Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? No, personal finance is not included in the graduation requirements, either as a stand-alone course or embedded in another course. Students are required to take a specific number of social studies courses and career pathway courses. See: Delaware High School Graduation Requirements (scroll to section 4.0).
Delaware has standards in place for personal finance education for schools to use if they offer a personal finance course. See: Delaware Social Studies Standards (click on "High School Personal Finance Standards").
In the 2015-2016 legislative session, a joint resolution creating a statewide financial literacy task force was passed. See: Delaware Resolution Establishing Task Force. The task force has told the Center for Financial Literacy that if their recommendations are implemented by the Department of Education and the Board of Education, Delaware will have mandatory K-12 personal finance education standards. The task force also informed the Center that the Department of Education has indicated to them that it plans to bring mandatory K-12 personal finance standards to the Board of Education at a meeting in early 2018 for its review and approval, with implementation targeted for the 2020-21 school year.
Delaware's grade does not yet reflect these recommendations. Any grade given in a future National Report Card by the Center will be based on whether and how these new mandates are implemented. Should standards be mandated in the manner described by the task force, Delaware's grade could rise to a C.