A round-up on news around the country about high schools and their personal finance programs:

Rockford High School (MI) requiring all seniors to take personal finance class beginning with Class of 2016 (Mlive):

Rockford High School senior Derek Scholl thought it would be a smart move to take a personal finance course to learn how to manage his money before heading to college.  “I really want to learn about finances and how to take care of my money,” said Scholl, 17, on Thursday, Sept. 11, prior to a lesson on compound interest – interest paid both on the original amount of money and on the interest it has already earned.

York, Heritage, Kecoughtan and Warhill high schools (VA) each have student-run credit unions with support from BayPort Credit Union (Daily Press):

“I think it’s good for everybody in this school to learn about saving money in this stage of life — before college,” said teller Anna Fisher, a 16-year-old York High junior.  “You’re going to have to deal with money for the rest of your life,” added teller Spencer Bacon, a 17-year-old York senior. “Might as well start early.”

The schools saw BayPort’s presence as a platform to familiarize youth with checking accounts, reconciling their statements and understanding online banking, BayPort youth financial educator Kris Moore said. The accounts are real and can be accessed at other branches.

Hellgate High School (Missoula, MT) launching finance academy; good example of partnering with private sector (Missoulian):

Beth Huguet, the chair of the business department at the school, will be the lead teacher at the Hellgate Finance Academy.  “A lot of the curriculum in the finance academy is curriculum I have been teaching for years,” she explained. “It’s restructuring it and bringing it more into the 21st century and making it more relevant to current topics and issues. But some of it is new curriculum. This summer we brought in business professionals from each of the pathways – banking practices, financial planning and accounting – and they went over the areas of study and the topics and told us what to take out, what was relevant, what to be teaching and what the students should know if they are going out into those areas of expertise.”

Columbus North High School (Indiana) focuses on saving as key part of personal finance curriculum (The Republic):

They easily learn how to spend it, but do they know how to save it?  Scott Seavers, a business teacher at Columbus North High School, doesn’t think so, and that’s why he spends an entire semester addressing personal finance and financial literacy.  “Money is real to kids now,” he said. “This is a chance to teach applied math because they’re starting to experience things like loans and credit cards.”

Milan High School (MI) added a new personal finance course (Milan News-Leader)

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.