted 24 high-school personal financial literacy standards covering income, spending, saving, credit, investing, insurance, and identity protection. State law allows schools to integrate those standards into existing subjects, and the framework also permits a stand-alone course. As of September 20, 2026, Massachusetts does not require every student to complete a personal finance course or earn a financial literacy credit to graduate.
Michigan
Michigan requires students entering grade 8 in 2023 or later to earn one-half credit in personal finance before receiving a high school diploma. The state does not require a stand-alone course: districts may embed the seven expectations in economics, mathematics, Career and Technical Education, or another course and award credit after proficiency is demonstrated.
Minnesota
Minnesota requires students who enter grade 9 in the 2024-25 school year or later to complete a personal finance course for credit in grade 10, 11, or 12 before graduating. The course must center personal finance, but districts determine its credit value, local standards, schedule, and curriculum. It is separate from Minnesota's required mathematics, economics, and broader social studies credits. Minnesota has not adopted statewide academic standards for this new course; Department of Education guidance instead recommends six content areas for local course development.
Mississippi
Mississippi has enacted a personal finance graduation requirement beginning with the class of 2032. Covered students must pass either a one-half Carnegie unit personal finance course or a full Carnegie unit course in which at least half of the standards concern financial literacy. Financial literacy is already embedded in the state's one-unit College and Career Readiness curriculum, but current graduation policy also permits approved substitutes for that CCR credit. Middle-grade integration begins in 2027-28.
Missouri
Missouri requires public high school students to earn one-half unit of personal finance for graduation. The requirement has applied since the graduating Class of 2010. It does not require every student to take a stand-alone class: districts may offer a dedicated course, embed the state personal finance expectations in other coursework, or allow a student to test out by scoring at least 90 percent on the state personal finance assessment. Students receiving embedded instruction must take the assessment, while students in a stand-alone course are not required by the state to take it.
Montana
Montana generally requires students in the graduating class of 2026 and later to complete one-half unit of economics or financial literacy. The half unit must fit within the required social studies, mathematics, or career and technical education units, and aligned equivalent courses are permitted. The Board approved a one-year variance delaying the requirement to the class of 2027 for Billings Public Schools. Because economics and equivalent courses can satisfy the rule, Montana does not impose a universal stand-alone personal finance course requirement.
Nebraska
Nebraska requires public school students graduating in 2024 and later to complete at least five high school credit hours in personal finance or financial literacy. Five Nebraska credit hours represent at least one semester of instruction. Districts decide which course or combination of courses meets the requirement, provided the curriculum covers the Financial Literacy Act's required components; the state therefore does not mandate one uniformly titled stand-alone course.
Nevada
Nevada requires age-appropriate financial literacy instruction in grades 3 through 12. For the class of 2029 and later, standard and advanced diploma tables require 0.5 credit in the combined subject Economics and Financial Literacy; the 2025-28 diploma tables instead require 0.5 credit in Economics while students still receive the statewide financial literacy instruction. Nevada does not mandate a separate stand-alone personal finance course.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire requires personal finance literacy instruction in every public-school curriculum and allows it to be embedded in an existing course or grade-level program. Students entering high school in 2026-27 or later must also earn a separate half credit in financial literacy for graduation. State rules define five required content areas but leave districts to establish local competencies and curriculum.
New Jersey
New Jersey requires at least 2.5 credits in financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy for a State-endorsed high school diploma, beginning with the 2010-11 grade-nine class. Students may meet it through a stand-alone half-year course, approved individualized learning, or electives that integrate Standard 9.1, so the state does not require one universal stand-alone personal finance course.
New Mexico
New Mexico requires the Class of 2029 and later to complete personal financial literacy within the four-credit social studies program. Current PED guidance uses a 0.5-credit Economics with Personal Financial Literacy course or a full-credit Civics/Principles of Democracy alternative combining government, economics, civics, and personal finance. The state does not require a personal-finance-only course. Financial literacy must also be offered as both a mathematics option when aligned to mathematics standards and an elective, but one course credit cannot be counted in two graduation categories.
New York
New York requires public schools to provide personal finance instruction across grades K–12, but it does not require a stand-alone personal finance course or a separate financial literacy credit for graduation. Grades 5–12 phase in beginning in 2026–27, starting with students entering grades 5 and 9; grades K–4 begin in 2027–28.
North Carolina
North Carolina requires public-school students entering grade 9 in 2020-21 and later to pass a full-credit Economics and Personal Finance course for graduation. The 2019 law created the dedicated combined EPF course for the 2020-21 entering cohort, and current State Board graduation requirements continue it for later cohorts.
North Dakota
North Dakota requires each district to use a one-half-unit financial literacy option or provide ten personal finance topics through economics, Problems of Democracy, or an annually approved alternative course. This is a statewide curriculum and instruction mandate, not a separately stated personal finance diploma condition or a universal stand-alone course requirement. North Dakota also adopted its first stand-alone K-12 financial literacy standards in 2025, including 49 expectations for grades 9-12.
Ohio
Ohio requires students who first entered ninth grade on or after July 1, 2022 to earn one-half unit of financial literacy, equal to at least 60 hours of instruction, for graduation. The rule begins with the class of 2026. Students may apply the credit to an eligible mathematics or elective requirement, and state law provides limited AP, nonpublic-school, and locally adopted bank-program alternatives.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma requires personal financial literacy for a standard public high school diploma. Students graduating in 2026 through 2028 complete the 14-area Passport to Financial Literacy under the earlier framework. The class of 2029 and later completes personal finance course or coursework in grades 10-12. Districts may embed the content in one or more courses, use qualifying CareerTech coursework, or offer a separate 0.5-unit course.
