GRADE
A
SUMMARY OF GRADE
-
Significant Accomplishments: K-12 financial literacy standards by grade bands; Wisconsin Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy; requires a stand alone personal finance course.
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK
There are no financial literacy related course requirements for high school graduation in Wisconsin. However, 2017 Wisconsin Act 94 (Assembly Bill 280) requires that each school board “adopt academic standards for financial literacy and incorporate instruction in financial literacy into the curriculum in grades kindergarten to 12.” The Wisconsin Standards for Personal Financial Literacy, updated in June 2020, are divided into six strands that support the learning of personal financial literacy through grade bands K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Though these standards provide students with a strong personal financial literacy framework, the adoption of the standards is voluntary.
2021 Executive Order #106 renamed the Wisconsin Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy (created under 2011 Executive Order #24) as the Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy and Capability. The Council’s mission is, in part, to “Explore and identify best practices in implementing financial literacy and capability through individuals’ life stages – pre-k to college, young adult, adulthood, pre-retirement, and retirement.” At the publication of this report, a bill requiring one half-credit of financial literacy instruction had passed the Wisconsin Assembly and was pending in the Senate.
In 2023, Wisconsin passed Act 60 which requires “at least 0.5 credit of personal financial literacy that includes financial mindset, education and employment, money management, saving and investing, credit and debt, and risk management and insurance” for graduation starting with the graduating class of 2028.
Wisconsin requires a stand alone personal finance course for high school graduation and ensures the teaching of financial literacy in each grade band, earning an “A”.
