Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? No, Louisiana does not require that high school students take a course in personal finance, nor are they required to take a course that has personal finance concepts included. In the 2015 report, Louisiana required that students take a half-year course on civics, which included a section on free enterprise. However, that course is no longer required for high school graduation. See: Louisiana High School Graduation Requirements and Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators (sections 2318 and 2319).
There are no personal finance standards currently available. In 2016, the governor of Louisiana signed into law a requirement that all public schools (both elementary and secondary) offer instruction in personal finance management. It specifies that "such instruction and subject matter shall be integrated into an existing course of study." See: Louisiana HB 401. Local school districts could meet this new legal requirement by integrating personal finance instruction into an existing course of study in secondary school (middle and/or high school). An existing course of study could be either an elective or a course required for graduation.
Louisiana requires that personal finance concepts be offered as part of another existing course of study in elementary and secondary schools. This guarantees that all students have limited access to these topics. Louisiana is one of only four states that require that personal finance be offered. The Louisiana Department of Education provides a financial literacy toolbox on its website. See: Louisiana Financial Literacy Resources.
How personal finance concepts are taught is left to the local school districts. Conceivably, because the law does not differentiate middle school as separate from high school, personal finance could be included in middle school curriculum and not be integrated into any existing high school-level courses. It is not clear how Louisiana measures student achievement in financial literacy. Louisiana is the only state since the 2008 financial crisis that has materially reduced personal finance education standards for high school students. Louisiana has gone from a state that required some personal finance concepts be taught to all students in a course required for high school graduation to a state that requires school districts to offer, but does not mandate students to take, personal finance instruction offered as part of an existing course of study.