State review · Data version 2026.10.19.5 · October 2026

Delaware

K-8 standards only

Delaware's State Board of Education approved K-12 Financial Literacy Content Standards (clusters K-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12), which state regulation adopts as the basis for local curriculum from 2018-19. State law requires a half-credit financial literacy course for a high school diploma starting with students entering grade 9 in 2026-27, and no text found requires a specific K-8 course or grade.

Statuses come from published law and standards and an automated second check, not a lawyer. Last verified: 2026-10-19. Report a correction

What the law says

Requirement coverage

Earliest grade covered: Not confirmed
Grade range: The text could not be read

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: None found
Standards document: Delaware K-12 Financial Literacy Standards (State Board approved January 2018) (2018)
Required by law: No
Delivery: Not stated
Assessed: Not determined
Funded: Not determined

Standards exist for K-3, 4-5 and 6-8 clusters. Regulation 501 (as amended in 2018, read in the Register notice) adopts them as the basis for curriculum, with local curricula to align on a Department timeline; it does not name a grade or course in which financial literacy must be taught. The 2026 Department report (HR 31) describes standards implementation as local curricula aligned to the standards and mentions K-8 scope and sequence resources. The current codified text of 14 DE Admin. Code 501 on regulations.delaware.gov (a script-rendered site) was not read; the 2018 Register notice was used instead.

Grades 9-12

Graduation requirement: Yes
Course length: 1/2 credit in financial literacy, as part of social studies or elective credits
Effective date: Students entering grade 9 in the 2026-2027 school year

14 Del. C. 4152 (added by 85 Del. Laws c. 224, signed September 19, 2025) requires school districts and charter schools serving high school students to provide the course; the Session Law text also says the half credit must align to the current Financial Literacy Standards.

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

Delaware General Assembly, Delaware Code Online. 14 Del. C. 4152(b). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“A school district or charter school serving high school students shall provide, at a minimum, a ½ credit on financial literacy.”
Delaware General Assembly, Delaware Code Online. 14 Del. C. 4152(c). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Beginning with students entering grade 9 in the 2026 through 2027 school year, students must successfully complete a ½ credit in financial literacy”
Delaware General Assembly, Laws of Delaware. 85 Del. Laws c. 224 (153rd G.A., formerly HS 1 for HB 203 as amended by SA 1), adding 14 Del. C. section 4150 as enacted (codified as 4152(f) per session law numbering). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“The ½ credit must be aligned to the current Financial Literacy Standards.”
Delaware Department of Education / State Board of Education (Delaware Register of Regulations archive). 14 DE Admin. Code 501, section 1.1.1.3 (final order, 21 DE Reg. 625, Feb. 1, 2018). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Effective with the 2018-19 school year, the Financial Literacy Content Standards shall be adopted.”
Delaware Department of Education / State Board of Education (Delaware Register of Regulations archive). 21 DE Reg. 625 (Feb. 1, 2018), summary of evidence, amending 14 DE Admin. Code 501. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Any financial literacy curriculum used by the districts and charter schools would need to be aligned to these new standards”
Delaware Department of Education. Delaware K-12 Financial Literacy Standards (Jan. 2018), Standard Two, grade cluster 6-8. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“6-8: Students will establish a budget and compare various payment methods that can be used to buy goods and services.”
Delaware Department of Education. Delaware K-12 Financial Literacy Standards (Jan. 2018), Standard Two, grade cluster K-3. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“K-3: Students will examine how planning for spending can help individuals and households make informed choices.”
Delaware Department of Education. Delaware Department of Education, HR 31 Financial Literacy Curriculum Alignment Study report (2026). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“In January 2018, the Delaware State Board of Education approved Financial Literacy Standards for grades K-12.”
Delaware Department of Education / State Board of Education (Delaware Register of Regulations archive). 14 DE Admin. Code 501 sec. 1.0 (as amended 21 DE Reg. 625, 2018; list includes Financial Literacy Content Standards). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“Instructional programs offered in the public schools of Delaware shall be in alignment with the appropriate content standards documents.”
Delaware Department of Education / State Board of Education (Delaware Register of Regulations archive). 14 DE Admin. Code 503 sec. 4.1 (version last updated June 2024); no financial-literacy section in this version. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“School districts and charter schools shall provide instructional programs in social studies for each grade K to 12.”

Open items are being reviewed.

Classified by the K-8 question: standards for K-3, 4-5 and 6-8 exist and are adopted by regulation as the basis for local curriculum, but no statute or rule read names a K-8 grade or course where financial literacy must be taught, so k8_standards_only; confidence is medium because the current codified Regulation 501 text was not read (only the 2018 Register final order) and whether the alignment duty amounts to a K-8 mandate is a judgement call. Pending bills: HB 203 was enacted (signed 9/19/25); a web search found no 2025-26 bill on K-8 financial literacy, but the legislature's bill search was not queried directly, so pending_bills is left empty. education.delaware.gov legacy standards page returned a Cloudflare challenge and was not retried; the standards PDF and HR 31 report on the same host were fetched (robots.txt allows, crawl delay 10 seconds observed). doe.k12.de.us was not used (Cloudflare redirect on robots.txt). The code section is numbered 4152 in the Delaware Code Online, while the session law text numbers it 4150. Flagged on 2026-10-19: Delaware Regulation 501 section 1.0 says instructional programs shall be in alignment with the content standards, which include the financial literacy standards. Treated as an alignment duty (standards only); a reader could treat it as a requirement without grades. 2026-10-19 sweep flag: 14 Del. C. 4152 is high school only and Reg 501 section 1.0 is an alignment duty. Reg 503 was amended in 2026 because of the new financial-literacy law (proposed 29 DE Reg. 742, final order in the 2026-09-01 Register) and the amendment text could not be read (regulations.delaware.gov bot check). If it names grades the status becomes k8_requirement; if it requires instruction with no grade, requirement_grades_unspecified.

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