1. Economic and Personal Finance Education By The Numbers
Summary of Facts

2. Facts 48 34 27 + 4 31 States that include economics in their standards
States that require implementation of economics standards
States that require testing of economics; plus developing tests
State that were found to have personal finance standards or guidelines, many within economics standards

3. Facts
States with personal Finance standards that require them to be implemented
States that require testing of personal finance standards; 2 more states are developing tests
States that require an economics course to be offered to students
States that require students to pass an economics course to graduate 17
8 + 2 14

4. Facts States that require students to take a personal finance course
The mean number of college economics courses taken by social studies teachers
Number of high school students who take an economics course each year (est.)
Percentage of high school graduates who took a high school economics course in 1998—up from 24% in 1982 4 3
2 mil.
46%

5. Facts Percentage of high school graduates who go to college
Percentage of college students who take even one college course in economics
63%
40%
Sources:
National Council on Economic Education, Survey of the States, Economics and Personal Finance in Our Nation’s Schools in 2002, National Council on Economic Education, To view the complete Survey of the States, go to
William Walstad, “Economic Education in U.S. High Schools,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, summer 2001.