Most people are not exactly fluent in the language of money. While most courses involving personal finance cannot terminate all of the problems that come with money, it is clear that most people still need help learning how to manage money, especially when they are in high school. The dispute on whether or not high school students should be required to take personal finance classes is a complex one. “Should All High Schoolers Take Courses in Personal Finance?”, is a very detailed article that goes into depth explaining the pros and cons of the argument at hand. After evaluating both sides of the argument, it is evident that making all high schoolers take courses in personal finance has more benefits than it does drawbacks. Opponents of requiring …show more content…
One crucial reason that it is vital for high school students to take personal finance classes is that it would make debt rates plunge significantly. The author of the pros, Alexander Ashe, points this out by saying, “Data recently released by the Investor Education Foundation show high school students who passed mandatory personal finance courses have better-than-average credit scores and lower debt delinquency rates as young adults” (Ashe 2). The Investor Education Foundation empowers people throughout America with the knowledge, skills, and tools to make sound financial decisions in the course of someone’s lifetime. Their data clearly shows that students who take part in personal finance courses have little to no debt. The reason that young people are overwhelmed by poverty, is because they are not aware how to manage what little money they have. People that do not know how to pay the bills and finance their money correctly are more likely to struggle with money related things. If personal finance classes became a requirement, more young adults would know how to correctly manage their money, and the amount of debt people are in would decrease significantly. Another major pro for making personal finance courses mandatory for high school students is that the amount of loans that are
Taking a financial literacy class would help students learn how to stay out of debt. According to the article, “Finance Course Prompts Debate” by Gina Davis, the class would “cover concepts such as money management, consumer rights, and responsibilities,
High school seniors need to be taught economic responsibility. Economic responsibility should not only be taught in the schools, but in the home as well. As we have discussed in prior chapters, some of the reason we are in the mess we find ourselves in is due to the overspending not only by individuals, but the government as well. Arthur MacEwan states, “U.S. consumers have a reliance on credit and fail to look beyond the present” (2012, p. 6) As a consumer the high school senior needs to be taught how to look beyond what they see. How are they going to pay for the credit they have taken out, if our country hits another recession and they are left without employment?
As college students now, we know how important it is to know about how to avoid debts because many of us are or will rely on student loans to get through our higher education. Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy used national data to grade each state in the United States on how much effort is put into providing financial literacy for their high school students. Based on the information gathered in 2015 only 5 states obtained a letter A grade on their financial literary education; these states are Utah, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, and Virginia. These states require their students to take between half a year to a whole year of a either general financial literacy or personal finance. It is unclear how the student achievement is measured after taking these courses, but the resources to learn about what to expect are provided and are required to be able to graduate from high school, which cannot be said about all other 45 states in our country. 11 of the states were given a letter F grade, including our beloved California. These states do not offer finance classes alone or embedded into other courses. Although the achievement of students who take these courses is not exactly measured after graduating it is still significant information for them to carry with them into their adulthood. Many high school graduates will enroll in a community college or a 4-year university and will be targeted by credit card companies because they lack the knowledge on how important credit is and how to avoid debts. This is not only a worry shared by the graduating students but by the parents as well. MasterCard gave a survey to its cardholder members and 64 percent of these adults said they were worried that their
Most of them are very young, anywhere from eighteen to twenty-two. In some cases, they may have never held a “real job,” as many bank on the fact that they will be drafted into a professional league, where they will make millions upon millions of dollars. Also, a great amount of college students do not possess the ability to handle their money in proper and intelligent way. This chart (Bidwell 1) displays how college students are becoming even less financially active and responsible. They tend to spend their money on things other than financial necessities, which the chart shows. Students spend less time focusing on important things like paying bills and balancing their checkbook, and more time dedicated to their other activities in
career field because of their debt” (Life Delayed: The Impact of Student Debt on the Daily Lives of Young Americans). Additionally, even if a college graduate made the decision to make a large purchase, such as a house, “the mounting rate of default on student loans is hurting young people’s credit ratings – and making it much harder for them to buy a home or condominium” (5 alarming facts about America's $1.3 trillion in student loan debt). As a result, student loan debt not only hinders the lives of borrowers, but it also affects the economy. “If student loan borrowers continue to sit on the sidelines and delay diving into economic commitments, the perilous position of the U.S. economy will continue to plod cautiously along rather than prosper with the help of a new generation of well-educated consumers” (Life Delayed:
Outstanding federal student debt has grown to $1.3 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the amount borrowed will double by 2025. The number of student loan borrowers has doubled to 42 million, and default rates among recent student loan borrowers are at their highest levels in twenty years. The discussion of student debt crisis stems from increase in debt and default rates and concern about the effects of student loan debt on young adults’’ lives. According to Professor Elliott III, young adults that have outstanding educational loan debt are not able to successfully navigate the credit market for asset purchases. This causes these individuals to have a lower net worth and at milestone ages in comparison with their peers who have little to no educational loan debt.
