More than two dozen states now require high school students to take a personal finance course before they graduate, according to the Council for Economic Education’s 2024 Survey of the States. Sidwell Friends, like many private schools in the Washington area, has no such requirement. However, this should change as soon as possible.
The evidence behind requiring personal finance is hard to ignore. The FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s most recent National Financial Capability Study found that only about a third of Americans under 35 can correctly answer four out of five basic questions on interest, inflation and risk. The consequences of such a knowledge gap have manifested in real life. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show that credit card delinquency rates among Americans aged 18-29 have risen for three consecutive years, and balances in that age group are growing faster than in any other age group. These trends do not stop at private schools, despite what many may think. Sidwell graduates may typically come from well-resourced households, but they enter the same financial system as everyone else. They are still expected to navigate investment accounts, health insurance enrollment, lease agreements and tax filings without ever having been formally taught how.
The Math Department offers Statistics and Calculus, and Algebra II touches briefly on compound interest, but nowhere in the Upper School curriculum does a course actually walk students through a W-2, a 1099, an APR, an escrow account, a Roth IRA. A graduating senior can solve numerous math equations and still not know what to do with their first paycheck.
Stewardship and simplicity both depend on the thoughtful, intentional management of material resources. Neither is possible without basic financial competence. A school that builds its mission around Quaker values should, in principle, give its students the tools to live by those values once they leave. Some will argue that personal finance is a matter best left to families. That argument assumes a level of parental time and expertise that is neither universal nor consistent, even at a school like Sidwell. A required course would provide a shared baseline regardless of what any student does or does not hear at home. Implementing this course would not require a dramatic overhaul either. A one-semester elective or a required unit folded into an existing math or social studies course would cover the essentials. It could be taught by current faculty or in partnership with an outside organization.
Sidwell has long described itself as a school that prepares students for both academic and civic life. A personal finance course is a natural extension of that promise into one of the most important areas of adulthood, and it would bring the school in line with a growing national standard. As Sidwell moves to the new campus, it has both the resources and the mission to support such a change.
