New York students deserve a core Personal Finance Course. Nothing less.

Help implement effective financial education in New York

What’s At Stake

The next generation of New Yorkers needs our help.

New Yorkers want financial education done right

Standalone. Nothing less.

High schoolers can graduate financially ready with a full semester standalone course on budgeting, saving, taxes, credit, investing, careers, and beyond.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Only standalone Personal Finance courses work.
 

1. They drive 6 times larger improvements in graduates' financial wellbeing vs. embedded instruction, especially increasing credit scoresCollins & Urban (2025)

 

2. They deliver $107,000 in proven lifetime benefits per NY graduateTyton Partners (2024)

 

3. They replace outdated requirements and pose zero incremental costs to school districtsUrban (2025)

 

How You Can Help

Your Voice, Your School Board

Email your local School Board members - useful template below.

Dear [SCHOOL DISTRICT] Board,

I am a resident of [CITY] writing to ask the board to adopt a standalone Personal Finance course requirement to fulfill the NYSED Board of Regents' new financial literacy graduation requirement.

Financial literacy is now required by NYSED, but HS students can meet the requirement with 3 options:

Option 1 - a standalone financial literacy course

Option 2 - taking one of eighteen different electives, mostly unrelated to financial literacy

Option 3 - lessons embedded across other courses

Only Option 1 drives gains in graduates' financial outcomes, as demonstrated by two decades of research. For our students' sake, the School Board must follow this data and require a standalone, one-half credit financial literacy course for high school graduation.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]

What we advocate

5 research-backed principles

All students deserve a standalone personal finance course of at least one semester (18+ weeks of instruction).

Teach the course in grades 11 or 12, when the concepts are most relevant and real to students.

Cover all Personal Finance state standards to help students navigate real financial issues.

Should be taught by teachers who have taken professional development to teach the course confidently and effectively.

Give 3-5 years for implementation and allow personal finance to fulfill local school districts' choice of existing requirements.

What we’ve helped accomplish

The NGPF Mission 2030 Fund's nationwide advocacy campaign has increased the number of states requiring a high school personal finance course from 8 states in 2020 to 30 states in 2026.

As a result of these policy wins, over 76% of U.S. public high school students will graduate having taken a personal finance course by 2031.

Does implementing personal finance course requirements cost a lot?

No. September 2025 Research demonstrated that implementing standalone personal finance courses creates no incremental costs for school districts.

See The Study

What do New Yorkers think?

86% of New York voters said NYSED should require a standalone personal finance course in a December 2025 poll by Public Policy Polling. Across the political spectrum, New Yorkers want financial education done right.

Resources

Issue Brief

The financial capital of the world should lead on personal finance education
Download

Video

Trailer - The Most Important Class: Mission, Movement, and Momentum
Watch

In the News

Rochester Beacon: New York students deserve a standalone personal finance course
Read

Polling Data

PPP: 86% of New York voters want a standalone personal finance course requirement
View