Champlain College Center for Financial Literacy Releases Top 10 States in Personal Finance Ed

BURLINGTON, Vermont, April 12 -- Champlain College issued the following news:

Utah is the only state to earn an A+ on the recent report card issued by College's Center for Financial Literacy.

Utah leads the center's first-ever top 10 list of states in terms of high school personal finance education, released today (April 12) in recognition of Financial Literacy Month.

John Pelletier, director of the Champlain center, says Utah requires that all high school students take a half-year course exclusively dedicated to personal finance topics, and students are required to take an end-of-course assessment examination created and administered by the state.

"Utah clearly has the best program in the nation," says Pelletier. "They require educators to be trained in teaching personal finance, and they provide teachers with resources and professional development opportunities. General financial literacy is a funded mandate in Utah."

Rounding out the top 5 are Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia.

Pelletier says the report card is one of several efforts made by the center to advocate for improved personal finance education, noting that financial literacy among Americans is linked to positive outcomes like wealth accumulation, stock market participation, retirement planning, and avoiding high-cost alternative financial services like payday lending and auto title loans.

In December, his center issued its third state-by-state report card on high school personal finance education. Four states already have responded with laws and/or regulatory changes, while other states are currently considering legislation. Report cards also were issued in 2013 and 2015.

A link to the top 10 list is here (https://spark.adobe.com/page/9Wn4LRGGwK2ql/).