DeSantis signs financial literacy requirement

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Students who enter high school in the 2023-2024 school year will be required to take a financial literacy course to be able to graduate, under a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis touted the bill (SB 1054) as a way of getting students ready for life after high school. 

“We think that it will help improve students’ ability in financial management, for when they end up in the real world. But also, using these skills as pathways to high-demand fields, which there are very high-demand fields in this regard,” DeSantis said during a bill-signing event in Wesley Chapel. 

Under the measure, students will be required to take a half-credit course in personal financial literacy and money management. The course will include instruction on concepts such as the different types of bank accounts and how to open accounts, credit and credit scores, types of savings and investments and completing loan applications. 

The bill also will reduce the number of required electives from the current eight credits to 7 ½ credits. Lawmakers including Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran joined DeSantis for the event. State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis also praised the bill. 

“Financial literacy is an important key to a strong financial future and I’m proud that learning the basics of credit, budgeting, savings and investing will now be taught throughout Florida’s schools,” Patronis said in a statement.