NGPF Research: Only 1 in 6 High School Students Nationwide Required to Take Personal Finance Course To Graduate

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Oct 12, 2017, 12:41 ET

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), a non-profit with a mission to bring effective and engaging financial education to all high school classrooms in America, released a groundbreaking report today on the state of financial education.

Their research answers a fundamental question, Who has access to financial education in America today?. While various surveys show that more than 90% of parents and students believe that personal finance SHOULD be taught in schools, this study demonstrates the wide gap between demand and actual access.

In the most exhaustive research to date on financial education, NGPF analyzed websites of over 11,000 U.S. public high schools serving over 13 million students. Here are the highlights of their research:

Only 16.4% OF STUDENTS NATIONWIDE are required to take a personal finance course to graduate from high school.

Outside of the five states that have a mandated personal finance graduation requirement, the percentage of students slips to 8.6%

About 1 in 20 STUDENTS FROM LOW-INCOME BACKGROUNDS (outside of the five states with mandates) attend high schools with a personal finance requirement.
A state-by-state grade (A-F, Incomplete) was assigned based on the prevalence of elective and required personal finance courses in a given state's high schools. Read the full report to see how your state stacks up.

Tim Ranzetta, founder of Next Gen Personal Finance, made the following statement about the research results:

"This research sets an important stake in the ground by measuring access to financial education on a school-by-school basis for the first time. While the results are disappointing, when I meet teachers at workshops and training sessions across the country, I see their passion and desire to expand access. NGPF looks forward to what we can accomplish together."

Today, NGPF is officially launching an advocacy campaign with a goal of getting financial education into ALL classrooms. The mini-documentary Finding Finance highlights the need for financial education and examples of how passionate advocates have gotten financial education into schools. NGPF's #FinHero Advocacy page provides passionate educators, administrators and policymakers with the resources and tools they need to effectively "make the case." The data from the study will be made available to interested research parties.

About Next Gen Personal Finance

Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), has become the "one-stop shop" for financial educators looking for high-quality, engaging curriculum to equip students with skills to thrive in their future. In just three years, NGPF's comprehensive online curricular resources and teacher training have already been used by over 5,000 teachers in all fifty states. They love NGPF's approach that can be summarized as the 4 Cs: Curated, Comprehensive, Customizable and Current (and it's FREE too!).

Media Contacts
Tim Ranzetta
Next Gen Personal Finance
650-218-8408
[email protected]

SOURCE Next Gen Personal Finance