"Adulting 101": Colorado high schools implement financial literacy courses

Colorado high schoolers will now be required to take a personal finance course before graduating. This new requirement was signed into law in May and applies to students graduating after the 2027-2028 school year.

Only about 25% of Colorado school districts required finance courses to graduate when this law was passed, but Denver Public Schools made it a district requirement a few years ago. They began the implementation process in 2022 and showed us what all Colorado students will soon be learning. 

"Could you possibly take that $1,000 today, invest it, get some interest built up so that it will be larger than that other original sum?" finance instructor Jason Klimczak asked a group of students.

These are the types of questions students at Thomas Jefferson High School are thinking about.

"We get into the things that everybody uses; the checking accounts, the savings accounts, interest rates, credit cards, credit scores, auto insurance and taxes," said Klimczak, who teaches personal financial literacy.

All things most adults wished they'd learned when they were in school.

"It's almost an adulting 101 class," Klimczak added.

The first week of classes, students were discussing topics such as 'How do you think credit cards can be harmful if not used responsibly?' and 'Would you charge your friend interest if they asked to borrow money?'

"The old 'knowledge is power' kind of thing really helps kids kind of try to navigate this really kind of stressful time," said Klimczak.

It was former DPS students who helped make these courses a district requirement and eventually a state law.

"It was our DPS alumni group, Ednium, that was advocating that they did not get this as part of their time in DPS, and they wanted future groups of students to have it."

It's also a sign of a shift in the way public schools create curriculum.

"I think it's a lot more student centered in the best way possible," said Jennifer Begley, Director of K-12 Humanities at DPS. "As we were developing what this course was going to look like, our teams looked and listened. They went into classrooms, they listened to students, and they got their feedback on what was engaging them."

Now, other Colorado school districts can look to DPS as a model as they'll have to quickly implement and prepare teachers for these classes. The financial course requirement begins with the class of 2028.