Varsity tutors' college scholarship contest by Corey

Varsity tutors' college scholarship contest by Corey - June 2025 Scholarship Essay

If I were to choose one extracurricular activity to turn into a required class, it would be “personal finance”. Too frequently, students graduate from high school and even college with no understanding of how money works in the real world. They might understand how to solve algebraic equations or break down a poem, but they have no idea how to budget, do taxes, understand credit scores, or pay off debt. These are all things that every individual, no matter what their future career is going to be, will utilize for the remainder of their lives.

Making personal finance a requirement would bridge this gap and prepare students for the financial side of being an adult. Students in this class would learn how to balance a savings and checking account, create and stick to a budget, understand the difference between a debit card and a credit card, and how interest rates work. They'd be taught about student loans, how to pay them back strategically, and the long-term effects of borrowing a loan. More importantly, they would understand how to build good credit and avoid the pitfalls that foster financial instability.

The course would also introduce students to investing, retirement saving, and building wealth over time, topics typically reserved for the wealthy or those who seek out that knowledge later in life independently. By instilling financial literacy early, we are allowing students to be able to build a better future for themselves and their families. Instead of learning by doing and experiencing the consequences of poor decisions, students would be making good decisions right from the start. What distinguishes personal finance from other studies is its universal applicability. Not all individuals will be scientists, writers, or historians, but every individual will earn, spend, and manage money at some point in time. Decisions regarding money touch everything, from where one lives, to what type of job one can take, to the freedom one has in life. If a student learns how to properly manage their finances, they're more likely to be financially secure, less likely to live paycheck to paycheck, and more likely to weather unexpected crises.

Teaching personal finance as a required course would also shatter generational cycles of poverty. Many students do not come from a home where financial literacy is taught. For these students, school may be the only place they could possibly receive this valuable information. By making the course required, we can ensure all students, regardless of their background, have the same base of knowledge. In a world in which financial stress is one of the greatest causes of worry and misery, providing students with the skill to be wise about their finances isn't just a nice notion—it's a necessity. Personal finance can no longer be an elective or an afterthought. It's time to acknowledge that it is a critical life skill that every student should have room for in their schooling.