learnfinancewithArkansas
YES. Every student must earn credit in a course that includes the state Personal and Family Finance Standards in grades 9-12, and separately must earn 0.5 credit of 'Economics and Personal Finance' within the 3 required social studies credits (22 credits total).
Act 480 applies 'beginning with the ninth-grade class of the 2017-2018 school year' - on-time graduation spring 2021. DESE/statute do NOT state a graduating-class label. 2017-18 school year (grade 9 entering cohort); Act 466 of 2019 extended eligible completion to grade 9 effective 2019.
In force — first bound the class of 2021.
- How it may be delivered
- HYBRID/EMBEDDED. Delivered chiefly through the 0.5-credit Economics with Personal Finance social studies course, but statute lets districts satisfy it via ANY DESE-APPROVED COURSE carrying the Personal and Family Finance Standards (math, CTE, AP, or a district course approved by the Office of Curriculum Support BEFORE MAY 1 - an annual, date-certain adoption window).
- Credit value
- 0.5 credit 'Economics and Personal Finance' within the 3 social studies credits. The 6-16-135 mandate itself says 'a credit in a course' without specifying a fraction, and approved carriers range from 0.5 to 1.5 credits.
- Instructional-hour rule
- Not yet verified to a primary source — we publish only what we can cite.
- Below high school
- NONE. Ark. Code 6-16-135 as amended limits the requirement to a course taken in grades 9-12; no middle- or elementary-school personal finance course or grade checkpoint appears in statute or DESE rule.
- State-mandated assessment
- NONE. DESE's graduation requirements list only the Arkansas Civics Exam (60% passing) as a subject-specific exit exam; no economics, personal finance or financial literacy state test or EOC.
- Who may teach it
- Not yet verified to a primary source — we publish only what we can cite.
- State course codes
- 474300 — Economics with Personal Finance (0.5 social studies or Career Focus) (MEDIUM confidence) — The PRIMARY carrier of the requirement. · 491990; 439120; 579130; 579140; 492290; 574000 — Personal Finance/Financial Literacy (0.5 Career Focus); Quantitative Reasoning/Literacy (1 math); ADE-Approved AP Macroeconomics with Personal Finance (0.5); ADE-Approved AP Microeconomics with Personal Finance (0.5); Financial Planning (1.5); Concurrent Credit Economics with Personal Finance (MEDIUM confidence) — Additional approved carriers. Districts may also embed the standards in other courses via DESE course approval filed BEFORE MAY 1 each year. CONFLICT: DESE's page labels 491990 'Financial Literacy' while CCMS returns 'Personal Finance'; DESE lists Financial Pl
- Standards framework
- Economics with Personal Finance Social Studies Academic Standards, Revised 2022 (companion: Personal and Family Finance Standards, 2017) (Approved by the Arkansas State Board of Education DECEMBER 2022; FULL IMPLEMENTATION REQUIRED BY 2024-25)
- Funding a district may cite
- Not yet verified to a primary source — we publish only what we can cite.
- State agency contact
- Amber Murry Pirnique, M.Ed., Disciplinary Literacy Program Manager (Personal Finance), Arkansas DESE, Four Capitol Mall Room 202-B, Little Rock, AR 72201; 501-682-5764; Amber.Pirnique@ade.arkansas.gov.
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.