Why financial literacy is needed in more U.S. classrooms

According to research by the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, Gen Z correctly answered only 38% of the index questions, on average, in 2025 to assess financial literacy. On average, U.S. adults correctly answered only 49% of the index questions in 2025, the same as in 2017.

By simply educating students early about credit scores, negative impacts of debt, budgeting, loans, how to build long-term wealth, IRAs, and 401ks, and so much more, it would fundamentally allow more young adults to be active participants in the economy rather than focusing on alleviating an insurmountable debt burden. Even if this initiative reduced the $20 trillion debt by just 1%, that is over $200 billion that households saved.

Teaching financial literacy within classrooms has been getting bipartisan support from across the country. Governors from red states like Georgia, Florida and North Dakota to blue states like California and New York all underscored the importance of financial literacy as a life skill for students to prevent the endless cycle of debt.

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

Yet, even with bipartisan support, there is more to be done. States like Georgia, Kansas, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington have adopted statewide education standards organizing instruction around key vital financial topics including earning income, spending, saving, investing, managing credit, and managing risk. States should adopt these standards, whether it be in a stand-alone class or incorporated within an existing financial course like economics.

Some think simply mandating it in classrooms is burdening students with another class where many will overlook the material. There are two main reasons why this will not be the case.

Firstly, the 1% rule, as popularized by James Clear, gives students the chance to make small changes in daily habits that can snowball into greater lifestyle choices. If students only retain 1% of the information they learn from the class, that is 1% more than what they had learned prior. If the only thing they learned was understanding what a credit score is, then this allows students to build better and sustainable credit over time. If a student was just able to take away understanding a budget, this allows for better fiscal responsibility as the student grows older.

The snowball effect of better financial literacy is endless. Students would be better off tomorrow than they are today just by learning the basics of financial literacy, even if the change is as small as 1%.

Second, countries that have implemented financial literacy programs in their school curriculum have historically higher financial literacy rates. Canada, Norway and Sweden have some of the highest literacy rates in the world with Norway, Denmark, and Sweden having the highest at 71% of adults being financially literate. This is because of the presence of financial literacy courses from early childhood development stages. Teaching key concepts like investing, budgeting, saving and so much more has propelled more adults to better financial stability. If a student from a young age opened a Roth IRA because of a school course, this can build significant wealth over time.

The benefits of more states mandating financial literacy courses are unmatched and offer students the chance to grow true generational wealth in a time where increased debt is burdening millions of Americans.

Personally, student loans were a big factor when deciding where to go to college. I faced the decision of going out-of-state and being burdened with high cost of living plus several hundred thousand dollars in student loans over four years, or staying in-state with the benefit of the Zell Miller Scholarship. For me, it was a no-brainer. Going to UGA saved me money and staying close to home reduced other expenses.

For many students, including myself, understanding the micro concepts of credit cards, interest, investing, mortgages, 401ks, building credit, etc. were things I never learned in school.

When I entered college, I had to do my own research and listen to advice from my mentors in order to learn about many of the aforementioned topics. However, this delayed my financial journey.

Investing early on would have set me on a financially stable path. I could have used this compounded money when I was young to buy new Lego sets as a way to motivate myself to understand the joys of saving and learning financial literacy.

Jason Eappen is a junior at the University of Georgia majoring in political science and international relations with a minor in Swahili. He currently works at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government UGA Defense Community Resilience Program to help support local military families and surrounding communities in various parts of the state.

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