Governor Evers Signs Law Requiring High School Students to Complete Personal Financial Literacy Class

Sunday, December 10th, 2023 -- 11:00 AM

(Margaret Faust, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin high school students will have to complete at least a half credit of personal financial literacy to graduate under a new law signed Wednesday by Gov. Tony Evers.

According to Margaret Faust with Wisconsin Public Radio, students will be required to take a course that includes lessons on different skills, including money management, saving and investing and credit and debt. The mandate will start with the 2028 graduating class. In a statement announcing the bill signing, Evers said the new law aligns with his goals for financial literacy.

"We have to make sure our kids have the tools and skills to make smart financial and budgeting decisions to prepare for their future, so ensuring our kids have strong financial literacy is essential to setting them up for success as adults," Evers said in a news release. Rep. Elijah Behnke, R-Oconto, one of the coauthors of the plan, said he's very glad the mandate is now law.

"If I would've had better fiscal literacy as a young man or a teenager, I'd already be a millionaire," Behnke said in an interview. "If you don't know how to save and manage money properly, you will spend it as fast as you can make it."

Wisconsin is now the 24th state to guarantee a standalone half-credit course in financial literacy, according to Next Gen Personal Finance. Previous attempts to make financial literacy a requirement had failed.

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