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Maine personal finance standards and requirements

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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.[1][3][2]

Last reviewed September 20, 2026

View official sources
Stand-alone course
No
Graduation requirement
Yes
Credit / duration
Personal finance is included within 2 years of social studies and history; no separate statewide personal-finance credit
Effective / cohort
Not located

What Maine requires

Maine's diploma law expressly includes personal finance within two years of social studies and history, alongside American history, government, and civics. The requirement can be met through coursework or equivalent standards achievement.[1]

Maine does not require one stand-alone personal finance course. State law allows separate, integrated, or applied learning, multiple ways to demonstrate achievement, and approved CTE integration. School administrative units make local curriculum and assessment choices within that framework.[1]

The Maine Learning Results create a K-12 progression rather than a high-school-only list. The personal finance strand advances from the value and uses of money in elementary grades to spending, saving, credit, and risk-management decisions by diploma level.[2]

Resolve 2025, chapter 125 became law without the Governor's signature on January 11, 2026 and directed a survey and working group review of personal finance course offerings. Public Law 2025, chapter 757 later moved the statutory reporting deadlines into 2027. Neither enactment replaced the current diploma statute or created a stand-alone statewide course requirement as of this research date.[3][4][5]

Instruction may be provided through separate, integrated, or applied learning programs, and students may demonstrate standards achievement through multiple pathways and measures. CTE students may use approved separate or integrated study. Local school administrative units establish local curriculum and diploma implementation consistent with state law.[1][3][2]
Grades / placement
Kindergarten through diploma standards, High school diploma requirement
Responsible agency
Maine Department of Education
Assessment required
Not located
Evidence
5 primary sources

Implementation timeline

  1. Milestone 01

    Public Law 2019, chapter 202 amended the diploma statute to include personal finance expressly within social studies and history.[1]

  2. Milestone 02

    Maine adopted the current Personal Finance and Economics progression in the Maine Learning Results.[2]

  3. Milestone 03

    Resolve 2025, chapter 125 became law without the Governor's signature and directed the Department to review personal finance offerings and convene a working group.[4]

  4. Milestone 04

    Public Law 2025, chapter 757 moved the survey and working-group reporting deadlines into 2027 without changing the diploma requirement.[5]

  5. Milestone 05

    The Financial Literacy Working Group met and reviewed statewide course-offering information; the existing diploma rule remained in force.[3]

Maine personal finance standards

The complete list below contains all 13 required personal finance topics currently identified in the controlling state materials. Each topic remains separate so educators and search engines can find the exact requirement.

Official standards document

Maine Learning Results Social Studies: Personal Finance & Economics

Adopted by Maine Department of Education on 2019.

Open the official document

K-12 Personal Finance performance expectations

The complete personal-finance portion of Maine's current Personal Finance and Economics strand, from kindergarten through diploma level.

  1. 01
    K.PFKindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Describe how money has value and can be traded for goods and services

    Describe how money has value and can be traded for goods and services.[2]

  2. 02
    1.PFKindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Describe spending, saving, and sharing as different ways to use money

    Describe spending, saving, and sharing as different ways to use money.[2]

  3. 03
    2.PFKindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Describe why planning for the future is important to managing money

    Describe why planning for the future is important to managing money.[2]

  4. 04
    3.PFKindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Describe situations in which personal choices are related to the use of…

    Describe situations in which personal choices are related to the use of money.[2]

  5. 05
    4.PFKindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Describe situations in which financial institutions can be used to…

    Describe situations in which financial institutions can be used to manage money.[2]

  6. 06
    5.PFKindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Describe situations in which choices involve financial resources and…

    Describe situations in which choices involve financial resources and financial institutions.[2]

  7. 07
    6-8.PF.F1Kindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Explain how scarcity influences choices and relates to the market economy

    Explain how scarcity influences choices and relates to the market economy.[2]

  8. 08
    6-8.PF.F2Kindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Identify factors that contribute to spending and saving decisions

    Identify factors that contribute to spending and saving decisions.[2]

  9. 09
    6-8.PF.D1Kindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Use a decision process based on work, wages, income, expenses, and…

