illi News - New Hampshire Becomes the 15th State to Require Personal Finance as a Core Academic Subject

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14% of NH high schools currently require students to pass a standalone course in personal finance to graduate

HILLSBOROUGH, N.H. - illiNews -- Governor Chris Sununu recently signed HB1671 into law which adds personal finance as a core academic subject under the state's definition of an adequate education. This officially makes New Hampshire the 15^th state to require public schools to teach personal finance. Michigan became the 14^th state earlier this month preceded by Florida and Georgia who passed similar laws this year.

Since June 12, 2006, the New Hampshire State Board of Education has identified the 20 credits required for graduation to include one half credit of Economics under Administrative Rule Ed 306.27(n), and the Revised NH Curriculum Frameworks standard SS:EC:6 specifies that "students will be able to explain the importance of money management, spending, credit, saving, and investing in a free-market economy."

In 2013, the NH Jump$tart Coalition released its first study of New Hampshire high schools to determine the extent of Personal Finance instruction in the Granite State. During the summer of 2021, the coalition once again updated its statewide analysis to identify any financial literacy progress since the prior release. The data was obtained by visiting each high school's website and downloading their Program of Studies (as of June 30, 2021).

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"We are pleased that Governor Sununu has signed HB 1671 which will help our children to develop money management skills that will benefit them as they become adults" said Dan Hebert, president, NH Jump$tart Coalition. "I want to acknowledge the efforts of the bill's prime sponsors Rep. Ladd, Rep. Cordelli, Rep. Boehm, Rep. Hobson, Rep. Allard, and Rep. Moffett who introduced this bill earlier this year. "As our study reported, 94% of NH high schools already offer personal finance as either an elective or a required course so implementing this requirement shouldn't be a big lift for the school districts but will have a large positive impact for our children."

The bill specifies that the "learning area of personal finance literacy shall not apply until the 2023-2024 school year."

New Hampshire State Board of Education Chairman Andrew Cline said, "Personal financial literacy is at last recognized as an essential part of an adequate education. It's gratifying to see New Hampshire take this important step toward giving students the tools they need to become financially independent adults."

Hebert continued, "We have students who want to learn, educators prepared to teach them, and resources available, but it also starts at home. We urge parents to take an interest in modeling and teaching financial responsibility at home and supporting financial education in their schools."

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About NH Jump$tart Coalition:
Now celebrating 22 years, NH Jump$tart is a statewide, all volunteer, nonprofit association dedicated to improving the personal financial literacy of children in the Granite State. We are also a proud state affiliate of the National Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. The National Jump$tart Coalition, based in Washington, D.C., was first convened in 1995 and consists of over 200 organizations committed to improving the financial literacy of America's youth.