WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that will require financial literacy course completion as a requirement of high school graduation.
DeSantis signed the bill from Innovation Preparatory Academy in Wesley Chapel.
The measure was unanimously approved during the 2022 legislative session, which ended last week.
"I think this is going to be something that is really good," DeSantis said. "We think it will improve a student’s capability for financial management when they enter the real world."
Students entering high school in the 2023-24 academic year would be required to take a half-credit course in "personal financial literacy and money management."
This makes Florida the seventh state to mandate a stand-alone course in personal financial literacy to graduate.
Students would learn about:
- types of bank accounts
- how to balance a checkbook
- money, debit and credit card management
- how to complete a loan application
- receiving an inheritance
- personal insurance basics
- how to do your taxes
- local tax assessments
- interest rates
- simple contracts
- contesting an incorrect bill
- state and federal laws
- ways to save and invest
The financial literacy course would be required to cover concepts such as types of bank accounts and how to manage accounts, credit and credit scores, completing loan applications, and types of savings and investments.
