More high schools teaching finance skills

The following is excerpted from an article by Kiplinger's Money Power, published in the Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake City, October 17, 2005.

The number is growing. Nine states have personal finance graduation requirements, up from four in 2002. Those states are Utah, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York and Texas. In most cases, personal finance, also called consumer education, is a semester-long course, but it is often integrated into math or economics.

The skills taught range from the basics, such as saving and comparison shopping, to investing in mutual funds and analyzing credit scores.

Illinois has the oldest consumer education requirement. Its curriculum is evolving to include online banking, Internet fraud and phishing.

The article states there appears to be a connection between financial literacy and the "right start in life." When Visa surveyed parents of high school students, it learned that more moms and dads were concerned about their children developing good money–management skills than about drug and alcohol abuse.