RALEIGH, N. C. – North Carolina high school students will have to learn the basics of personal finance before graduating.
Starting next year, high schoolers will be required to take and pass a personal finance class in order to get their diploma.
The State Board of Education approved the move earlier this month, reports WRAL. The course will replace one of the American history courses that students must take.
As it currently stands, students are required to take the follow classes:
- World History
- American History I
- American History II
- American History: Founding Principles, Civics and Economics
Under the new guidelines, students will take the following courses:
- World History
- American History
- Founding Principles of the United States of America and North Carolina: Civic Literacy
- Economics and Personal Finance
According to Mariah Morris, North Carolina’s 2019 Teacher of the Year, students wanted the class.
“They want to know about credit and debit, taxes, what W-4 forms are, W-2, how to budget, how to get grants for college, what fraud is, 401Ks, interest levels, how to get a mortgage [and] how to do business forms,“ Morris told WRAL.
But the change doesn’t have universal support.
Board member James Ford expressed concerns that the change would leave gaps in students’ knowledge of history.
“I mean, I would love to talk about financial literacy, grounded in some macro-economics of racial wealth gaps and all that, but I know that’s off the table,” he said.
