Grade A for the Class of 2028. In June 2022, a law was enacted that applies to students entering 8th grade in 2023 (the Class of 2028), adding a personal finance half-credit (a half-year course) to the diploma requirements but keeping the required graduation credits at 18 credits. Students earn a half-credit once they have demonstrated learning of the personal finance standards approved by the Department of Education (DOE). The current half-credit economics requirement cannot fulfill the new personal finance course. If an economics class is used to meet this new requirement, then the economics class must be expanded from a half-year to a full-year one-credit course. If schools choose to offer the personal finance standards in a class separated from economics, then students will earn a half-credit in economics and a half-credit in personal finance. The personal finance credit can be used as a substitute for a graduation credit requirement in mathematics; visual arts, performing arts, or applied art; or world language. Local school districts determine the content, structure, and delivery of the personal finance course as well as the proficiency measures. Students may also test out of a personal finance course. The personal finance credit requirement may also be fulfilled through certain DOE-approved career and technical education programs or curriculum. To assist local districts with the implementation of this new requirement, the DOE has created a personal finance course Guidance Document. The DOE has also indicated that it will be working closely with partners through June 2025 to develop more professional learning and curriculum supports for districts and educators. The personal finance course must be taught by an appropriately prepared educator. Depending upon the personal finance course content focus (e.g., mathematics; family planning and life skills; accounting, budgeting, and business planning; or economics), the course can be taught by educators with a mathematics, family and consumer sciences, business education, social studies, and social sciences endorsements. The DOE Guidance Document indicates that the personal finance course/credit is not required to be delivered in a semester-long course. Credit will be granted for successfully meeting the content standards, not on seat time. The personal finance standards may also be built into other courses, projects, or experiences, regardless of length. The DOE has indicated that the personal finance credit could be taken in middle school and is not required to be taken exclusively in high school. A middle school course would count as a half-credit toward the required 18 high school graduation credits.
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