About Us

Youth Financial Literacy in Utah

The Utah State Board of Education and Legislature have taken bold steps to empower the state’s youth with financial knowledge that will lead to future stability and success in homes and the economy.  These steps include:

• Beginning with the graduating class of 2008, Utah students are required to successfully pass a semester (.5) Financial Literacy Course.

• Financial and Economic concepts will be introduced to students in all grades through integrated lessons in core areas.

• The Finance in the Classroom program design will assist teachers, students and parents to incorporate Financial and Economic understanding both at school and at home.

 

How was Finance in the Classroom developed?

In the 2000s, Utah was one of the top states for bankruptcy and debt. Financial experts and community leaders were concerned about the future economic prosperity of Utahns. These individuals joined forces with policymakers to pass S.B. 154 in 2003, establishing the nation’s first financial education high school graduation requirement. USBE approved the one-semester financial literacy class in 2004, making Utah's graduating class of 2008 the first group of students in the nation to graduate having taken a mandated financial literacy class.

In 2008, legislation sponsored by Senator Pat Jones (S.B. 61) was signed into law requiring that Financial and Economic Education be taught in grades K-12 through the core areas of Math, Social Studies, and Language Arts. Included in this legislation was the Financial and Economic Education Passport, which in theory, was a mechanism to recognize students for completing age-appropriate activities and lessons. In practice, the Passport could not be implemented as intended due to funding and technology deficiencies. The Passport mandate was removed from law during the 2019 legislative session. However, financial and economic education in all grades is still statutorily required.

To help teachers in all grades prepare to teach a new subject, USBE and Utah Education Network jointly received a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s Public Media Innovation Fund in 2008. This resulted in a partnership wherein USBE provides professional review and grade assignment of resources, and UEN provides technical assistance to design, populate, and maintain the Finance in the Classroom website. Under the direction of USBE, groups of teachers designed a matrix assigning legislated financial and economic concepts to each grade level. Lessons, activities, PowerPoints, videos, books, music, and other resources were compiled to help teachers teach financial literacy. Over the years, Finance in the Classroom became outdated. In 2023, USBE launched an effort to update the website to meet the current needs of educators.

New instructors have consistently expressed over the years that they are overwhelmed by available resources and a lack of curated lesson plans, as highlighted in a 2018 program review conducted by the state auditor and state treasurer. The updated Finance in the Classroom websites helps address this need.

Finance in the Classroom helps Utah’s dedicated K-12 teachers to effectively incorporate financial literacy concepts into their instruction with comprehensive online resources and community awareness regarding the value of this instruction.  

 

Committee

Finance in the Classroom Task Force Leaders

 

 

Elementary Sub Committee

 

Secondary Sub Committee

 

Parents/Community Sub Committee