Where Personal Finance Is Required

We teach every published personal finance standard in the country — and we track every state that hasn't published yet.

— Published standards
with BC alignment

— Legislation passed
standards being written

— Legislation pending

— No requirement
(National default applies)

— Last scanned

National Standards (Jump$tart/CEE)

2021 Standards for Personal Financial Education · Council for Economic Education + Jump$tart Coalition

Six themes — Earning Income, Spending, Saving, Investing, Managing Credit, Managing Risk. Used as the universal default for every state without its own published standards. Aligned in full by Budget Challenge.

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All States

Personal Finance Required

Published standards (dedicated class) Published standards (substitutes allowed) Legislation passed Legislation pending No requirement

Click any state on the map or in the list to see its details.

How we know

Every state's status on this page is verified through a research process we run continuously. We don't rely on third-party summaries.

Biweekly scans

Every two weeks we re-check every state's Department of Education website for new legislation and updated standards. State status on this page reflects the most recent verification.

Expert review

Alignment documents are reviewed by Tim Lambrecht, a finance educator with deep expertise in state standards. His feedback is encoded into our master alignment rules — every alignment document benefits from his prior reviews.

Source documents

We archive every state's official requirements PDF as published by the state DOE — and growing. Every claim on this page links back to the state's own published source.

What we see across the country

After reading every state's published standards, we've noticed the same three approaches appear over and over. Each one shapes how the standards should be taught — and why a single one-size-fits-all curriculum isn't enough on its own.

Adopt the national framework

e.g., Hawaii, Montana

Some states adopt the 2021 National Standards (Council for Economic Education and the Jump$tart Coalition) directly — six themes, conceptual focus, no further state-specific layer.

Write their own with elaborations

e.g., Ohio, Colorado, Oregon

Others write their own standard text alongside explicit elaboration sections defining intent. A standard about "financial responsibility" in Ohio means something specific that Ohio defined — not what the national framework defines.

Specify what students must do

e.g., Texas (TEKS), Louisiana, Georgia

Some use specific action verbs that tell students exactly what to do: "calculate," "reconcile," "differentiate." Less about conceptual understanding, more about demonstrable behaviors graded against a granular checklist.