MT · Personal finance requirement
Montana
Requirement in force9 facts cited · 2 still being verified
- Credit value
- 1/2 unit of economics or financial literacy, within the 20-unit / 13-required-unit graduation framework.
- First bound the class of
- 2026
- How it may be delivered
- EMBEDDED/FLEXIBLE, not a standalone required course: the 1/2 unit must be earned 'within the 2 units of social studies, the 2 units of mathematics, or the 1 unit of career and technical education' - i.e. it counts INSIDE an existing required credit area rather than adding a credit.
What the state requires
YES. ARM 10.55.905(2)(h) requires 1/2 unit of ECONOMICS OR FINANCIAL LITERACY for high school graduation.
Graduating class of 2026. Rule effective July 1, 2025 - the 2025-26 school year (extended from the original July 1, 2023 effective date).
law.cornell.eduFull citation
ADMINISTRATIVE RULE, not statute: ARM 10.55.905 (Graduation Requirements), Board of Public Education. Amendment adopted via 2023 MAR p. 255; BPE approved March 9-10, 2023 and at a special meeting April 12, 2023 voted unanimously to EXTEND the effective date to July 1, 2025. No MCA section imposing the requirement was located (MCA Title 20 checked). OPI lists 'Financial …The detail, every line cited
- How it may be delivered
- EMBEDDED/FLEXIBLE, not a standalone required course: the 1/2 unit must be earned 'within the 2 units of social studies, the 2 units of mathematics, or the 1 unit of career and technical education' - i.e. it counts INSIDE an existing required credit area rather than adding a credit.law.cornell.edu
Full citation
Montana — delivery model: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09 - Credit value
- 1/2 unit of economics or financial literacy, within the 20-unit / 13-required-unit graduation framework.law.cornell.edu
Full citation
Montana — credit value: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09 - Below high school
- No middle/junior high financial literacy or economics requirement. ARM 10.55.902 requires ELA, mathematics, science, social studies and health/PE annually with no economics or personal finance carve-out; no grade checkpoint exists.law.cornell.edu
Full citation
Montana — below-high-school requirement: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09 - State-mandated assessment
- NONE. Montana's statewide assessment system (MAST ELA/math, Montana Science Assessment, ACT with Writing, DLM, WIDA ACCESS, NAEP) includes no financial literacy, economics or personal finance test or EOC.opi.mt.gov
Full citation
Montana — state assessment: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09 - Who may teach it
- ARM 10.55.708(1) requires teachers to be assigned only to levels and subjects for which they are licensed and endorsed; because qualifying courses span mathematics, social studies, business/marketing, FCS and agriculture, the qualifying endorsement FOLLOWS THE COURSE'S SUBJECT AREA (e.g. 04S ECO Economics 5-12, 12S BUS Business Education 5-12, 12S BM Business Marketing 5-12, 23S FCS 5-12, 02S MAT Mathematics 5-12, 04S BF Social Studies Broadfield 5-12).law.cornell.edu
Full citation
Montana — instructor requirements: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09 - State course codes
- 19262; 02154; 02157; 02159; 04201; 04202; 04203; 04204; 04206; 04207; 04208; 04209; 12052; 12053; 12059; 12061; 12101; 12102; 12103; 12104; 12105; 12106; 12107; 12148; 12201; 18201; 18202; 19251; 19257; 19258; 19259; 08056; 08057 — 33 approved codes spanning Mathematics (Business Math, Consumer Math, Financial Algebra), Social Sciences (Economics variants), Business/Marketing (Banking and Finance, Accounting, Risk Management and Insurance, Securities and Investments, AP CK Business with Personal Finance), Agriculture (Agribusiness Management, Agricultural Entrepreneurship), FCS/Health (Consumer Economics/Personal Finance 19262, Life Skills, Personal and Career Readiness, Health and Life Management) (HIGH confidence) — ALL 33 satisfy the 1/2-unit economics-or-financial-literacy requirement. The buyer could sit in math, social studies, business, agriculture or FCS. NOTE: the FY26 list included 04205 AP Economics and omitted 12061/04207/04208/04209; the FY27 list adds those foopifiles.mt.gov
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Montana — course codes (per-code confidence noted inline): primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09 - Standards framework
- Montana Content Standards for Social Studies for K-12 (Economics strand, SS.E). Montana has NO standalone financial literacy content standards document; OPI instead publishes a 'Financial Literacy Standards Crosswalk' whose URL could not be resolved. (Document dated April 5, 2021; adopted November 5, 2020; implemented July 1, 2021)opifiles.mt.gov
Full citation
Montana — standards framework: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09 - State agency contact
- OPI Accreditation & Educator Prep Unit, opiaccred@mt.gov (accreditation/graduation requirements); OPI Content Standards & Instruction, opicsi@mt.gov (standards); OPI main office 1227 11th Ave, Helena MT 59601, 406-444-3680.opi.mt.gov
Full citation
Montana — agency contact: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09
Not yet verified · 2
We publish only what we can cite to a primary source. These fields are still being verified for Montana, and they are listed rather than filled in with something plausible.
- Instructional-hour rule
- Funding a district may cite
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.