According to a survey by Net Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), a nonprofit financial education institution, only 16% of the American teenagers need 16% personal finance course to graduate from high school.
The team reached this conclusion after studying the graduation requirements of more than 11,000 US high schools serving over 13 million students.
In high school's personal finance course, we often teach students the fundamentals of fund management. Students understand the importance of budgeting, how to create budgets, the importance of interest rates, why you should not keep your credit card balance, and the need to pay invoices within due time.
Tim Ranzetta, founder of the NGPF said the survey found that there was a gap between what parents and students wanted and what happens in American high schools.
"In most studies, over 90% of parents think that financial education should be taught at school," he told Consumer Affairs. "Also, when asked" What do you want to learn when you are a high school student? "Does high school student usually mention personal financial situation? "
But Lanczet said that only one of the American teenagers going to school needs a semester financial knowledge course before graduation. He said that in the low - income community, only one out of twelve students has this requirement.
For Ransetta, this is a matter of social justice. He said that students who need the most knowledge necessary to effectively manage funds did not get it.
"Even if we see the billions of dollar banking fee from an uncontrolled checking account, the $ 1.5 trillion student loan, and the thousands of years of economic distress, further urgency has not increased I am surprised to learn these important skills, "he said.
According to Ransetta, this school requires attractive, relevant, up-to-date practical courses for at least one semester of fund management. He said that the most effective way to teach the whole department is through activities and projects, which requires development as a whole, so the entire semester is necessary.
Only five states - Alabama, Utah, Tennessee, Virginia and Missouri - require a semester financial course to graduate. Other states are being increasingly pressured recently to comply with their example
The biennial nationwide survey of the Economic Education Committee announced last year showed that schools generally lacked teachings of economic concepts.
The organization of Ranzetta offers free courses and free training for the school, and he says economically high school educated students begin to make better economic decisions during adulthood.
After graduating from high school a lot of people do not have economic knowledge, but most universities offer personal finance courses. If requested as a high school diploma, students who do not participate in the collage or who are not planning to participate can not obtain information taught in the course. Most parents teach children how to deal with their finances, but some students' parents or guardians may not have solid personal economic knowledge. Therefore, personal financial management as a requirement for graduation would be a wonderful idea for students to use in their daily lives.
Although graduation approval is not carried out everywhere, the Economic Education Committee (CEE) reports that 17 states oblige individuals to take personal financial courses in high school. In many cases, these courses are not independent and may be mere courses of other courses. Only 20 states require students to take an economics course. Energetic news is that the state is increasingly concerned about the lack of financial knowledge. In Massachusetts State, lawmakers submitted 10 kinds of financial education bills. In Pennsylvania, House Law No. 429 introduces a new law requiring an economic knowledge course for high school graduation.
States with low or no personal economic education requirements are eligible for F. According to the report, "High school students in these states do not have the opportunity to graduate in a course including financial knowledge education." Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Wisconsin I will receive this ranking