State review · Data version 2026.10.19.5 · October 2026

Colorado

K-8 standards only

The Colorado Academic Standards (adopted 2022) include Personal Financial Literacy expectations for every grade from preschool through high school, and a 2025 law (HB25-1192) requires each district's students to complete a course covering the high school financial literacy standards to graduate. The sources reviewed contain no statute or rule requiring financial literacy instruction in a named K-8 grade.

Statuses come from published law and standards and an automated second check, not a lawyer. Last verified: 2026-10-18. Report a correction

What the law says

Requirement coverage

Earliest grade covered: Grade 9
Grade range: grades 9-12

Describes the instruction requirement found in law, not the standards. It may reach at least one grade before ninth (the earliest grade is shown, and some start only in grade 6 or 7), no grade at all (not specified), or high school only. \u201cOffer courses\u201d means the law says districts must offer the courses or instruction, not that every student must receive it.

Grades K-8

Grades where K-8 content was confirmed: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Standards document: Colorado Academic Standards: Financial Literacy (Social Studies Standard 5, Personal Financial Literacy), Preschool-12 (2022)
Required by law: No
Delivery: Embedded in another subject
Assessed: Not determined
Funded: Not determined

The standards document has a Personal Financial Literacy page for each grade K-8 (for example FL.K.5.1, FL.7.5.1, FL.8.5.1), organized under social studies. The statute C.R.S. 22-32-135 is described by CDE as strongly encouraging, not requiring, districts to adopt personal financial literacy curriculum. Whether the state standards bind districts for K-8 instruction (the standards document says districts are expected to implement the social studies standards by fall 2024) is a reading judgement, so confidence is medium. Assessment and funding for K-8 were not found; the HB25-1192 appropriation targets the high school course.

Grades 9-12

Graduation requirement: Yes
Course length: Not stated
Effective date: 2025-08-06

HB25-1192 (signed 2025-05-23, effective 2025-08-06 per the legislature's bill page) amended C.R.S. 22-32-135(4) so that all the high school financial literacy standards are incorporated into a course required for graduation. Beginning 2027-28, each student's ICAP must include exposure to federal and state financial aid tools. Course length is not specified in the sources read.

What’s missing for K-8

State standards name personal-finance concepts at two or more K-8 grade levels, but the sources reviewed did not show a requirement to teach them.

Pending bills

No pending bills were identified. This is not an exhaustive legislative search.

How to read the status

Status key

Requirement before grade 9: A statute or rule requires financial education and reaches at least one grade before ninth. Some start only in grade 6 or 7; the earliest grade is shown with the label.
Requirement, grades not specified: A statute or rule says students shall receive financial-literacy instruction but names no grade, so it is not confirmed to reach K-8.
K-8 standards only: State standards name a personal-finance concept at two or more K-8 grade levels, but no requirement to teach it was found.
No K-8 personal-finance standards found: A high school requirement exists, but no requirement for any grade before ninth and no K-8 standards naming a personal-finance concept at two or more grade levels were found. This describes what was found, not proof that none exist.
Study or pilot only: A task force, study, pilot, or unfunded permission exists, without a requirement.
None found: No state-level requirement or standards were found. The searches run are recorded.
Under review: Not yet confirmed. Sources found so far are shown and no status is stated.
Research in progress: This state has not been researched yet.

Sources

Colorado General Assembly. C.R.S. 22-32-135(4)(a), as amended by HB25-1192, section 3 (text read via OCR of the scanned signed act). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“SHALL INCORPORATE ALL THE FINANCIAL LITERACY STANDARDS DESCRIBED IN SECTION 22-7-1005 (2.8) INTO A COURSE THAT IS REQUIRED FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION.”
Colorado General Assembly. HB25-1192, section 1(1)(b) (legislative declaration). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Local education providers have broad discretion to determine the method of implementing a financial literacy course,”
Colorado General Assembly. C.R.S. 22-7-1005(2.8), added by HB21-1200, section 2. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“THE STATE BOARD SHALL ENSURE THAT THE NINTH THROUGH TWELFTH GRADE FINANCIAL LITERACY STANDARDS INCLUDE AN UNDERSTANDING OF:”
Colorado Department of Education. Colorado Academic Standards: Financial Literacy, Kindergarten GLE FL.K.5.1 (adopted by State Board of Education November 2022). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“1. Describe choices people make about how to use the money they earn.”
Colorado Department of Education. Colorado Academic Standards: Financial Literacy, P-12, adopted 2022. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“The content of these standards was adopted by the Colorado State Board of Education in November 2022.”
Colorado Department of Education. Colorado Academic Standards: Financial Literacy, Grade 8 page FL.8.5.1. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Eighth Grade, Social Studies Standard 5. Personal Financial Literacy”
Colorado Department of Education. CDE Financial Literacy page. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“The financial literacy standards were created and are revised as part of Colorado's social studies standards”
Colorado Department of Education. CDE summary of C.R.S. 22-32-135 (2004). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“"Strongly Encourages" local district school boards to adopt PFL as a part of district curriculum and graduation requirements”
Colorado General Assembly. HB25-1192, 2025 Regular Session (bill page: signed 2025-05-23, effective 2025-08-06). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Financial Literacy Graduation Requirement”
public.law (third-party code publisher). C.R.S. 22-32-135(3)(a) (third-party mirror of the code). Secondary lead, used as a cross-check only. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“strongly encouraged to adopt curriculum pertaining to financial literacy”
Colorado General Assembly. C.R.S. 22-7-1005(2.8) added by HB21-1200 sec. 2 (agency directive, 9-12). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“THE STATE BOARD SHALL ENSURE THAT THE NINTH THROUGH TWELFTH GRADE FINANCIAL”
Colorado Department of Education. CDE Financial Literacy page describing C.R.S. 22-32-135 (2004) (agency description, not statute text). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“CRS 22-32-135 (2004): “Strongly Encourages” local district school boards to adopt PFL as a part of district curriculum and graduation requirements”
Colorado Department of Education. CDE description of C.R.S. 22-7-1013 (agency paraphrase; statute text not read). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“C.R.S. 22-7-1013 requires each local education provider to adopt standards locally that meet or exceed Colorado's state standards.”

Open items are being reviewed.

The official CRS text of 22-32-135 and 22-7-1005 was not read directly; the operative amendment text was read from the legislature's signed acts (HB25-1192 is a scanned image, read by OCR, so its excerpt may differ from the page in capitalization or spacing: the act prints new text in capitals). The 'strongly encouraged' reading of 22-32-135(3) rests on CDE's own summary plus a third-party mirror. Pending 2026-session bills were not searched reliably, so pending_bills is empty. Robots.txt for ed.cde.state.co.us and leg.colorado.gov allowed the paths fetched.

Suggested citation
CENTS. Colorado: K-8 financial education. State-by-state review, v2026.10.19.5, October 2026. https://www.centscampaign.org/states/co