Colorado legislature votes to add financial literacy to list of high school graduation requirements

Colorado just became the 27th state to turn financial literacy courses into a graduation requirement after the bill passed the Senate with a vast majority vote on Wednesday. 

The bipartisan bill’s third reading passed with 55 yes votes and 10 no — a noticeable uptick in support from when the bill was first introduced.

House Bill 25-1192 requires that all Colorado high school students complete a personal finance literacy course at some point in their four years in order to graduate.

High school graduation requirements and curriculum are traditionally set by local school districts, while academic standards are set by the state. However, the bill gives districts control over when and how the course is implemented so long as they follow Colorado Department of Education standards for financial literacy.

“We took existing standards that have been out there for over two decades. We didn’t change the standards. They’re already out there. We said, ‘Okay, codify that into your course,’” Republican Rep. Anthony Hartsook said. “‘You, the school district, decide how you’re going to put that and where you’re going to put that.’”

Around 25% of Colorado’s 178 school districts have independently assessed the value of financial literacy in their classrooms and adopted the requirement into their high school curriculum. From those students living in a district with a financial literacy requirement, several have testified in favor of the bill in the House and Senate education committees.

The bill also requires that students practice filling out a copy of the federal or state financial aid form (with the option to opt out) — though filling out and submitting the official form is no longer part of the requirement after language was struck from the bill. 

The additional requirement to teach about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form is seen by the bill’s sponsors as a way to raise the state’s low completion rate for federal aid requests. Colorado ranked 43rd in the country for completion in 2025, when less than 38% of high school seniors submitted a FAFSA form. 

Roughly $30 million in student aid funding goes unclaimed every year in Colorado, according to reporting by Chalkbeat. The bill’s sponsors argue that ensuring students understand how to access and fill out state or federal financial aid forms will help connect more students with grants and scholarships for higher education or technical career training — which is why the bill asks that students have exposure to federal financial aid eligibility tools and net price calculators.

The bill only applies to high schoolers entering ninth grade on or after Sept. 1, 2026, meaning those currently in high school are exempt from meeting this requirement.

Colorado is not the first state to require personal finance for students — 26 other states have passed similar bills in the last several years with little to no evidence that these requirements negatively affected graduation rates, according to a 2022 study measuring the course’s impacts on different demographics.

The bill initially faced some resistance from local teachers unions and school boards including the Colorado School Counselor Association and the Colorado Education Association, though a good portion of the opposition has been eased by amendments.

Before funding was added to the bill, the Colorado Education Association argued the addition of a new graduation requirement would burden teachers with more work, especially during a time when many schools are understaffed and underfunded. Some argued the state mandate is unnecessary since some districts have independently decided to offer financial literacy based on community needs.

To appease several of the concerns from educators, the bill was amended so that schools don’t need to create a new class and can instead incorporate the Colorado Department of Education’s financial literacy standards into an existing required course.

“For example, if a school district requires four years of math, they can incorporate the standards in what they are already requiring, so they don’t have to worry about or think about if they need to create an additional course,” Democratic Rep. Jennifer Bacon said.

The bill appropriates around $220,000 to spend through the 2027-28 academic year and $12,000 annually in state spending to support school districts in offering financial literacy courses, according to the bill’s fiscal note. The Colorado Department of Education will be in charge of distributing the funding to education providers.

“We imagine that it will take schools a couple of years to figure (this bill) out,” Bacon said.