Starting with the class of 2027, Oregon high school students will graduate with real world personal finance skills thanks to a new statewide education requirement.

“Your financial situation can have a significant impact on your overall wellbeing. A foundational understanding of personal finance, including budgeting, investing, and debt can help people make better decisions and build financial health that lasts a lifetime,” said Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, MD, Oregon’s constitutional financial officer. “Thank you, educators, for going the extra mile to prepare the curriculum and start these important financial conversations with Oregon’s next generation.”

Oregon joins a growing national trend of providing students with personal finance education, helping prepare them for today’s financial realities. Since the legislation passed with bipartisan support in 2023, the Oregon Department of Education has coordinated with Oregon teachers and financial education experts to establish curriculum standards and assembled relevant instructional materials.

Topics to be covered include credit and debt; banking, investing and saving; budgeting and money management; taxes and refunds; and maintaining financial wellbeing.

“An Oregon diploma should prepare students not only for what comes next in the classroom, but for the decisions they will make throughout their lives,” said Dr. Charlene Williams, director of the Oregon Department of Education. “Personal finance education gives every student the opportunity to build the knowledge and confidence to make informed choices about money, plan for their future, and navigate the financial realities of adulthood. This is an important step toward making sure every Oregon student graduates with the real-world skills they need to thrive.”

In 2023, as a state senator, Treasurer Steiner was among the sponsors of the legislation that restored the state’s financial education requirement, eliminated in the 1990s.

Oregon’s 2026 Financial Educator of the Year Marcia Latta, a business educator at McKay High School in Salem, has seen the positive difference personal finance education makes in her students’ lives while teaching the class previously as an elective.

“Understanding money is empowering. There is so much to learn to be able to make money work for you, instead of against you,” Latta said. “Expanding practical financial knowledge for all students is the right thing to do.”

As the new school year begins, 95% of Oregon’s 197 school districts will offer the new curriculum. The law allows districts to petition for a one-year delay, so students in those postponing districts will begin benefitting from the course starting in fall of 2027.

As Oregon’s chief financial officer, Treasurer Steiner oversees various programs dedicated to safeguarding the state's and its residents' financial wellbeing. More information about the Treasurer’s collaborative financial empowerment efforts can be found at www.FinanciallyFitOregon.org.

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