In the history of the United States, few legitimate businesses have been attacked with the fervor and animosity that critics have been directing toward payday lenders. President Obama has spoken out against payday loans, and some of his top aides met with a coalition of religious leaders recently to discuss the need to regulate the industry. When comedian Sarah Silverman was a guest on Last Week Tonight, she and host John Oliver urged consumers to consider an alternative to payday loans as "literally anything else. " Several states have already enacted legislation that bans or severely limits payday lending. Credit Karma calls payday loans "just bad news.
The problem of student loans in America is increasingly becoming more urgent. Collectively, US citizens owe 1.2 trillion in debt from student loans alone (Wegner 750). The amount of student loan debt has even surpassed that of credit cards. As college graduates are weighed down with debt, they are unable to make major life decisions, including buying a house, a car, or having kids. In just a 10 year period between 2005 and 2015, the percentage of homeowners under the age of 35 has gone from 43% to 34% (Wegner 750). Graduates are also less inclined to start their own businesses, in favor of safer jobs. The problem with student loans is hurting the country economically and socially, and will eventually cause huge problems
One might say there is a strong argument for the requirement of financial literacy for students in America. Americans continue to have increased balances on their credit cards as well as show a continued increase in bankruptcy filings according to statistics. Even the “baby boomer” generation is no longer exempt from financial hardships, as their generation has recently taken the title of “Fastest Growing Bankruptcy Demographic” from the 25 – 34 year olds (Linfield, 2011). Would it not make sense to say that Americans need to learn how to budget and borrow more wisely? Would not the best place to start be in schools? Well, the answer to that question is not a simple one.
Here Comes Debt Our generation is currently more than a trillion dollars in debt, more than any generation before. We are training up students to succeed and go bankrupt or “fail” and stay debt free. Students are being taught it’s either college or failure. They are being brainwashed to believe college is the only option after highschool if they want to succeed in life.
Some schools have little money and few teachers and Matthew Yale said, “[T]he Department of Education’s next step is to work with districts and teachers and help them find the money they need” (Bernard 6). It will take parents to start this movement (Bernard 7) because parents have to be willing to give up more money so that their children know what to do with their money. Financial literacy courses can potentially make students overconfident about their skills and make them do even worse (Burns 8). Harvard Business School performed a study where it was concluded that financial literacy courses “weren’t effective in changing people’s financial decisions” (Burns 10). Thaler stated “A new paper by three business school professors … uses a technique called meta-analysis looking at results from 168 scientific studies of effects to teach people to be financially astute, or at least less clueless. The authors’ conclusions are clear: over all, financial education is laudable, but not particularly helpful” (13). The shows that financial literacy courses are good but they are not helping the youth as of now, so the right combination has not been found to teach the youth how to control their
One way our school could accomplish the goal of financial literacy education is creating a set class for high school students towards the end of their high school career. Offering classes in a curriculum that is set helps kids become better prepared for the real world. They receive a better understanding of what it is like having a great deal of responsibility, without the overwhelming of stress that comes with it since the class would be set in a classroom. According to the article written by Laura Langemo from Fox6 entitled “MPS Eighth-Graders Get a Lesson in Financial Literacy”, the Milwaukee Public School District Superintendent Gregory Thornton states, “We need [students] to be ready financially. We need them to be ready to step into the world and be able to actually navigate and manage money.” Students should feel confident after graduating that they will be capable of receiving such a great sense of responsibility. Teaching students about financial literacy at an older age throughout high school will allow them to be ready for their lives ahead. According to this article, many of the students were surprised with how bills amass in such a rapid pace. Similarly, the article from the Sandpiper by Edie Ellison includes information about being able to offer high school students classes in
The lack of knowledge plays a big part in the debt young people are getting themselves into. Credit cards are often offered to young adults as soon as they get out of high school. Many take advantage of having a credit card without even thinking about the responsibilities that come with it, instead they think about the things they will be able to buy. In “Generation Debt” the author Tamara Draut says that young people are getting into debt younger than ever before. Two of the reasons that are more costly on young students that hit hard on the budget are car repairs, and travel for students who have families and friends in other states (231). From my experience I know first-hand what it was like to be offered credit cards right out of high school, and I didn’t hesitate to get any of them. I st...
Saving money brings security for any future expenses. The earlier in life an individual begins to save, the better they will be set financially in the years to come. There are several reasons why it is important to save money. A few of these reasons are for emergencies, retirement, and simply for luxury spending. Having money will benefit each of these examples.