Rhode Island - 2017

Final Grade

F

Graduation Requirements

Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? No, Rhode Island does not specify required courses for graduation. High school students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in six core areas, including social studies. The decision as to whether to offer courses in financial literacy and whether to require that students take these courses is a local school district decision in Rhode Island. See: Rhode Island Graduation Requirements.

High School Education Standards

Rhode Island has social studies standards that include an economics strand. In 2014, the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education approved a recommendation from a group of students that they endorse (but do not require) the Council on Economic Education's (CEE) standards for personal financial literacy. See: Rhode Island Other Subjects Standards (scroll to Financial Literacy). In the process of researching personal finance standards, the student-led research group discovered that 84% of the 20 Rhode Island school districts surveyed indicated that they offer one or more financial literacy classes as electives, and three of those districts have personal finance as a graduation requirement.