93% of NH public high schools offer personal finance courses; 21% require students to pass a standalone course in personal finance to graduate.

HILLSBORO, NH, UNITED STATES, February 14, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The NH Jump$tart Coalition announced New Hampshire high schools are making positive strides toward providing more opportunities for students to learn and understand personal finance. The NH Jump$tart Coalition, an all-volunteer non-profit organization that strives to prepare youth for life-long, successful financial decision making, has released is biennial study of personal finance curriculum and graduation requirements of 76 public high schools in New Hampshire. While the study reveals significant progress, many schools still do not require students to pass a class in personal finance to graduate from their school district.

The mission of the NH Jump$tart Coalition is to advance financial literacy and financial equity, especially among the youth of New Hampshire, through communication, collaboration, and support for effectiveness in financial education. The organization conducted its first study of New Hampshire public high school curriculum in 2013; updated in 2017, 2019, 2021 and this recent study was completed in late 2023. The study pointed out that as of June 30, 2023, there exists an inherent “gap” between the requirement of HB 1263—that personal finance literacy be taught as a standalone course of study OR integrated in a current curriculum, and HB 1671 which makes the new instruction area as a standalone course of study a requirement beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year. Click here to read the study.

The organization evaluated the economics curricula and graduation requirements to determine how schools measure up to the New Hampshire Curriculum Frameworks Standard SS:EC:6, which specifies that [in order to graduate high school] students must be able to explain the importance of money management, spending, credit, saving and investing in a free-market economy. The Department of Education is undertaking rulemaking to amend Ed 306—Minimum Standards—to reflect all the changes that HB 1671 implements in its requirement.

“We are encouraged by the significant progress being made in our schools, and we believe that the standalone personal finance requirement will be more prevalent in the next study cycle” said Dan Hebert, president, NH Jump$tart Coalition. “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 advocating for effective financial education in their school districts.”

Key findings from the 2023 study include:

-93% of New Hampshire public high schools clearly offer a personal finance course as either an elective or requirement, in addition to meeting the state requirement for economics.
-21% of New Hampshire public high schools clearly require a standalone course in personal finance for graduation.
-7% of New Hampshire public high schools require economics only but include elements of personal finance in their course of study.

In 2013, only three public high schools in New Hampshire met the state minimum requirement in economics and required students to pass a half-credit class in personal finance to graduate. The 2023 study revealed an improvement with sixteen public high schools now requiring students to pass a separate, standalone course in personal finance to graduate. They are:

Bedford High School
Bow High School
Colebrook Academy
Gorham High School
Hindsdale High School
Hopkinton High School
Inter-Lakes High School
John Stark Regional High School
Mascenic High School
Newfound Regional High School
Pelham High School
Profile High School
Prospect High School
Spaulding High School
Winnisquam Regional High School
Woodsville High School

For more information about the NH Jump$tart Coalition and to access the full 2023 Report on New Hampshire Public High Schools, visit nhjumpstart.org.

About NH Jump$tart Coalition:
Now celebrating 24 years, NH Jump$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.
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Daniel N Hebert
NH Jump$tart Coalition
+1 603-731-1812
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