Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? Yes, effective with the entering 9th grade class of 2011–2012 (Class of 2015), an Economics and Personal Finance course is a required course for high school graduation. There are a variety of options that exist to satisfy this requirement: (i) taking a full academic-year (36-week) Economics and Personal Finance course; (ii) taking the following two single-semester (18-week) courses: Finance course along with an Economics course; or (iii) taking other courses that are aligned with the Economics and Personal Finance Standards of Learning. This graduation requirement indicates that a standard unit of credit be awarded, which generally is the successful completion of 140 hours of instruction.
No policy change is pending that would change Virginia's grade.
Nine of the 18 standards for the Economics and Personal Finance course are personal finance concepts. Based on this information, we estimate that students receive approximately 70 hours of instruction in personal finance in Virginia, which is the equivalent of a one-semester course.
The Virginia Department of Education's website has a list of financial literacy resources and professional development opportunities for educators.
It is not clear how Virginia measures student achievement in financial literacy.
2028