Standards · by state · 20 September 2026
Financial literacy requirements by state.
32 states now guarantee every high-school student a standalone personal finance course before graduation. 11 of those requirements are already in effect; the rest arrive with the classes of 2027 to 2031. Whether your state is on the map yet or not, the direction is not in doubt.
You will hear different totals. Next Gen Personal Finance counts only standalone courses (the standard used here). The Council for Economic Education’s 2026 Survey of the States counts 39, because it also includes 13 states where personal finance is folded into another course such as economics. NGPF excludes those because embedded content has not been shown to change graduates’ financial outcomes.
Navy tiles show the year the requirement took effect; gold tiles show the first graduating class it applies to. Each state is drawn the same size so no one is hidden behind a bigger neighbour.
Georgia
Adopted 2022. First required class: 2028. The course is already being offered.
Senate Bill 220 requires a financial literacy course for Georgia high-school students, offered from the 2024–25 school year. A district that starts measuring now will have two years of before-and-after data by the time the first required class graduates.
If your state is next
- A mandate works when it comes with standards, teacher training and assessment; loosely implemented ones do not (Urban et al., 2020, FL 309).
- Start below high school. Money habits are largely formed by age seven; a K–12 sequence means the required course is a capstone, not an introduction.
- Measure behaviour, not recall, so the board can see what changed. That is what the FLIQ Score™ is for.
- Check alignment against the national standards your state will cite.
Every state, in one table
| State | Standalone course | Adopted | First required class | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Required, in effect | 2013 | In effect | |
| Iowa | Required, in effect | 2023 | In effect | |
| Mississippi | Required, in effect | 2022 | In effect | |
| Missouri | Required, in effect | 2010 | In effect | |
| Nebraska | Required, in effect | 2021 | In effect | |
| North Carolina | Required, in effect | 2024 | In effect | |
| Ohio | Required, in effect | 2026 | In effect | |
| Rhode Island | Required, in effect | 2021 | In effect | |
| Tennessee | Required, in effect | 2013 | In effect | |
| Utah | Required, in effect | 2008 | In effect | |
| Virginia | Required, in effect | 2015 | In effect | |
| California | Adopted, pending | 2024 | 2031 | |
| Colorado | Adopted, pending | 2025 | 2030 | |
| Connecticut | Adopted, pending | 2023 | 2027 | |
| Delaware | Adopted, pending | 2025 | 2030 | |
| Florida | Adopted, pending | 2022 | 2027 | |
| Georgia | Adopted, pending | 2022 | 2028 | SB 220; course offered from 2024–25 |
| Hawaii | Adopted, pending | 2026 | Not yet set | Semester course adopted 2026 (CEE); first class not yet set |
| Indiana | Adopted, pending | 2023 | 2028 | |
| Kansas | Adopted, pending | 2022 | 2027 | |
| Kentucky | Adopted, pending | 2025 | 2030 | Full-year course |
| Louisiana | Adopted, pending | 2023 | 2028 | |
| Michigan | Adopted, pending | 2023 | 2028 | |
| Minnesota | Adopted, pending | 2023 | 2028 | |
| New Hampshire | Adopted, pending | 2022 | 2027 | |
| New York | Adopted, pending | 2026 | Not yet set | Adopted March 2026; first class not yet set |
| Oregon | Adopted, pending | 2023 | 2027 | |
| Pennsylvania | Adopted, pending | 2023 | 2030 | |
| South Carolina | Adopted, pending | 2022 | 2027 | |
| Texas | Adopted, pending | 2025 | 2030 | |
| West Virginia | Adopted, pending | 2023 | 2028 | |
| Wisconsin | Adopted, pending | 2023 | 2028 | |
| Alaska | Not required | — | — | |
| Arizona | Not required | — | — | |
| Arkansas | Not required | — | — | |
| District of Columbia | Not required | — | — | |
| Idaho | Not required | — | — | |
| Illinois | Not required | — | — | |
| Maine | Not required | — | — | |
| Maryland | Not required | — | — | |
| Massachusetts | Not required | — | — | |
| Montana | Not required | — | — | |
| Nevada | Not required | — | — | |
| New Jersey | Not required | — | — | Requires financial literacy in middle school, not a high-school course |
| New Mexico | Not required | — | — | |
| North Dakota | Not required | — | — | |
| Oklahoma | Not required | — | — | |
| South Dakota | Not required | — | — | |
| Vermont | Not required | — | — | |
| Washington | Not required | — | — | |
| Wyoming | Not required | — | — |
Sources: Next Gen Personal Finance, Live U.S. Dashboard of guarantee states (read 20 September 2026); Council for Economic Education, 2026 Survey of the States. Statuses change during legislative sessions; this page is reviewed each quarter. Corrections to research@wealthwisekids.org.