Arizona - 2017

Final Grade

B

Graduation Requirements

Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? Yes, beginning with the Class of 2012, Arizona has required high school students to complete a half-year course in economics. See: Arizona Graduation Requirements and Arizona Course Requirements (page 11).

High School Education Standards

The economics course standards in Arizona consist of five high-level concepts that must be taught, one of which is personal finance. Based on this information, we estimate that students receive approximately 12 hours of instruction in personal finance. See: Arizona Social Studies Standards. In 2013, the Arizona legislature passed a law requiring academic standards for social studies to include personal finance concepts. This law notes that the State Board of Education is not authorized to require a separate personal finance course as a graduation requirement. The law allows local school districts to prescribe a separate personal finance course that is in addition to or higher than the personal finance course of study and competency requirements that the Board requires. See: Arizona Board of Education Law and Arizona School District Law.

Caveat

It is not clear how Arizona measures student achievement in financial literacy.