Financial literacy is critical for managing money, but how well are states preparing their students? Tennessee tops the list of U.S. states that provide the best financial education for its residents, according to a new report by financial-services company OneMain Financial. More than 99% of students at public high schools in Tennessee have what’s known as “gold-access” education, attending a school where they are required to take a personal-finance course in order to graduate.
The OneMain Financial report looks at four things for each state: the number of active bills promoting some form of financial education in public schools, the status of economic education in public high schools, the level of personal-finance education offered and required, and the share of high-school students in gold-access schools. New York, Utah, Alabama and Virginia followed Tennessee in the rankings. Although only 2% of New York’s high-school students are in gold-access schools, 11 financial- and economic-education bills have been proposed in the state this year. In the other three states, over 97% of students are in gold-access schools. (Tennessee, however, has a poverty rate higher than at least 30 other states.)
“‘We think that understanding budgeting, saving, loans and credit cards as well as credit scores can set people up for a lifetime of financial well-being.’”
— OneMain Financial’s report on financial literacy
“We think that understanding budgeting, saving, loans and credit cards as well as credit scores can set people up for a lifetime of financial well-being,” OneMain Financial said in the report. “So we looked closer at the latest legislation and conversations to gauge how we as a nation are giving people access …