Maryland - 2017

Final Grade

B

Graduation Requirements

Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? Yes, personal finance must be taught in elementary, middle and high school. See: Maryland Personal Financial Literacy Regulations. Local school districts are allowed to determine how these topics should be integrated into the curriculum. As of 2017, seven districts require a stand-alone personal finance course for graduation while the remaining 17 districts embed personal finance concepts into courses required for graduation. In most of the 17 districts, personal finance is embedded in a required U.S. history or government class. See: Maryland Financial Literacy Education Report 2016-2017. For more details on Maryland's graduation requirements, see Maryland High School Graduation Requirements.

High School Education Standards

Maryland regulation requires all local school districts to align the required financial literacy instruction with the curriculum developed by the Maryland Department of Education. They are divided into grade bands third through fifth, sixth through eighth and ninth through 12.  See: Maryland Financial Literacy Standards. Hours of instruction cannot be estimated since each school district determines how it will deliver the required personal finance education and implementation methods vary by local school district.

Extra Credit

Maryland has appointed a financial literacy education advisory council that is tasked with implementing and monitoring personal financial literacy education throughout the public schools. Every five years, school superintendents must demonstrate their system's approach to implementing the standards and curriculum for personal finance. This council, working with the Department of Education, researches and tracks the implementation and effectiveness of the local education agencies' delivery of the standards. See: Maryland Financial Literacy Council. Maryland's Department of Education provides online resources for parents and educators. See: Maryland Financial Education Resources.

Caveat

According to the Maryland Department of Education, all 24 school districts require personal finance to be taught either as a stand-alone course or embedded in another course. The Financial Literacy Education Council participates in a survey given to soon-to-be graduates. While there has been a consistent uptick in the number of students who "received instruction on managing personal finances," only 56% in the 2016 survey responded affirmatively. It is not clear how Maryland measures student achievement in financial literacy.