The United Kingdom made it all but official: personal finance education will be ruled as mandatory throughout the nation’s school system starting in 2014. This is a fundamental development that fell on deaf ears in the United States, where the federal government has been hesitant to pass such a law for years.
Although the U.S. does not have a nation-wide mandate concerning financial coursework, the nation, in many ways, is a world leader on this front. The country implements the formal National Strategy for Financial Literacy and a variety of public and private sector commissions to evaluate what initiative works best.
That said, the U.S. does not have is a plan of action such as a federal mandate to require financial literacy education in schools. With its passing, the United Kingdom joined Singapore and Australia as the only nations that require financial curriculum–That said New Zealand and Canada appear to be headed in a similar direction.
Nan Morrison, the CEO of the Council for Economic Education believes the mandate to be an encouraging effort to promote financial literacy throughout the nation. Mr. Morrison applauds the mandate for incorporating lessons of economics and finance into subjects already taught in the academic landscape.
The Council for Economic Education and a variety of advocacy groups are fighting for similar initiatives in the United States; however, broad hurdles remain including conflicting data with regards to the kinds of lessons that actually prove effective.
Lauran Levine, the executive director of the Coalition for Financial Literacy believes strongly in school-based financial education and commends the United Kingdom on its efforts. Ms. Levine also sees the problem with adding a similar initiative in the United States, “The U.S. is a very large country that establishes educational requirements at the local or state level. We are therefore not likely to receive nationwide financial education with a simple flip of the switch. Until the population is financially capable, we are forced to keep working to better provide that education in academic institutions and anywhere else it makes sense.”
A few states, including Tennessee, Utah, Missouri and Virginia, have heeded such advice as they require stand-alone personal finance courses in high school. Yet many experts believe that the nation is moving backwards with regards to our financial education platform. In a recent survey, the Council for Economic Education found that the number of states requiring schools to test financial or economic aptitude fell by three and states requiring schools to offer personal finance coursework fell by one.
