Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? Yes, Virginia requires that students take a full-year course, titled Economics and Personal Finance, in order to graduate. See: Virginia High School Graduation Requirements.
Nine of the 18 standards for the Economics and Personal Finance course are in personal finance. Based on this information, we estimate that students receive approximately 60 hours of instruction in personal finance, which is the equivalent of a one-semester course. See: Virginia Personal Finance and Economics Standards. For additional information, see Virginia Financial Literacy FAQs. Virginia has other course options available to satisfy its economics and personal finance requirement. See: Virginia Course Options for Personal Finance. For information on professional requirements for instructors teaching financial literacy, see Virginia Financial Literacy Teacher Competency Requirements.
The Virginia Department of Education makes financial literacy resources available online for teachers. See: Virginia Financial Literacy Resources. In 2017, legislation was passed that requires the state's Board of Education to add the following into the current personal finance education standards: "evaluating the economic value of postsecondary studies, including the net cost of attendance, potential student loan debt, and potential earnings." See: Virginia legislation requiring evaluation of postsecondary education.
It is not clear how Virginia measures student achievement in financial literacy.