By YOUNG MONEY Staff
15 August 2011

The state of Virginia recently announced that it would begin adding personal finance and economics classes to the overall high school curriculum. Several U.S. states already have similar requirements or are aiming to include them, including Maryland, Missouri, Utah and Tennessee, according to USA Today.

This announcement is part of a recent trend promoting financial literacy among children in the elementary, secondary and college education levels in the U.S. In some states, such as Virginia, Missouri, Utah and Tennessee, specific classes are required, while others add financial lessons into existing curricula. Post-secondary institutions including Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont are also mandating money management coursework.

To help these initiatives, the news source reports that U.S. teachers are requesting instruction on how to properly teach these subjects, as many claim that they feel unprepared to do so.

Charles Schwab Foundation president Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz explained her organization's emphasis of such subject matter.

"We feel that if you can get kids on the right track at an early age, they're more likely going to be financially successful adults," Schwab-Pomerantz told the news source.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the results of a Charles Schwab survey reveal that 77 percent of teenagers consider themselves to be fairly adept at saving money.