Michigan high school students now required to take personal finance course to graduate

MONROE, Mich. (WTVG) – There is a new graduation requirement for Michigan high schools. What started as an elective course is now required for students to get their diplomas.

High school students in Michigan will now be required to take a financial literacy course in order to graduate and help them get ready for life after graduation.

Interest rates, using credit and investing are all things that are common terms for adults. But now, they’ll become familiar to high schoolers in Michigan, too, as a financial literacy course is now a requirement for graduation.

“You see so many students graduate from high school and go to college and they get themselves in debt. They don’t realize how important a good credit score is for future lending to get better interest rates. So we really try to impress that upon the kids how important it is to start out with a strong financial foundation right from the get-go,” said Anne Knabusch, CTE business teacher at Monroe High School.

Her students learn how to make a budget, create net worth statements and write a check.

When asked if Joshua Sutton, a senior at Monroe High School, knew how to do any of that before he took the class, he replied: “Nothing. I didn’t realize how much actually went into it.”

But now, Sutton said he feels more prepared on how to balance his money.

“I got a job a little bit before I started taking her class. I was saving some, but not a whole lot. And then after taking her class and learning you need to have a backup just in case, it’s helped me a lot to save more,” said Sutton.

Maci Willey, a senior at Monroe High School, said it had the same effect on her.

“Without it, I would be clueless. I feel like everybody needs the opportunity to experience that, go through it so they know what the real world is like. You’re not gonna be under your parents anymore. You need to know how to do this stuff.” said Willey.

Monroe schools leaders said this is setting Michiganders up for future financial success.

The school has also partnered with Monroe Community Credit Union to host a financial reality fair for juniors at the end of the school year

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