State review · Data version 2026.10.19.5 · October 2026

South Dakota

No K-8 personal-finance standards found

South Dakota Administrative Rule 24:43:11:02(6) requires one-half unit of personal finance or economics for high school graduation, with the units earned in grades 9-12, and no K-8 requirement was found. Only grade 1 of the K-8 social studies standards names a personal-finance concept (saving, inside a trade-off example), and a kindergarten vocabulary list does not count, so the two-grade-level rule is not met.

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: 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: None found
Standards document: South Dakota Social Studies Standards (economics-tagged items in K-8) (2023)
Required by law: No
Delivery: Embedded in another subject
Assessed: Not determined
Funded: Not determined

No K-8 requirement found. DOE page: content standards do not mandate a specific curriculum. Economics-tagged K-8 items read: K.SS.1.M money/borrow/buy/sell vocabulary; 1.SS.1.F-H goods, services and a trade-off 'when working, buying, selling, and saving'; 5.SS.1.A-C resources, supply and demand; 5th-grade colonial economies. No K-8 items on budgeting, earning income, credit, interest or investing were found in the full-text scan. The separate Personal Finance standards (adopted May 2022) are a CTE course document.

Grades 9-12

Graduation requirement: Yes
Course length: One-half unit of personal finance or economics
Effective date: Not stated

ARSD 24:43:11:02(6) lists personal finance or economics as alternatives; ARSD 24:43:11:01 says required units must be earned in grades 9 through 12.

What’s missing for K-8

The sources reviewed show a requirement for high school. 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. That describes what was found, not proof that none exist.

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

South Dakota Legislature (Legislative Research Council). ARSD 24:43:11:02 (General requirements for high school graduation). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“(6) One-half unit of personal finance or economics;”
South Dakota Legislature (Legislative Research Council). ARSD 24:43:11:02; General Authority: SDCL 13-1-12.1, 13-3-47. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“The units of credit required for high school graduation must include the following:”
South Dakota Legislature (Legislative Research Council). ARSD 24:43:11:01. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“Required units of credit for high school graduation must be earned in grades 9 through 12”
South Dakota Legislature (Legislative Research Council). SDCL 13-33-1. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“All the public schools in the state shall provide instruction in substantial conformity to the accreditation standards”
South Dakota Department of Education. South Dakota Department of Education, Content Standards page. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“Content standards do not mandate a specific curriculum.”
South Dakota Board of Education Standards / Department of Education. South Dakota Social Studies Standards, adopted April 17, 2023, standard 1.SS.1.H (1st grade). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“The student can give examples of a trade-off when working, buying, selling, and saving.”
South Dakota Board of Education Standards / Department of Education. South Dakota Social Studies Standards, adopted April 17, 2023, standard K.SS.1.M (kindergarten; word list includes money, borrow, buy, sell). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“The student can correctly use words related to work, including:”
South Dakota Board of Education Standards / Department of Education. South Dakota Social Studies Standards, adopted April 17, 2023, standard 5.SS.1.C (5th grade). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“The student can give examples of how supply and demand influence price, producers, and consumers.”
South Dakota Department of Education, Career and Technical Education. Career Cluster: Finance, Course 19262 Personal Finance, Adopted May 2022 (0.5 credit). Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“This course will provide a foundational understanding for making informed personal financial decisions leading to financial independence.”
South Dakota Department of Education. South Dakota Social Studies Standards (2023), grade K, K.SS.1.M. Primary source. Retrieved 2026-10-19.
“words related to work, including: E ̵ food ̵ serve ̵ clothing ̵ borrow ̵ home ̵ buy ̵ job ̵ sell ̵ money”

Open items are being reviewed.

Primary text read in full: ARSD 24:43:11:01 and :02, SDCL 13-33-1, DOE content standards page, the 2023 social studies standards (K-8 economics items enumerated), the 2022 Personal Finance CTE course standards. Nothing found in these sources requires financial education below grade 9. pending_bills left empty: a news lead mentioned a State Treasurer financial literacy bill, but no official bill page was read, so it is not recorded. 2026-10-19 update on why the two-grade-level rule does not settle South Dakota: the only K-8 items touching the named concepts are K.SS.1.M (a kindergarten vocabulary list: work, food, serve, clothing, borrow, home, buy, job, sell, money) and 1.SS.1.H (a trade-off when working, buying, selling, and saving). Counting a word in a vocabulary list as a named concept gives k8_standards_only at low to medium confidence; not counting it gives only grade 1, so the rule fails and the status is high_school_only. A South Dakota Department of Education statement that these items are financial-literacy content would settle it. The high school half unit is ARSD 24:43:11:02(6). 2026-10-19: resolved under the named-concept rule. Not counted: K.SS.1.M, a kindergarten vocabulary list that includes the words borrow, buy, sell and money with no financial meaning stated (a vocabulary list does not name a concept). Counted at most: 1.SS.1.H, 'a trade-off when working, buying, selling, and saving', grade 1 only. Grades 2 and 4 have no money or finance items; 3.SS.1.B (taxes shown with counters), 5.SS.1.A-C (supply and demand) and the grade 6-8 history items do not name a concept. The standards document is doe.sd.gov SS-Standards-2023.pdf.

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