GRADE
C
SUMMARY OF GRADE
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Significant Accomplishments: Required high school course
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Needs Improvement: Needs to implement K-8 financial literacy standards
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK
New Hampshire previously required a half-year course of economics for high school graduation, which included some financial literacy instruction. In 2022, HB1671 was passed which made personal finance part of the state’s content of an adequate public education, requiring a semester-long course in financial literacy. The standards for this course that began in the 2023/2024 school year are not readily available on the Department of Education website.
There are some personal finance standards in the K-12 Social Studies New Hampshire Curriculum Framework for grades 7-8. Under grades 7-8 Economics, Personal Finance is one of six standards with eight of its own specific standards. New Hampshire students are therefore not guaranteed exposure to personal finance until seventh grade. New Hampshire was in the process of re-writing the Curriculum Frameworks for Social Studies in 2018, but those updates appear to have been delayed.
While New Hampshire does now require for graduation a stand-alone course in personal finance in high school, it provides little financial literacy instruction in K-8 therefor earning a “C.” New Hampshire needs to create Grades K-6 personal finance standards in order to receive an “A.”