NOVI, Mich. (WXYZ) — For Michigan students starting 8th grade in 2023, a personal finance course will now be required before they can graduate from high school.
The hope is that young people in Michigan won’t have to solve all the financial hurdles on their own now that a new personal finance class requirement is state law.
Former State Representative Diana Farrington sponsored the legislation, House Bill 5190.
“This addition is great. Right? I mean we are now the 14th state to make it part of graduation,” Farrington said.
She explained that she doesn’t want to tell schools exactly what they need to teach for the personal finance course requirement, but she hopes they will leverage community resources.
“They have a lot of support groups they can lean on, your bankers, your credit unions. I mean anyone can help them try to come up with a great program and a strong package,” Farrington said.
She knows this is part of the legacy she leaves behind now that she is no longer a representative of the state.
“Oh my God, I’m so proud of that. I worked on it really hard for about 6 years. Hopefully it will continue and stay,” Farrington said.
Anna Lindsey is 16 and a junior at Novi High School. She thinks it’s a good idea for young people to be educated in personal finance.
“We need languages, we need all these courses. And I guess something like money and the way you manage your money when you’re older is something more practical in the real world,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey chose to take a finance course which is currently optional at Novi High School.
“Recently, we just started talking about car leasing versus buying cars. All of the things that we talk about there are actually applicable to the world,” Lindsey said.
Mike Giromini is the assistant superintendent of studies at the Novi Community School District. He explained what will change.
“It’s something some students were getting, but not all students,” Giromini said. “Now to say that all the kids are going to have that requirement, that it’s something that’s going to be a natural part of their secondary education, in order to graduate, that’s great. It’s really important for them to have that.
He knows what young people are paying attention to these days.
“They have Bitcoin sense. They don’t have a keen sense of real personal finance. What the incomes actually look like, what the taxes look like,” Giromini said.
He said he was not yet sure how the new program requirement would be implemented, but he knew what he hoped it would answer.
“And the one that is close to my heart is credit cards. How credit cards work and how debts work,” Giromini said.