Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? Yes, West Virginia requires students to take 1 credit (a full-year course) of civics, which includes personal finance content, or AP® Government and Politics. Students who take the AP® Government and Politics (or Dual-Credit Civics) must be provided instruction in the personal finance standards applicable to the civics course. In 2005, a law was passed requiring the State Board of Education to develop a high school program of instruction on personal finance. The law allows the program to be integrated into the curriculum of an existing course or courses.
Grade A for the Class of 2028. In March 2023, West Virginia passed a law that requires, beginning with the class of students entering 9th grade in the 2024–2025 academic year, that each high school student shall complete a half-credit course of study in personal finance during their 11th or 12th grade year as a requirement for high school graduation. The law requires the State Board of Education to develop and issue implementation guidance to local school districts as to curriculum, content matter standards, eligible teacher certification(s), and graduation requirements the course may fulfill before July 1, 2024. The Class of 2028 would be the first class to graduate with the new requirement.
There are 45 civics, economics, personal finance, and geography standards in the civics course, 10 of which relate to personal finance. Based on this information, we estimate that students receive approximately 27 hours of instruction in personal finance (or 22% of a 120-hour full-year course).
The Department of Education website provides educators with resources on general career exploration.
It is not clear how West Virginia measures student achievement in financial literacy.
2028