A nonpartisan, youth-powered research campaign
Financial education before ninth grade.
CENTS researches the state policies, academic standards and school-district documentation that shape what students learn about money before high school.
Figure 1 · K–8 financial education, by state
- Requirement before grade 912
- Requirement, grades not specified6
- K-8 standards only23
- No K-8 personal-finance standards found4
- Under review6
Explore the research
Every state’s K-8 financial education law and standards, with the source for each claim.
- 12Requirement before grade 9
- 6Requirement, grades not specified
- 23Standards only
- 4No K-8 personal-finance standards found
- 6Under review
- 51Jurisdictions (50 states and DC)
- Browse all 51 jurisdictions on a map or in a sortable, filterable table.
- Compare up to three states side by side.
- Read every source, with the exact excerpt, citation and date retrieved.
- Download the open dataset as CSV or JSON.
Why this research matters
What a state requires is not the same as what students receive.
What policy says
State law and academic standards set what students are expected to learn. Many states require a personal finance course or credit for high school graduation. This research asks what the law and standards say about the years before ninth grade.
What the evidence shows
Whether and how a district teaches it is a separate question, and the records that could answer it are scattered or missing. A district that has not replied to a records request has not told us it does not teach financial education.
Evidence and findings · North Carolina records audit
What North Carolina’s school districts said.
We asked all 115 of the state’s local public school districts, in writing, what K–8 financial education they provide. 49 replied. 23 of those said they have no dedicated K–8 financial education course, and 3 described a course, module or program of some kind.
The method
Each district received a public-records request and, where there was no reply, a follow-up. Every reply was coded against published rules, and the replies are published as received.
Limitations
30 districts had not replied after a follow-up. A missing reply is not proof that no instruction occurs: it means CENTS holds no record from that district. Replies describe what a district chose to state in writing, not what was observed in classrooms.
How CENTS works
Evidence before conclusions.
- 1
Research official policies and records
Statutes, rules, standards and public records from the state or the district itself. Summaries by other groups are only leads.
- 2
Verify and document the evidence
Every claim carries an exact excerpt, a citation and a date. A second check re-reads each source, and what cannot be confirmed stays under review.
- 3
Publish findings people can check
Findings, sources and limits are published openly, to support informed discussion and advocacy. Errors are corrected in public.
Get involved
Students can register their interest now.
Open to students 13 and older, or under 16 with a parent or teacher sponsor. No prior policy experience is needed. Registering your interest stores the details you enter; roles are confirmed by hand, and no position is guaranteed. Students who have been invited can use a private pilot researcher portal; it is not open to the public.