Oregon
Oregon students receiving an Oregon Diploma or Modified Diploma on or after January 1, 2027 must earn 0.5 credit in a Personal Financial Education course within the state's 24-credit minimum. The course must use the PFE course code; it may also integrate another subject and earn additional credit when all standards are taught and assessed, but a course coded only in another subject cannot satisfy the PFE requirement. Oregon adopted 16 high-school standards across credit, banking, budgeting, income and taxes, and financial well-being.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania requires students in grades 9–12 to complete a personal financial literacy course beginning in the 2026–27 school year. The default course value is at least one-half credit, but a 2026 amendment allows a qualifying college-level or concentrated CTE course with targeted personal finance content to satisfy the mandate even when the content is embedded.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island requires every public high school student in the graduating class of 2024 and later to demonstrate proficiency in financial literacy before graduation. An LEA may use a standards-aligned course, project, controlled assessment, or another demonstration approved by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education. Rhode Island therefore has a graduation requirement, but it does not require every student to complete a stand-alone personal finance course or a specified financial literacy credit.
South Carolina
South Carolina requires students in the freshman class of 2023-24 and later to earn 0.5 credit in financial literacy for a public high school diploma. The half credit is part of the state's 24-credit total. Personal Finance 5141 is one qualifying half-unit course with 50 detailed standards, but it is not the only statewide route: Department guidance identifies six additional vetted CTE courses that may satisfy the requirement.
South Dakota
South Dakota requires every student to earn one-half unit of personal finance or economics as part of the state's 22-unit high school diploma. Economics is an explicit alternative, so the statewide rule does not require every student to take a stand-alone personal finance course. South Dakota has separate Personal Finance course standards for the half-credit CTE course, but districts may use an eligible economics course instead.
Tennessee
Tennessee generally requires students to earn one-half credit in personal finance as part of the 22-credit minimum for a traditional high school diploma. The requirement began with the graduating Class of 2013. Students may complete the state Personal Finance course or use an approved substitute, and the separate Move on When Ready early-graduation program has its own 17-credit route that does not include personal finance.
Texas
Texas requires students entering grade 9 in 2026–27 or later—beginning with the Class of 2030—to complete at least one-half credit in personal financial literacy for the Foundation High School Program. The current dedicated and combined course options mean the state requires the credit but not one universal stand-alone course during the transition.
Utah
Utah requires 0.5 credit in General Financial Literacy for a public high school diploma. Course-based options include General Financial Literacy and approved concurrent-enrollment Finance, but a course is not universal because students may also earn credit through competency and an LEA may modify an individual student's graduation requirements under the conditions in the high-school rule. Every student enrolled in the General Financial Literacy course receives the state end-of-course assessment. The requirement first applied to the graduating class of 2008.
Vermont
Vermont requires supervisory unions and districts to use State Board-adopted personal finance standards as a basis for local curriculum, instruction, and assessment, but it does not prescribe a stand-alone course, statewide personal finance credit, or separate personal finance diploma condition. Delivery is locally determined and may be interdisciplinary. Districts define proficiency-based graduation requirements and may add local requirements.
Virginia
Virginia requires one standard credit in Economics and Personal Finance for the Standard and Advanced Studies Diplomas. The requirement began with students entering grade 9 in fall 2011. Virginia does not mandate one stand-alone course format: students may complete the 36-week combined course, paired semester courses, or another Board-aligned option that covers the full Economics and Personal Finance Standards of Learning. A narrow 2026 law also permits Board-approved IB substitutions for certain students who transfer after grade 10 while pursuing both an Advanced Studies and IB diploma.
Washington
Washington has adopted K-12 financial education standards and requires school districts to give all students in grades 9-12 an opportunity to access them. The state does not currently require every student to complete personal finance instruction, take a stand-alone financial literacy course, or earn a separate credit for graduation. Districts choose how access is provided and are encouraged, but not required, to award graduation credit for completed financial education courses.
West Virginia
Official sources conflict on a material classification; see the transparent reviewer notes.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin requires at least one-half credit of personal financial literacy for public-school students graduating in 2028 and later, subject to statutory school and diploma-pathway exceptions. It is not a universal stand-alone-course mandate: a 2026 law expressly allows AP Business with Personal Finance and qualifying financial-institution programs offered through a branch located in a school. Ordinary personal finance coursework must earn its own subject credit; DPI does not permit simply embedding the content in another course or counting the same half-credit as mathematics or social studies. Districts also must provide financial literacy instruction in grades K-12.
Wyoming
Wyoming law requires every school district to provide an educational program that meets the state's common core of skills, including life skills and personal financial management. The requirement may be integrated into other state content standards, and Wyoming does not prescribe a separate personal finance course, a dedicated financial literacy credit, or a first affected graduating class. High-school social studies standards address financial institutions, banking, investment, credit, regulation, and debt within the broader economics strand.
District of Columbia
Washington, D.C. has adopted financial literacy standards for grades 9-12 that are intended for a stand-alone elective course and were implemented beginning in the 2024-25 school year. The District of Columbia's current 24-credit graduation framework does not list a personal finance or financial literacy credit, so the standards do not by themselves create a District-wide student-completion or graduation requirement.