The Maryland Coalition for Financial Literacy (MCFL) recommends that all Maryland high schools students be taught the following concepts before graduating from high school:
The Economic Way of Thinking:
Choosing a Career
Economic and Financial Decision Making
Opportunity Cost
Cost/Benefit Analysis
Supply and Demand
Earning Income:
Human Capital investment
Entrepreneurship
Taxes
Choosing and understanding benefits
Saving and Investing:
Why you need to start early and pay yourself first
Obstacles to saving and investing
Long term vs short term
Spending and Use of Credit:
How to obtain Credit
Using credit wisely/knowing how bad credit hurts you
Getting a credit report
Giving to Charities
Debit vs Credit: Knowing the differences
Money Management:
Choosing a bank and/or credit union to keep your money
Budgeting
Living below your means
How to avoid bankruptcy
Risk Management:
Insurance – auto, health, disability, and life
Personal Property protection
Warranties
Understanding Contracts
Identity Theft/Avoiding Fraud:
Knowing the danger signals
What to do if you are a victim
No such thing as a free lunch
"(We urge) county boards of education to integrate the principles of basic personal finance into the curriculum and instruction established for their local school system; urging county boards of education to implement certain standards as part of a student’s eligibility to graduate from a public high school and receive a high school diploma; and generally relating to financial literacy education for students in Maryland public schools."
Md. Senate Resolution passed March 2, 2007
Below is a sampling of the overwhelming evidence to support a graduation requirement:p>
- The majority of college students say they learn the most about personal finance from their parents, but less than half of students say their parents make a consistent conscientious effort to teach them.
- Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the parents surveyed say they definitely see personal finance education as their responsibility and consistently make the effort to teach their children about it, compared to the only 41% of students who say their parents did.
- More than three-quarters of students (76%) wish they had more help preparing for their financial future.
- Parents rank developing good personal financial skills and being able to handle their money (74%) ahead of both following the wrong crowd (58%) and drugs/alcohol use (56%) in terms of concerns parents have for their children’s futures. Only personal safety ranked higher (89%).
- A recent Visa survey revealed that 91% of the respondents felt that financial education be taught in every high school.
- Nearly one-third (32%) of college students, when thinking about their freshman year, admit that they were "not at all" or "not very well prepared" for managing their money on campus. Only one in five (20%) students claims to have been "very well prepared" for managing their money on campus.
- Only 14% of American adults mentioned their company's 401(k) plan when asked about ways they save.
- Only 11% of workers under 35 years of age indicate they are participating in their company's 401(k).
- More people declare bankruptcy each year than graduate from college.
- Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans acknowledge they don’t save enough, and more than a third say that they often (11%) or sometimes (25%) spend more than they can afford. More than one-in-three (36%) Americans also say that they have at some point in their lives felt their financial situation was out of control.
