Financial Literacy by Tamari

Financial Literacy by Tamari - June 2025 Scholarship Essay

I believe that an elective that should be included and required in the curriculum of school systems is financial literacy. Too often do students graduate without any real knowledge or preparation for handling money in the real world. Critical skills such as budgeting, filing taxes, managing credit, understanding loans and interest rates, and more, are important in adulthood and everyone will come across situations where these skills are needed. Making this a required course would strengthen students' decision making regarding earning, saving, and spending money. By being financially literate, students can grow to become adults who understand and have financial stability, maintain good credit, and avoid debt traps.

Not all students come from households where financial literacy is discussed or even understood. Requiring a financial literacy course in the curriculum could break the generational cycles of debt, and reduce the amount of families having to live paycheck to paycheck. Over time, this could also improve the overall economic well-being of society.

In addition to these benefits, the course could also improve the newer generations' interest and knowledge regarding financial issues in America. An increase in financial interest and knowledge which could lead to more informed citizens, leading to more votes in economic issues and financially educated generations that are comfortable and informed enough to advocate for themselves and others.