A few months ago, my dad sat at the dining table, furiously filling out our tax forms that were due the next day. I looked over and saw a bunch of financial jargon that immediately flew straight over my head.
At first, I brushed it off, but then it hit me. I was less than a year away from graduating high school, leaving my parents and starting my own life. I would need to fill out those same forms on my own someday. And I had no idea where to begin.
Just like me, thousands of students graduate high school without the knowledge needed to manage their money effectively. In school, we learn to do complicated math problems, but even the basic details of a savings account are unknown to us.
We are expected to make major financial decisions almost immediately after graduation. Whether we choose to go to college, trade school, military service or into the workforce, there will come a day when we need to know how to budget, how to get a loan and how to fill out our tax forms.
That is why financial literacy should be a required course for every high school student.
Cost of financial mistakes
I am luckier than most. My parents talked to me about money growing up: savings, spending carefully and not going into debt.
For students without anyone to walk them through the basics, a required class may be the only safety net they get. Without it, many will make mistakes, maybe very expensive ones. A single poor financial decision early in life can lead to years of debt and financial hardship.
With just one year of high school left for me, I’ll have to start thinking about college and its costs. But without a solid understanding of how interest rates, credit card debt or loan repayment work, students like me are more likely to fall into debt by carrying large balances or accepting loans with unfavorable terms.
A financial literacy course would teach us how to compare interest rates, calculate the true cost of borrowing and recognize predatory lending practices, tools that would be invaluable in our futures.
Still, a 2025 study by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America Institute found that, on average, American adults could answer only 47% of the 28 financial literacy questions covering topics such as consuming, borrowing, earning, insuring and more.
That means less than half of adults in the United States have a basic understanding of their personal finances.
A graduation requirement
Gen Z, my generation, performed even worse than the national average, scoring 38%. We are the least financially literate generation, and we are about to be thrown into adulthood with barely any working knowledge of our money.
Many policymakers have already recognized the importance of financial education. As of 2026, 30 states require high school students to take a financial literacy class to graduate. In California, high schools must offer the class by the 2027–28 school year, making it a graduation requirement beginning with the Class of 2031. But there are still 20 states without it.
If the purpose of education is to prepare students for life beyond high school, isn’t the system failing us by not teaching the basics of personal finance?
To the remaining states, it isn’t enough to just offer a course. Make financial literacy a graduation requirement for all high school students.
Claire Dong is a member of the class of 2027 at Aragon High School in San Mateo.
Editor’s note: This story is part of the annual Mosaic Journalism Program for Bay Area high school students, an intensive course in journalism. Students in the program report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.