What to know about Texas’ personal finance class requirement

The Class of 2030 will be required to learn how to budget, save, invest, and more. 

A personal financial literacy class aims to help students make sound financial decisions. While Texas had been incorporating personal finance topics into its economics curriculum, supporters say having a standalone course allows for a deeper understanding. 

Related: A new Texas law requires high schoolers to take personal finance. What will it look like?

A 2025 law mandates students take a one-semester course, starting with this fall’s freshman class. The State Board of Education approved the learning standards in September in an 8-4 vote. 

Here’s what you need to know about the requirement. 

HB 27, which passed with bipartisan support in 2025, directed the State Board of Education to develop learning standards for a personal financial literacy course. 

The class will guide students in applying economic concepts to their own lives. For example, they will learn about credit and debit, budgeting practices, taxes, investment, and more, according to the learning standards. They will develop financial goals aligned with their career and personal aspirations. Students will also compare free enterprise to socialist and communist regimes. 

Related: Texas approves social studies rewrite, despite criticisms over portrayal of religion and race

“We’re trying to give kids some cautionary things to avoid but equip them with the tools they need to be successful,” said Aaron Kinsey, R-Midland, during the meeting. 

Before the law, Texas high school students had to earn at least three credits of social studies. For the required semester-long economics course, they could choose between “Economics with Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and Its Benefits” and “Personal Financial Literacy and Economics.”

Both contained aspects of personal finance — to different degrees. In the first course, students received about 11 hours of personal finance instruction, according to Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy. The other class spent about 45 hours. 

When the new law passed, personal finance became a mandatory standalone class, and economics transitioned into an optional course. An Advanced Placement class that substantially aligns with the material can also fulfill the requirement.

During public comment, Ray Hughel, director of educational programs at SMU’s Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom, expressed concerns that the learning standards focused too much on personal finance at the expense of economic concepts. 

The curriculum doesn’t devote enough attention — or leaves out — foundational ideas, including incentives, trade, supply and demand, and competition, he said.

Related: Here’s why Texas’ economy keeps outpacing the rest of the nation

“It’s crucial that we have students [who] are well-informed about financial matters and about economic matters, not just good at balancing their checkbooks, so to speak,” he said. 

Leading up to the vote, Kinsey filed a new draft that he said took Hughel’s feedback into account. While his version pared down the curriculum, other members remained concerned that teachers wouldn’t be able to cover everything within the timeframe. 

“It’s an unreasonable goal to reach,” said Evelyn Brooks, R-Frisco. “I don’t understand how teachers are going to teach this in a semester. We have to keep in mind this is all Texas students.”

Kinsey’s version ultimately passed. The curriculum goes into effect during the 2028-29 school year. 

Many Americans lack an understanding of basic financial concepts, such as how insurance works, types of investment and how to manage debt. Over the past decade, American adults answered only half the questions correctly in an annual measure of financial literacy by Stanford University and TIAA Institute. In 2026, Gen Z answered 38% of the questions correctly, the report notes. 

Those who understand money manage it better, experts say. Knowing basic financial skills is associated with saving regularly, dealing with debt better and having a higher confidence in retirement.

Financial skills were once taught at home, but nowadays, parents may be ill-equipped to teach it, Annamaria Lusardi, senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, previously told The Dallas Morning News. 

“[It’s] much more complex with much more individual responsibility,” she said. “Schools should adapt in the same way we have added foreign languages, we have added computers.”

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas. 

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.