Arizona Becomes Latest U.S. State Requiring Financial Literacy

The financial literacy community is buzzing over Arizona’s move to become the latest state to require students to take financial education classes in order to graduate.  Beginning this fall, the Arizona State Board of Education will need to modify the state’s curriculum to incorporate personal finance education in accordance with the recently passed state law, Senate Bill 1449.

Among the topics to which students will be exposed are budgeting, credit, saving, and investing.  The teaching of these and other financial literacy topics will begin for students in first grade.  The efforts by Arizona’s Department of Education to make financial literacy a key component in preparing the state’s youth for future success mirror the moves by many other states in recent times to recognize and addresses the importance of financial capability as an important measure of preparedness and success.  We anticipate many municipalities, states and countries to follow the lead of Arizona and other jurisdictions in the continuing gain in momentum of the global financial literacy movement.