A new education bill will require California high schoolers to complete a personal finance course before graduating.

The bill, which was passed by the legislature in June, requires a separate, semester-long personal finance course for high school graduates starting in the 2030-31 school year. It will also require all California high schools to offer the course by the 2027-28 school year.

The new requirement makes California the 26th state to adopt education nonprofit Next Gen Personal Finance’s Mission 2030. The organization’s goal is that by 2030, every U.S. high school will require a personal finance course before graduation. 

Tim Ranzetta, the co-founder of Next Gen Personal Finance, said financial literacy is critically important.

“I volunteered to teach a personal finance course at a high school in East Palo Alto, and I saw how eager students were to learn about this,” Ranzetta said. “And then I studied it a little bit more, and I was like, why isn’t this being taught in every high school in America?”

Ranzetta also highlighted how the benefits of a personal finance course carry over to traditional core subjects. 

“I can’t think of a better course to teach reading and math than personal finance, right?” he said, “Because what would motivate you more to learn math than to have a problem where you have to figure out: if I save $100 a month for the next 40 years, and I earn 7 or 8 percent return because I’m invested in the stock market … you’re giving me math that applies to my life.”

Next Gen Personal Finance’s single-semester curriculum covers various financial topics, including personal banking, independent budgeting, financing college and behavioral economics. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with sufficient knowledge to navigate their financial future.

From an educator’s perspective, Kimra Balliet, CTE and Career Readiness coordinator and personal finance teacher at The Cottonwood School, a free public charter school, said she integrates her real-world financial experiences in her instruction. She said social media can influence students’ money-related decisions and lead to uninformed, impulsive choices. 

“I came from a business world where you separate professional and personal life,” she said, “As a student, I think I learned best by stories that kind of stuck in my head, something relatable. And when I first started teaching, (I learned) that you have to be human and vulnerable and share things about your life, especially with high schoolers.”

Balliet mentioned her past money-related mistakes and the value of financial transparency.

“I’m somebody who grew up in a ‘you don’t talk about money’ culture, and with that you don’t learn about those things, so you just kind of get out there and make a lot of mistakes … I think that (the course) can make such a big difference,” Balliet said.

Critics of the new requirement question whether students will be motivated to study the material and whether teachers are adequately equipped to teach the subject matter. 

Yanely Espinal, author of “Mind Your Money” and director at Next Gen Personal Finance, said there’s no question that for the legislation to be effective in California, teachers will need help getting up to speed.

“To effectively teach personal finance, teachers will need specialized training because many of them were never taught financial literacy in a formal setting,” Espinal said. “This will lead to more professional development opportunities for teachers, helping them gain the knowledge and confidence required to teach important financial concepts.” 

Offering a student’s perspective, Habiba Mohamed, a freshman at The Cottonwood School,  said her personal finance class taught her essential money management skills.

“I felt like I really understood how to manage my money, and I learned a lot about debts, loans, and having a bank account,” she said.

For Mohamed, the course was valuable – and she thinks it will be for others as well.

“I think this means that more people will be knowledgeable about personal finance,” she said, “and learn to do things that are important in life.”