K-12 Financial Education and the Role of Accredited Financial Counselors

Written By: Hunter Field, Manager, Policy and Advocacy

The Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education community is made up of a diverse group of practitioners serving a similarly diverse group of clients. In serving veterans, professionals approaching retirement and younger clients charting out their professional life, one thing remains true: everyone has their own relationship and life experiences with money which impacts how they handle their finances.  

With this understanding, it makes sense why 80% of U.S. adults wish they had been required to take a personal finance course in high school. Navigating the financial system as a young adult can be perilous without this foundational knowledge, and Accredited Financial Counselors (AFC) regularly serve clients recovering from the financial choices they had to make without the benefit of counseling or a high school course.  

Fortunately, there is a wave of momentum in the form of state legislatures amending high school graduation requirements to include a personal finance course. Since 2018, 22 states have passed laws requiring students to take personal finance before graduating—bringing the total to 27 states overall. This dramatic increase will expand access for K-12 students. For AFC professionals, there are multiple ways to support these efforts: 

Subject matter expert testimony can make a real difference in states considering legislation, as well as for considerations in states that have already passed legislation. AFC professionals are experts on financial education and their testimony to lawmakers and administrators can provide support that helps a new requirement pass. When details of a recently passed requirement are being considered, AFC professionals can also provide guidance to ensure certain points are included, such as the preferred option of a stand-alone course rather than an embedded one. AFCPE, the FinEd50 Coalition, and Next Gen Personal Finance have valuable advocacy toolkits to help guide this work. 

Training and preparing educators to teach personal finance is a critical component of the implementation process. Research shows that a properly trained personal finance educator makes a measurable difference in student outcomes, and this is a key part of effective financial education. Typically, teacher training in a state with a new financial education requirement can take a patchwork form with varying differences between school districts, but organizations such as the Jump$tart Coalition and the Council for Economic Education have numerous state affiliates that offer valuable professional development resources and trainings. AFC professionals can provide valuable support to these efforts as individuals with subject matter expertise.  

Learning about the need for further research and evaluation of financial education is a great way for AFC professionals with research backgrounds to contribute to this momentum. Research around financial education is relatively young compared to other subjects and additional research on its impact on students can fuel the national momentum of expanded access to help states with existing requirements refine their programming. Local colleges and universities are great places to explore this possibility. 

As the implementation of these new K-12 financial education requirements continues across the country, research into case studies and best practices from states that have completed the initial process can help inform the next wave of implementation efforts.  NEFE has a soon-to-be released series of position papers on this topic, aiming to provide state officials with guidance as they work through implementation.  

AFC professionals are in a unique position to support these policy changes that will expand access to financial education. Equipped with these details and your subject matter expertise, you can make a difference in your home state supporting the financial wellbeing of future generations!