High school students are mandated to learn about personal finance in Florida.

Florida has mandated a course in personal finance as a requirement for high school graduation.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1054 into law on Tuesday. In early March, both the state House of Representatives and Senate unanimously enacted the bill.

Senate Bill 1054, also referred to as the Dorothy L. Hukill Financial Literacy Act stipulates that high school graduation must include a half-credit of personal financial literacy and money management education.

The number of elective credits is also reduced from eight to seven and a half in the bill.

During a press conference on Tuesday, he said “What the bill is doing with financial literacy is really providing a foundation for students that’s going to be applicable in their lives regardless of what path they take.”

“This will provide a foundation for the students to learn the basics of money management, understanding debt, understanding how to balance a checkbook, and understanding the fundamentals of investing” he added.

Students entering ninth grade in the 2023-2024 school year will be required to take a half-credit personal finance course before graduating under the new law.

One of the main sponsors of the bill, who also serves as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, Demi Busatta Cabrera said “Whether our students choose to go to one of our great colleges or universities, do a trade or apprenticeship program, a career in the arts or the military, every student deserves to be equipped with the education and knowledge to succeed financially in our society.”

With other states passing laws requiring students to learn about personal finance, Florida is the most recent state to join the trend.

The proposal that all Florida high school students should receive a thorough personal financial education received political backing in the Florida House and Senate, with unanimous votes.

The bill's popularity was also demonstrated in a recent poll done by Public Policy Polling in early March. According to their research, 85 percent of Floridians believe that high school kids should be required to take a personal finance course.

Yanely Espinal, director of educational outreach at Next Gen Personal Finance, said “The world of money is changing so fast, if we don’t help our students keep up, the next generation is going to repeat cycles of a lack of financial literacy.”

“With the amount of credit card debt and student loans the average American now holds, it's no wonder students, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders are calling for this course.” the director said. Also adding, “We all wish we learned about important financial decisions before we had to make them, not after.”

According to Next Gen Personal Finance's bill tracker, 54 personal finance education legislation are now pending in 26 states. Now, 11 states, including Florida, require students to complete a stand-alone personal finance course, which the nonprofit organization considers to be the gold standard of personal finance education.

More than 20 additional states, in various forms, include personal finance education in their syllabus. Others have their ideas.

Legislation proposed in Arizona states that a personal finance course can meet a math course requirement, as revealed by Next Gen Personal Finance.

Another Tennessee legislation requires middle school kids to take personal finance classes. Tennessee is one of seven states that already require high school students to take personal finance classes.

Tim Ranzetta, co-founder of Next Gen Personal Finance said “Today marks a watershed moment in the financial education movement. With one stroke of a pen, all Florida high schoolers (5% of total U.S. high school population) will now have a guaranteed personal finance course.”

“Now the hard work of implementation begins. NGPF is committed to working with Florida educators during this implementation period to guarantee that the education delivered is of the highest quality” he added.

Next Gen Personal Finance has committed to assisting in the execution of this statewide financial literacy program in various ways which includes;

• Funding from the Stiles-Nicholson Foundation and Next Gen Personal Finance, a $1 million investment in teacher professional development. This investment will ensure that the personal finance training is implemented successfully. Stipends will be paid to teachers who take part in NGPF professional development, which includes certification courses, on-demand modules, and virtual PD sessions.

• Florida instructors have free access to the Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) curriculum and industry-leading professional development. NGPF curriculum is used by more than 59,000 personal finance teachers nationwide (including 1,700 in Florida), reaching more than 80% of high school students.

The exercise demonstrates that states are beginning to recognize the value of personal finance education for their kids.

While the coronavirus outbreak threw such education into disarray across the country, it also brought attention to the need of instilling sound financial practices.