The Impact and Implementation of Personal Finance Courses in High School and Undergraduate Education

Abstract

Personal finance courses (PFCs) have been studied over the years, and results have shown positive impacts on students’ financial behaviors and even on the students’ family members. PFCs can cover a wider variety of topics, depending on the school, but the common ones included are financial planning, expense management/budgeting, savings, investments, and debt or credit management. Offered at both high school and collegiate levels, PFCs provide teens and young adults with critical personal finance concepts that serve as a foundation to build long-term wealth. However, finance professionals can fail to see the benefits of instilling these concepts at a young age and rather focus on fixing clients’ financial issues later on in life. This thesis provides a comprehensive overview of various aspects of PFCs and looks to answer four questions. What are the short-term and long-term benefits students enjoy from taking a PFC? How does a PFC affect those closest to the student enrolled in the course? How do state policies impact the implementation of PFCs? Does artificial intelligence change the need for a formal course on personal finance? By answering these questions, this paper presents clear evidence for the inclusion of PFCs in the regular school curriculum. Ultimately, the work in this literature review could result in increased awareness from those in the finance field about the need for financial education in early adulthood and how that financial education should be delivered.