learnfinancewithUtah
0.5 credit of General Financial Literacy (GFL) is required within the 24-credit graduation minimum (Utah Admin. Code R277-700-6; statutory basis Utah Code §53E-3-505).
All Utah public high-school students; USBE course documentation targets grades 11–12 while the statute permits grades 9–12. First in the nation.
In force — first bound the class of 2008.
- How it may be delivered
- STANDALONE. USBE's Current Courses Meeting the Criteria for Graduation Requirements 2025-2026 (Dec 10, 2025) lists exactly two qualifying courses: General Financial Literacy, and Finance CE (concurrent enrollment). NOT satisfied by Adult Roles or Math of Personal Finance under the current list (an obsolete pathway some district handbooks still cite). §53E-3-505(2)'s K-12 integration duty does not satisfy the credit.
Source: USBE, Current Courses Meeting the Criteria for Graduation Requirements 2025-2026 (Dec 10, 2025)
- Credit value
- 0.50 units of credit (one semester), within a 24-credit minimum
Source: Utah Admin. Code R277-700-6
- Instructional-hour rule
- Not yet verified to a primary source — we publish only what we can cite.
- Below high school
- No standalone middle/elementary course requirement and no checkpoint (R277-700-5's grade 7-8 subjects do not name financial literacy). De facto earlier coverage is College and Career Awareness (required grade 7 or 8; core code 39.01.00.00.001), whose Strand 4 covers savings, debt, tuition, financial aid, loans, and work study. The Financial and Economic Literacy Passport was repealed by H.B. 286 (2019).
Source: USBE, College and Career Awareness Strands and Standards; Utah Admin. Code R277-700-5
- State-mandated assessment
- YES — statewide online end-of-course assessment (Utah Code §53E-3-505(3); R277-704-3): administered to every student taking the course, aligned to the core standards, analyzed at school, district, and state levels. Provider YouScience (Brightpath); pre-test in the first two weeks, post-test in the last three; USBE publishes a 74% pass score. IMPORTANT: nothing in rule requires a student to PASS to earn credit or graduate — the gate is the 0.5 credit, not the score.
Source: Utah Admin. Code R277-704-3; Utah Code §53E-3-505(3)
- Who may teach it
- General Financial Literacy Endorsement attached to a Utah educator license (Secondary or CTE); R277-704-4 requires credentials equal to other content specialists per R277-309-4. Associate level = 4 of 9 competencies, Professional = all 9 (Financial and Economic Literacy, Economics, Career, Consumer Skills, Investing, Insurance, Banking and Budgeting, Credit, Paying for College), each satisfiable by qualifying degree, ~3-credit-hour coursework, or an approved industry certification (AAFCS, NFEC CFEI, W!se). No license area is exempt. Informational only — districts assign teachers.
Source: Utah Admin. Code R277-704-4; USBE GFL Endorsement competency specification
- State course codes
- 01.00.00.00.100 — General Financial Literacy (USBE core code; HIGH confidence) · 01.00.00.13.100 — General Financial Literacy, Concurrent Enrollment / Finance CE (HIGH confidence)
- Standards framework
- General Financial Literacy Strands and Standards (USBE, revised February 2023: 5 strands, 15 numbered standards)
- Funding a district may cite
- Free USBE GFL Methods Course (spring/fall), GFL webinar series, and CTE Business and Finance Foundation Summer Conference; Utah CTE Special Project Grant (FY26); NGPF certification courses accepted toward endorsement competencies; $tart $mart (Utah Jump$tart) and Women in Money (State Treasurer). CAVEAT: GFL is NOT in Utah's Perkins V plan — Perkins is citable for Business/Finance CTE pathway courses and leadership PD, not the GFL graduation course itself.
Source: USBE GFL professional-development listings; Finance in the Classroom (state-run) PD page
- State agency contact
- April Painter, Specialist, General Financial Literacy, USBE — april.painter@schools.utah.gov, (801) 538-7750. Rulemaking (R277-704): Elisse Newey, elisse.newey@schools.utah.gov, (801) 538-7550. GFL Educators ListServ via lists.uen.org.
Facts on this page last verified 2026-08-09; every pack is re-verified on a six-month cadence, and anything we cannot cite is marked rather than guessed.
The district awards the credit — no platform can. Ours is designed to align with the state’s learning standards, and it produces the documentation a district needs to award credit: the course object with its federal course code, a pass determination that shows its arithmetic, an hour ledger that counts only observed instructional minutes, and a verified record of demonstrated mastery for every student.