Is a high school course with personal finance concepts required to be taken as a graduation requirement? No, Wisconsin does not require any specific courses for graduation.
No policy change is pending that would change Wisconsin's grade. The state's grade could change to a grade A if bills in the legislature requiring a stand-alone personal finance course as a graduation requirement became law.
In 2017, Wisconsin passed a law requiring each local school board to adopt academic standards for financial literacy and incorporate instruction in financial literacy into the curriculum in grades K to 12. Implementation of this requirement is left to local school districts with modest oversight by the state. The law does not specify a delivery mechanism for the required financial literacy instruction. Most, but not all, local schools in Wisconsin offer a stand-alone course in personal finance. NGPF research indicates that about 35% of student attend a high school where taking a stand-alone personal finance course is a local graduation requirement. Another 61% of students attend a high school that offers a stand-alone personal finance course as an elective.
In 2010, a Governor's Council on Financial Literacy & Capability was created. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's website includes a list of financial literacy resources for educators to use in their classrooms.
It is not clear how Wisconsin measures student achievement in financial literacy or how the state monitors local school district implementation of the personal financial literacy education requirements to ensure equitable access to this content knowledge to all high school students.
2028