    Use a decision process based on work, wages, income, expenses, and budgets to study individual financial choices.[2]

  10. 10
    9-D.PF.F1Kindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Explain how personal finance uses economics as the basis for saving,…

    Explain how personal finance uses economics as the basis for saving, investing, and managing money.[2]

  11. 11
    9-D.PF.F2Kindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Identify factors that affect consumer credit

    Identify factors that affect consumer credit.[2]

  12. 12
    9-D.PF.D1Kindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Evaluate ways credit can be used

    Evaluate ways credit can be used.[2]

  13. 13
    9-D.PF.D2Kindergarten through diplomaPDF pages 5-9

    Evaluate different strategies for money and risk management

    Evaluate different strategies for money and risk management.[2]

Relevant law, rule, or board action

20-A M.R.S. §4722(2)(B)

High school diploma standards

Requires two years of social studies and history, including personal finance, or equivalent standards achievement, with separate, integrated, and applied pathways available.[1]

Resolve 2025, c. 125

Resolve, Directing the Department of Education to Review Personal Finance Course Offerings

Directs a survey and working group; it is a review process and does not itself create a new stand-alone graduation course.[4]

Public Law 2025, c. 757, Part M

An Act to Make Supplemental Appropriations and Allocations

Moves the personal-finance survey and working-group reporting deadlines into 2027 without changing the existing graduation requirement.[5]

Notes for teachers and curriculum leaders

  • Ensure local social-studies diploma evidence includes personal finance, whether delivered separately, integrated, or through an applied learning pathway.[1]
  • Use the Maine Learning Results progression to connect elementary money concepts to the diploma-level credit and risk-management expectations.[2]
  • Do not treat the working-group review or its amended 2027 deadlines as a change to current graduation law until a later enacted measure or adopted rule says so.[3][4][5]

Official sources

  1. 1
    Title 20-A, §4722: High school diploma standardsMaine Legislature · statute · published 2023 · accessed 2026-09-20Locator: Subsections 2(B), 3, and 4Supports: graduation requirement, two-year social-studies duration, integrated delivery, multiple pathways, exceptions
  2. 2
    Maine Learning Results Social Studies: Personal Finance & EconomicsMaine Department of Education · standards · published 2019 · accessed 2026-09-20Locator: PDF pages 5-9, Personal Finance performance expectationsSupports: K-12 standards progression, complete personal finance expectations, local curriculum flexibility
  3. 3
    Financial LiteracyMaine Department of Education · agency guidance · published 2026 · accessed 2026-09-20Locator: Overview and Governing Process sectionsSupports: graduation inclusion, embedded standards, 2026 working group, survey status
  4. 4
    Resolve 2025, chapter 125: Review of Personal Finance Course OfferingsMaine Legislature · bill · published 2026-01-11 · accessed 2026-09-20Locator: Resolve sections 1-3Supports: enacted course-offering survey, working group, review separated from current graduation law
  5. 5
    Public Law 2025, chapter 757, Part MMaine Legislature · bill · published 2026-07-29 · accessed 2026-09-20Locator: Part M, sections M-1 and M-2Supports: January 15, 2027 survey deadline, March 1, 2027 working-group report deadline, no substantive graduation change

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Frequently asked questions

Does Maine require personal finance to graduate?

Yes. Maine includes personal finance within the two years of social studies and history required for a diploma, or the equivalent in standards achievement.[1]

Does Maine require a stand-alone personal finance course?

No. Maine permits separate, integrated, and applied learning programs and multiple ways to demonstrate the required standards.[1]

How much personal finance credit does Maine require?

Maine does not set a separate personal-finance credit. Personal finance is one required part of the broader two-year social-studies and history requirement.[1]

What do Maine's financial literacy standards cover?

The K-12 progression covers the value and uses of money, planning, institutions, scarcity, spending and saving, work and budgets, consumer credit, investing, and risk management.[2]

Did Maine create a new personal finance course in 2026?

No statewide stand-alone course was established by the sources reviewed. Enacted law directed a Department survey and working group, and a later law moved reporting deadlines into 2027, while the existing integrated diploma requirement remained current.[3][4][5][1]