Wisconsin

What the state requires

YES - a STATE CREDIT REQUIREMENT (not merely standards or a local-board adoption mandate). Wis. Stat. 118.33(1)(a)1.f. requires at least 0.5 credit of personal financial literacy for a high school diploma, created by 2023 Wisconsin Act 60. This sits ON TOP OF the older 2017 Wisconsin Act 94 local-board mandate (Wis. Stat. 121.02(1)(L)7.) requiring each school board to adopt financial literacy academic standards and incorporate K-12 instruction.

CLASS OF 2028. Act 60 Section 2 (initial applicability): 'This act first applies to pupils graduating from high school in 2028.' 2024-25 school year (implied): DPI states 'The new graduation requirement for one-half credit of personal financial literacy (PFL) goes into effect with the class of 2028, next year's freshman class', on a page posted after the December 2023 enactment. No primary source states a school year in YYYY-YY form.

The detail, every line cited

How it may be delivered

STAND-ALONE 0.5-credit course. DPI's FAQ states PFL must be stand-alone credit and CANNOT be embedded in other courses or counted as another credit type (e.g. social studies or math). Districts may offer MULTIPLE different half-credit PFL courses across departments (Business & IT, Family & Consumer Sciences, Social Studies) so long as each covers all six required content areas.dpi.wi.gov

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Wisconsin — delivery model: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09

Credit value

0.5 credit. Statutory text: 'At least 0.5 credit of personal financial literacy that includes financial mindset, education and employment, money management, saving and investing, credit and debt, and risk management and insurance.'docs.legis.wisconsin.gov

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Wisconsin — 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/elementary credit requirement and no grade-level checkpoint. Wis. Stat. 121.02(1)(L)7. (2017 Act 94) requires school boards to ADOPT financial literacy standards and incorporate instruction in grades K-12, but sets no credit or checkpoint. DPI's FAQ states the PFL graduation course must be taught at the 9-12 level.docs.legis.wisconsin.gov

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Wisconsin — 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. No state assessment or EOC is established by Act 60, Wis. Stat. 118.33, or DPI. DPI's FAQ places assessment at the DISTRICT level: districts must assess and grade PFL content and require course projects and performance tasks demonstrating mastery.dpi.wi.gov

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Wisconsin — 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

NO stand-alone PFL teaching license exists. Teachers must hold a license in the subject-area framework under which the district REPORTS the course: Business and Information Technology, Family and Consumer Sciences, or Social Studies (incl. 2700 social studies, 1701 broadfield social studies, 1700 social studies, 1710 economics). DPI's FAQ separately cites Business Education (1250/1251) and Vocational Business Education (8002). Districts report the designated subject-area framework in WISEstaff and the educator's credential must match. NONE are exempt or auto-qualifying; qualification is CONDITIONAL on the subject-area framework the district assigns to the course. Tier II or higher license holders may add the area via content testing or a three-year provisional license with stipulations.dpi.wi.gov

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Wisconsin — instructor requirements: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09

Standards framework

Wisconsin Standards for Personal Financial Literacy (Updated JUNE 2020. A REVISION IS IN PROGRESS: DPI's academic standards page states the Personal Financial Literacy standards are 'open for public review as of …)dpi.wi.gov

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Wisconsin — standards framework: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09

Funding a district may cite

FINANCIAL LITERACY INNOVATION GRANTS - funded by the WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (DFI) and administered by DPI; $296,000 statewide, up to $7,500 per applicant and $22,500 per consortium; most recent application deadline July 15, 2026. Eligible: educators, principals, administrators in public and private K-12 districts, CESAs and community-based organizations.dpi.wi.gov

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Wisconsin — funding: primary source(s) named in the field text and at the linked URL; read and verified 2026-08-09

State agency contact

Jennifer Jackson, Business & Information Technology Education Consultant, Wisconsin DPI - jennifer.jackson@dpi.wi.gov, (608) 266-2803. Also Julie Anderson, FCS Consultant, (608) 266-7330; Kristen McDaniel, Social Studies Consultant, (608) 266-2207.dpi.wi.gov

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Wisconsin — 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 Wisconsin, and they are listed rather than filled in with something plausible.

• Instructional-hour rule
• State course codes

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.

See the platformThe one-page brief for Wisconsin