Money is finally part of the homework. American teens are learning personal finance by investing real school endowment funds, preparing tax returns for low-income families, and writing letters to their 65-year-old selves. Separate personal finance courses are now mandated in 30 states and are on track to reach 73% of public high school students by 2031.
- Connecticut’s Ethel Walker School lets students invest $1K of real endowment funds, matching the market’s 28.3% gain from Oct. 2023 to May 2025, while IRS-certified students have generated nearly $1.2M in tax refunds for low-income families.
- California’s Da Vinci Communications teaches backward financial planning, leading 80% of students to open Roth IRAs at 18 and pushing the share who believe retirement saving should start at 18 from 28% to 64% after a single lesson.
The lasting impact: Research shows mandatory financial education improves teens’ credit and debt habits, but results are mixed on long-term saving and homeownership. That’s why hands-on programs using real money may beat textbooks: only 47% of schools teaching personal finance cover investing (often because teachers lack confidence), and the biggest gains show up for lower-income students who get frameworks their families couldn’t provide.
