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National Standards for Personal Financial Education

Published by Jump$tart and the Council for Economic Education

National Standards

The National Standards for Personal Financial Education represent the Jump$tart Coalition and Council for Economic Education (CEE)’s shared vision of a single, unified set of standards that will guide educators, curriculum writers, policymakers, and other financial education stakeholders across the country to promote effective, comprehensive financial education for K-12 students.

The current edition reflects the evolution of financial services, current approaches to financial education, and a more intentional inclusiveness of all users. The complete publication is available as a .pdf download at no cost.

Download the Standards

Evolution of the Standards

In 1998, the Jump$tart Coalition published Personal Finance Guidelines and Benchmarks, the first known national standards in financial education. An updated version was published in 2001. In 2006, as the world-wide financial education effort evolved and matured, a task force undertook a major revision of the National Standards—expanding the original four content categories into six and incorporating new ideas about effective financial education. The 2015 edition of the National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education, was unveiled November 8, 2014, at the Jump$tart National Educator Conference in Los Angeles. The current, 2021 edition of the National Standards for Personal Financial Education is the first co-published with a partner organization.

Acknowledgements

Together, CEE and Jump$tart thank this project’s Steering Committee for its wisdom and oversight; project lead, Dr. Vickie Bajtelsmit and the Writing Committee for their talent and tireless efforts; the Educator Review Committee — including elementary, middle, and high school teachers — for their practical insights; and to the diverse group of stakeholders who submitted comments that not only strengthened the final product, but helped to make it a truly collaborative endeavor. We thank the Jackson Charitable Foundation for its generous support and, finally, our own staff, contractors, and service providers who have made the National Standards for Personal Financial Education a reality.

Dr. Vickie Bajtelsmit, who led the Standards Writing Team, discussed development of the new Standards at the  2021 Jump$tart National Educator Conference in Washington, DC.  Click here to download her presentation as a .pdf file.  Click here for the full announcement.

Printed Books

While Jump$tart no longer distributes the National Standards as a printed book, organizations interested in printing their own supply may request a printshop-ready file by contacting Joel Chrisler at our headquarters office.