88% of adults support requiring personal finance education in high school, survey finds

cnbc.com:

Most adults in the U.S. support guaranteed access to personal finance education for high school students.

Eighty-eight percent of adults surveyed by the National Endowment for Financial Education said their state should require either a semester or year long personal finance course for graduation. The survey of 1,030 adults was conducted in March.

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«Americans overwhelmingly recognize the importance of learning money skills at an early age, and this poll reinforces there is demonstrated national support for personal finance to be a part of learning in all schools,» said Billy Hensley, president and CEO of the National Endowment for Financial Education, in a Tuesday statement.

In addition, 80% of those surveyed said that they wish they had been required to take a personal finance course to graduate high school.

The survey also found older adults, higher earners and those with a postsecondary degree were far more likely than others to support mandated personal financial education or say they wished they'd had such a class in school. Non-Hispanic white respondents were also more likely to support personal finance courses than their Black and Hispanic counterparts.

«Financial education unequivocally is the foundation for acquiring and applying knowledge, though we are transparent that education alone is not enough to overcome systemic barriers,» said Hensley. «There are many foundational factors that are part of the personal finance ecosystem that work together toward achieving financial capability.»

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