SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 3462
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MARCH 2, 2026
The Senate Education Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 3462.
As amended, this bill requires high school students to receive instruction in financial literacy. Currently, instruction in financial literacy is required to be taught to students in each of the grades six through eight. The bill instead requires financial literacy instruction be provided in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in sixth through eighth grade.
Under the bill, a school district is required to provide to each high school student a one semester course, or one trimester course, exclusively in financial literacy. The bill also clarifies that instruction that principally addresses economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy does not satisfy the financial literacy instruction requirement.
The bill requires, for a State-endorsed diploma, district boards of education to develop, adopt, and implement local graduation requirements that require a high school student to complete the financial literacy course.
The bill also adds additional content to be included in the financial literacy curriculum, including behavioral economics, banking, consumer skills, taxes, college financial planning, and accounting. Finally, the bill requires that the financial literacy instruction be taught by teachers with appropriate instructional endorsements.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
· require that the financial literacy course provided to each high school student be exclusively in financial literacy; and
· update the effective date to provide that local graduation requirements would include a requirement that a high school student complete a financial literacy course, beginning with students entering the 12th grade in the second full school year following the date of enactment as opposed to the 2027-2028 school year.