New study highlights importance of finance classes in high school; teacher giveaway

It's been a long time coming, but it will now be required that Georgia students take financial literacy classes in order to graduate.

A recent report called the Financial Literacy Crisis in America lays out why these classes are urgently needed.

George Kamel works with Ramsey Solutions. He’s one of their on-air finance experts. He says this is what in-class finance education looks like.

"In the classroom we don’t talk about finance enough. We know the Pythagorean theorem. We know when the war of 1812 happened, memorizing all of this stuff. We have no clue how to manage money, how to do a budget, how to stay out of debt," Kamel says.

According to the report, 88% of U.S. adults say high school didn't prepare them for the real world, which 3 out of 4 reported they felt stress about money after high school.

The report also says that 72% of respondents believe they'd be better off financially today if they had in-class finance course. U.S. adults who took personal finance classes are five times more likely to graduate and better handle money in the real world.  

"Personal finance in the classroom looks like teaching people what it means to be on a budget. Budgets are for everyone, not for people struggling for money," continues Kamel.

In Georgia, the personal financial courses will begin in the 2024 school year and 11th and 12th graders will be required to learn how to manage money before they get out on their own.

The Ramsey Solution and the Army National Guard is currently sponsoring a Teacher Appreciation Giveaway.

One teacher will win a $5,000 vacation and 2 teachers will win $3,000 trips each.

The giveaway is free to enter and the last day to enter is April 30.

Click here to enter the giveaway.