High school is a very important time for teenagers where they learn to navigate the real world, yet many high schools fail to offer their students the opportunity to learn one of the most essential life skills—financial literacy. Learning how to budget and manage expenses should be a priority for most students, but it seems to go unnoticed when business classes in most states are not required for graduation credit. High schools should mandate financial literacy courses because they offer students just as much value as other subjects.

Unfortunately, only a handful of high schools mandate financial literacy courses, preparing only a fraction of graduating students each year. “Just seven states — Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia — earned an A grade, meaning they require students to take a semester-long personal finance course”. Without a graduation requirement, many students, even guidance counselors, can overlook this necessity for their future lives once they face real financial challenges. However as a student in a school where this course is mandated, I can say that it has been extremely helpful in trying to manage my expenses.

It is becoming increasingly vital for those of us still in high school to have a complete understanding of being financially independent. “Young people may be fixated on ‘right now,’” Dr. Carly Urban, a professor of Economics at Montana State University who studies financial literacy, said. Students are more likely to be engaged with the classroom, and willing to take financial literacy courses, learning that money can help them in effective ways during their time in high school and later on in life.

A required financial literacy course in high schools would ensure that students receive the skills they need to be successful regardless of their interests. When most business classes counted as electives in many high schools, students may consider them optional. Requiring students to take a financial literacy class to fulfill that requirement gives them more exposure. Rather than students sticking to only classes they are passionate about and familiar with, financial literacy courses allow them to step outside their comfort zones, potentially uncovering new interests or new career paths they haven’t considered before.

Editors’ Note: The ideas expressed herein are the sole opinions of the writer, not of The Lance as a publication.