Standards and Mandates
The Illinois State Standards for Economics & Financial Literacy can be found inside Illinois’s Standards for Social Science.
Elementary School Requirement
Although the Financial Education standards appear in Illinois Standards for Social Science, it is important to note that they align to themes in Elementary grades across content areas and that many of the resources we offer in support are appropriate for interdisciplinary implementation, particularly in math.
High School Requirement
Every High School Student must complete a minimum 9-week sequential unit in Financial Education that includes the 7 required topics of instruction (IL Statute).
Considerations for the High School Requirement
- Programming: Schools should seek to assign the FinEd Course code 708101N and rosters to teachers as soon as possible and not later when instruction in the required unit begins.
- Cadence: Minimum 9-weeks: Units must be taught by the final day of grade entry for the semester. During the School year 2021-2022, FinEd units must begin by Nov 15th in First Semester and April 4th in Second Semester.
- Content: A unit of study in financial education covers each of the Seven Core Areas of Financial Education. The seven core areas are Economic Concepts, Money Management, Banking, Credit, Insurance, Investing and Consumer Protection.
- *If you are implementing the Financial Education requirement in Civics, please note the following: HB 4025 requires a minimum of one semester of Civics instruction. Schools can implement the Financial Education unit in one full-year course only in order to meet both requirements.
- Schools offering a semester or year-long semester in a course that includes the required topics (such as Financial Algebra, Seminar courses, Microeconomics) will satisfy students' FinEd graduation requirement.