The Impact of Financial Literacy Education on Subsequent Financial Behavior

Abstract

This study examined the differential impact on 79 high school students of a personal financial management course completed 1 to 4 years earlier. This study used a matched sample design based on a school system’s records to identify students who had and had not taken a course in personal financial management. The findings indicated that those who took the course were no more financially literate than those who had not. In addition, those who took the course did not evaluate themselves to be more savings-oriented and did not appear to have better financial behavior than those who had not taken the course. The study raises serious questions about the longer-term effectiveness of high school financial literacy courses.

Keywords: financial literacy, financial management, high school students, personal financial management course