Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? Yes, since 2006, Illinois has required that all high school students participate in consumer education.
Although bills have been introduced in the legislature in 2023 that would require a stand-alone course in financial literacy as a graduation requirement, currently there is no policy change pending that would change Illinois's grade.
Illinois requires that each high school student, sometime during grades 9 to 12, participates in consumer education for 50 minutes per day for a period of nine weeks. This results in a minimum of 37.5 hours of consumer education in high school, assuming the instruction is conducted five days a week for a nine-week period. Superintendents are required to maintain evidence showing that each student has received adequate instruction in consumer education prior to the completion of grade 12. Consumer education may be included in course content of other courses, or it may be taught as a separate required course. Teachers providing this instruction are required to hold an educator license valid for the grade levels taught and have completed at least three semester hours in consumer education courses.
Beginning with pupils entering the 9th grade in the 2021-2022 school year, one semester, or part of one semester of the two years of social studies required for graduation, may include a financial literacy course. Illinois requires two years of social science courses, which must include one year of U.S. History or a combination of U.S. History and American Government, and one semester of civics. The Social Science Learning Standards include high school standards for financial literacy. State regulations require that students be provided with opportunities to prepare themselves for entry into the world. Every school district is required to initiate a Career Awareness and Exploration Program that should enable students to make more meaningful and informed career decisions. This program should be available at all grade levels.
It is not clear how Illinois measures student achievement in financial literacy or how the state monitors local school district implementation of the consumer education requirement, which can be delivered to students at any time in grades 9 to 12 through a single course or multiple courses. Personal finance concepts are most relevant right after students graduate from high school, when they are thrust into a situation where they must manage their daily living expenses. Allowing students take personal finance concepts in grade 9 and 10 is not optimal, since knowledge obtained will fade over time. Many grade 9 and 10 students will not use much of what they learn until years after the instruction is completed.
2028