Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? No, a specifically identified course with personal finance concepts is not a graduation requirement. See: Iowa High School Graduation Requirements.
Iowa's Core standards define the expectations and content of what all students should know and be able to do from Kindergarten through Grade 12. The Core standards also establish learning goals for 21st-Century Skills, including financial literacy standards. See: Iowa Financial Literacy Standards.
In September 2014, the Iowa Financial Literacy Work Team Report was released with eight specific recommendations. The report indicates that an increased emphasis on implementation of existing financial literacy standards is needed, and that additional resources should be provided to educators and schools to help them achieve full implementation of these standards. The work team was opposed to the creation of a financial literacy course or high school graduation requirement in this area. The report notes that the Department of Education does not currently collect data around the implementation of the financial literacy standards, and that there is no way to monitor implementation in this topic area. The report includes excellent recommendations that would help increase the quality of financial literacy instruction in Iowa classrooms.
Schools are expected to include Iowa Core 21st Century Skills and other 21st-Century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects. Local school districts determine how and where to integrate these topics into the classroom. It is not clear how Iowa measures student achievement in financial literacy or how the state monitors local school district implementation of the financial literacy education requirement.