Increase financial literacy courses and increase financial literacy class requirement for graduation

 

This bill is being written to increase the amount of financial literacy classes in person or online that are offered in

high schools around Minnesota and to increase the number of financial literacy classes necessary to graduate. We will

start by creating new curriculums for one term long classes either in person or online that will cover topics such as

filing taxes or budgeting and then adjust the minimum amount of financial literacy courses required to graduate from 1

to 3. This bill is targeted to affect high school students in order to increase their financial literacy skills. It will

also create new jobs for curriculum developers and provide new teaching jobs.

 

Financial literacy is a very important life skill that helps Minnesota students prepare to make essential decisions

later on in life about budgeting, saving, credit, loans, investments, and much more. The main issue is that many young

students graduate without this knowledge needed to make responsible choices with your money. When kids don’t take these

classes, it can lead to long term challenges such as debt, bad credit scores, and financial instability. Which are all

things that are costly in a state like Minnesota where the cost of living continuously increases and student debt being

a prevailing issue. This makes it vital for students to understand financial literacy before they become adults.

Expanding financial literacy courses helps ensure that Minnesotan students have the tools needed to plan for college

expenses, understand and file taxes properly, make smarter consumer choices, and build a stable financial future. By

expanding financial literacy classes and increasing the required amount needed to graduate, Minnesota can rest easy with

a more responsible and economically stable generation of citizens.

 

Financial literacy - the knowledge and ability to make informed, effective decisions about personal finance.

This bill is made only for high schools as that is when people start thinking about college and the rest of their life

financially.

 

The funding for this bill will come from a small percentage of Minnesota’s existing education budget, along with help

from local banks and credit unions that provide free financial education materials and resources like the Mid Minnesota

Federal Credit Union or the City & County Credit Union.

Schools are also allowed to partner with nonprofit financial education organizations to help lower costs and provide

lessons, workshops, and classroom materials for the new classes. The Minnesota department of education can also set

aside part of its current budget to help develop new curriculums and train teachers to offer more financial literacy

classes to the students.

 

 

There are no heavy penalties needed for this bill as there is no reason to use them. But the schools must report that

the class is offered to the Minnesota Department of Education like all other classes. If the districts fail to do so,

then they must submit a corrective plan to fix it.

 

An effective date for this bill will be August 16th 2026. This is because it normally takes around 6-12 months to create

new curriculums and training for the teachers normally takes one semester which is also 6 months. A good amount of

schools also start in late august so picking a specific date in mid august will let this bill come into effect before

the school year starts