State review · Data version 2026.10.19.5 · October 2026

Missouri

K-8 standards only

Missouri's K-5 social studies standards, approved on April 19, 2016, name earning (income, labor and wages) at grade 2 and saving at grade 4, and no K-8 requirement to teach personal finance was found. The only requirement found is a half-credit personal finance requirement for grades 9-12.

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: 2, 4
Standards document: Missouri Learning Standards, Social Studies Grades K-5 (State Board of Education, 2016) (2016)
Required by law: No
Delivery: Embedded in another subject
Assessed: Not determined
Funded: Not determined

The K-5 social studies standards have a strand 'Knowledge of economic concepts and principles' with items on using money, income, labor and wages, and saving versus financial investment. Which item sits in which grade column could not be read reliably from the PDF text extraction, so grades are not listed. The dedicated Personal Finance course level expectations are labeled Grades 9-12. No Missouri statute or State Board rule requiring K-8 financial education was found; the Code of State Regulations (sos.mo.gov) could not be checked.

Grades 9-12

Graduation requirement: Yes
Course length: one-half credit
Effective date: Not stated

DESE states the State Board revised graduation requirements in 2006 to include one-half credit of Personal Finance and that students must earn it; the rule text in the Code of State Regulations was not accessible (sos.mo.gov blocked automated access). 2026 bills (HCS HBs 2303 & 2867, a committee substitute; SB 1778) would put a one-half unit requirement in statute starting 2027-28.

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

SB 1778 (2026 Regular Session): Establishes provisions relating to personal finance curriculum requirements for public school students. Status: Second Read and Referred S Education Committee (as of retrieval; no later action seen).
HCS HBs 2303 & 2867 (2026 Regular Session): Personal finance curriculum in schools. Status: Committee substitute voted Do Pass by Financial Institutions (14-0) and Rules-Administrative (10-0) per the House committee summary re-read 2026-10-19; later action and final disposition not confirmed (house.mo.gov bill pages disallowed by robots.txt).

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

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. DESE, Social Studies & Personal Finance page (Personal Finance Assessment section). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“As part of their curriculum, students in Missouri must earn a 1/2 credit in the area of Personal Finance.”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. DESE, Missouri Learning Standards page (Personal Finance); State Board of Education action 2006, standards approved September 2017. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“the State Board of Education revised graduation requirements for Missouri’s students to include one-half credit of Personal Finance.”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri Learning Standards, Social Studies K-5, strand 4 Knowledge of economic concepts and principles (SBOE 2016). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Compare and contrast saving and financial investment.”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri Learning Standards, Social Studies K-5, strand 4 Knowledge of economic concepts and principles (SBOE 2016). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Demonstrate how people use money to buy and sell goods and services.”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri Personal Finance Course Level Expectations, Grades 9-12 (DESE, Summer 2017). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Personal Finance Course Level Expectations Grades 9-12”
Missouri House of Representatives. HCS HBs 2303 & 2867 (2026 Regular Session), committee summary. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“starting in the 2027-28 school year, must require students to complete a one-half unit of credit in personal finance”
Missouri Senate. SB 1778 (2026 Regular Session), bill summary. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“each school district shall require every student, after completion of 9th grade, to complete one-half unit of credit in personal finance”
Missouri official source (www.sos.mo.gov). 5 CSR 20-100.190 Graduation Requirements for Students in Public High Schools (CSR as of 12/31/23). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“Health Education .5 ... Personal Finance .5”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri Learning Standards, Social Studies K-5, grade 2, MLS SS K-5, strand 4.A, Grade 2. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“Explain the relationship of income, labor, and wages.”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri Learning Standards, Social Studies K-5, grade 5, MLS SS K-5, strand 4.A, Grade 5. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“Explain how scarcity, supply and demand, opportunity costs, income, labor, wages and other economic concepts affect our nation's past, present and future.”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri Learning Standards, Social Studies K-5, grade 4, MLS SS K-5, strand 4.A, Grade 4. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“Compare and contrast saving and financial investment.”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri Learning Standards, Social Studies K-5, grade 2, MLS SS K-5, strand 4.A, Grade 2. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“Demonstrate how people use money to buy and sell goods and services.”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. DESE, Social Studies & Personal Finance page, Missouri Learning Standards; links 'Social Studies - K-5: K-5 PDF | K-5 Word'. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“The standards, approved on April 19, 2016, are for implementation beginning in the 2016-2017 academic year.”
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri Learning Standards Social Studies K-5 (SBOE 2016), strand 4 header row. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“GRADE K GRADE 1 GRADE 2 GRADE 3 GRADE 4 GRADE 5”

Open items are being reviewed.

RSMo 170.011 (read in full) concerns civics and American history courses beginning not later than seventh grade; it does not mention personal finance. The one-half credit personal finance graduation requirement is described on DESE pages as a State Board of Education action; the underlying rule text in the Code of State Regulations (5 CSR 20) could not be read because sos.mo.gov returned a bot challenge, so it was not retried. The K-5 standards PDF text extraction mixes grade columns, so grade placement of the economics items is unverified, which is why confidence is medium. The final disposition of the 2026 bills was not confirmed (House bill status page loads in a frame that could not be read; the Senate bill showed committee referral only). Moved from k8_standards_only to needs_review after the grade-level audit: the two-grade-level rule cannot be checked without a grade-labelled primary copy of the K-5 standards, and whether two different concepts at two grades would satisfy it is a judgement call. The 5 CSR 20 rule text was not read. Settled on 2026-10-19 by the two-grade-level rule after the grade labels were recovered by cropping the official DESE K-5 PDF by column (plain text extraction scrambles them). The rule does not require the same concept at both grades. The grade 5 item is a broad economics statement and was not relied on. The grades 6-8 standards and the 5 CSR 20 rule text were not checked; RSMo chapter 170 on revisor.mo.gov is behind a bot check.

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