State review · Data version 2026.10.19.5 · October 2026

Pennsylvania

Requirement before grade 9

Pennsylvania's State Board of Education final-form Chapter 4 rulemaking lists Personal Finance among the areas of planned instruction for the primary, intermediate and middle levels, aligned to new Appendix F standards that apply from July 1, 2026. Separately, Act 35 of 2023 requires a mandatory half-credit personal financial literacy course in grades 9-12 beginning in 2026-27.

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: Kindergarten
Grade range: kindergarten to grade 8 (elementary and middle levels named)

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 required: K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Standards document: Academic Standards for Personal Finance, 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4, Appendix F (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 bands) (2024)
Required by law: Yes
Delivery: Not stated
Assessed: Not determined
Funded: Not determined

Per the final-form text read, primary and intermediate levels: every student every year; middle level: every student in the middle level program. The text allows a separate course or an instructional unit within another course or interdisciplinary activity (primary: separate course or other interdisciplinary activity). Grades are inferred from the rule's level names (primary, intermediate, middle). The text read is the Board-approved final-form annex (approved Sept. 12, 2024); the codified text in the Pennsylvania Code was not reachable (pacodeandbulletin.gov robots.txt disallows crawling), and the Bulletin publication date was not confirmed. No statewide assessment or dedicated funding for K-8 personal finance was found in the sources read.

Grades 9-12

Graduation requirement: Yes
Course length: At least one-half credit, completed once during grade 9, 10, 11 or 12
Effective date: 2026-27 school year

Act 35 of 2023 added subsection (b.1) to Section 1551 of the Public School Code; applies to school entities and nonpublic schools.

What’s missing for K-8

A requirement was found that reaches a grade before ninth (K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

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

Pennsylvania State Board of Education (final-form rulemaking filed with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission). 22 Pa. Code § 4.21(f)(9) (Reg. #6-354, final-form as approved Sept. 12, 2024), Personal Finance. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Planned instruction in the following areas shall be provided to every student every year in the intermediate level program.”
Pennsylvania State Board of Education (final-form rulemaking filed with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission). 22 Pa. Code § 4.22(c)(12) (Reg. #6-354, final-form), Personal Finance. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Planned instruction aligned with academic standards in the following areas shall be provided to every student in the middle level program.”
Pennsylvania State Board of Education (final-form rulemaking filed with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission). 22 Pa. Code § 4.21(e)(9) (Reg. #6-354, final-form), Personal Finance. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“shall be provided to every student every year in the primary program.”
Pennsylvania State Board of Education (final-form rulemaking filed with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission). Reg. #6-354 final-form preamble, Effective Date. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“This final-form rulemaking will take effect upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.”
Pennsylvania Department of Education / State Board of Education. 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4, Appendix F (Academic Standards for Personal Finance, Grades K-12). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“The Academic Standards for Personal Finance in 22 Pa. Code Chapter 4, Appendix F take effect on July 1, 2026.”
Pennsylvania Department of Education. Pennsylvania Department of Education, Personal Finance page (Chapter 4 update, Reg. #6-354). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“The new standards go into effect on July 1, 2026.”
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Act 35 of 2023, Section 8, adding 24 P.S. § 15-1551(b.1) (Public School Code of 1949). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Students shall be required to complete the course once during grade nine, ten, eleven or twelve.”
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Act 35 of 2023, Section 8, adding 24 P.S. § 15-1551(b.1)(1). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“a school entity or nonpublic school shall provide a mandatory course”
Pennsylvania Department of Education. Pennsylvania Department of Education, Personal Finance page. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
“Academic Standards for Personal Finance go into effect on July 1, 2026 along with a legislative requirement”
Pennsylvania State Board of Education (final-form rulemaking filed with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission). 22 Pa. Code 4.21(e)(9) (primary) and 4.21(f) (intermediate), Reg. #6-354 final-form Annex A (as approved by the Board 2024-09-12). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“(9) Personal Finance. (f) Planned instruction in the following areas shall be provided to every student every year in the intermediate level program.”
Pennsylvania State Board of Education (final-form rulemaking filed with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission). 22 Pa. Code 4.21(e), Reg. #6-354 final-form (Personal Finance is item (9)). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“Planned instruction aligned with academic standards in the following areas shall be provided to every student every year in the primary program.”
Pennsylvania State Board of Education (final-form rulemaking filed with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission). 22 Pa. Code 4.22(c)(12), Reg. #6-354 final-form. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“(12) Personal Finance.”
Pennsylvania State Board of Education (final-form rulemaking filed with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission). Reg. #6-354 final-form preamble, description of Appendix F Personal Finance standards (the Board's own statement of the K-8 bands). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“arranged in grades bands for kindergarten – grade 2, grades 3-5, grades 6-8 and grades 9-12”
Pennsylvania official source (www.pdesas.org). PDE Standards Aligned System, Personal Finance page (agency statement that Reg. #6-354 is in effect). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“took effect upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on February 8, 2025.”
Pennsylvania State Board of Education (final-form rulemaking filed with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission). Act 35 of 2023 (24 P.S. 15-1551(b.1)) as described in the final-form preamble: half-credit course in grades 9-12 from 2026-27. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“once during grade 9, 10, 11, or 12.”

Open items are being reviewed.

Pending bills: palegis.us robots.txt disallows /legislation/bills/*, so the 2025-2026 session could not be searched; pending_bills left empty. Confidence is medium because the operative text was read in the Board-approved final-form annex (hosted by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission) rather than the codified Pennsylvania Code, and the Pennsylvania Bulletin publication date was not confirmed. 2026-10-19 sweep flag: 22 Pa. Code 4.21(e)(9), 4.21(f) and 4.22(c)(12) list Personal Finance and say instruction shall be provided; the rule names school levels (primary, intermediate, middle), and the level-to-grade definitions in 4.3 could not be read (pacodeandbulletin.gov disallows crawling). The Board's final-form preamble describes standards bands for kindergarten to grade 2, 3-5 and 6-8. Kept as k8_requirement; under the convention that level words count only if defined by grade numbers it would be requirement_grades_unspecified.

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