Student showcases financial literacy

38 states now require proficiency to graduate

By: Daniel De Vise
USA Today

..... You might think you know a lot about credit card and banking, taxes and insurance. Four teenagers from Scipps Ranch High School probably know more.
..... A four-student team from the San Diego school won the 2025 National Personal Fiance Challenge, a financial literacy contest that ended in June [2025] in Atlanta.
..... If you feel like testing your own financial literacy, take our 10-quesiton quiz, below. It's abbreviated version of the content's final round.
..... But first, take a minute to read about how the San Diego students won.
..... The event, which started with nearly 18,000 students, is part of a national campaign to encourage personal fiance study in school. It seems to be working: 38 states now require personal finance for graduation, up from 23 states in 2022.
..... "This is a real discipline with a real set of things you need to know," said Christopher Caltabiano, chief program officer at the Council for Economic Education, which runs the contest. "This is stuff you use every single day of your life."
..... For the Scupps Ranch students, the trip to Atlanta ended in high drama. They won the contest by a single point, edging out a talented team form Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City, Maryland.
..... Scrippe Ranch would have lost by a point, but the team persuaded contest judges to change their minds on two quiz questions they said it had missed.
..... One question asked for the term for a home or car loan whose balance exceeds what the asset is worth. The team's answer was "negative equity," which is correct. But the judges were looking for "upside down," which is a colloquial term for negative equity.
..... "So, Robert Schumann, 17, a Scripps Ranch senior this fall. [2025] "From what we've seen, nobody has ever won a challenge, so we were stressing out a little bit that we got it incorrect."
..... The second challenge came on this question: Wat is the first thing you should do if you think you're the victim of a scam? Freeze your assets, the Scripps Ranch team replied. The correct answer: Call your bank.
..... "We said it;s kind of inferred that you'd call your bank," whose first move would be to freeze your assets, Schuman said. the judges ultimately agreed.
..... Scripps Ranch High is in California, one of the states that now require personal finance education. However, the mandate doesn't take effect until 2027.
..... "These students really self-learned and self-taught themselves,"said Ian Rasmuson, a Scripps Ranch teacher who coached the winning team, Rasmuson himself teaches history.
..... Students revived the school's idle entrepreneurship club last year, [2024] hoping to invite guest speakers to talk about business and finance.
..... "We kind of just wanted to teach people about this topics," said Ryan Langsam Williams, 17, a rising senior who joined the team. "What I had in mind was to do competition like these, and to have everyone in the club involved."
..... He fouls the National Personal Finance Challenge Online. To prepare, the team reviewed coursework on the Council for economic Education website, studied past contests, watched YouTube videos and used AI to generate practice quizzes.
.... "We don't have a personal fiance class at our school," Schumann said.

Personal finance Challenge quiz

..... Here are 10 questions form the final round of the 2025 National Personal Finance Challenge.

..... "I think you should feel pretty darn good about yourself if you get seven out of 10,: Caltabiano said.

Questions

1. What is the term given to the amount in an account that is separate from any earning or interest that has accrued?
2. What is the name give to a digital credential that allows users to sign in to apps and websites without using a password?
3. Insurance companies evaluate risk for the purpose of issuing insurance coverage. This process is called what?
4. A system where people earn money by providing services or goods on demand, usually through digital platforms, is called what kind of economy?
5. What credit card transaction you to pay interest every day, including the first day of the transaction, until it is repaid in full?
6. On your way to work, you get caught in a hailstorm that damages your car, What type of care insurance covers the damage?
7. Steven contributes pretax dollars to an account managed by his employer for his health care expenses. If he does not spend all of his money by the end of the year, he will forfeit it. What kind of plan odes he have?
8. Fred does not believe in banks and keeps his money in a sock buried in the backyard, under anew concert patio. He faces little risk of having the money stolen, but his sock money is subject to what kind of risk?
9. You buy bonds from a corporation and notice that the company can buy the outstanding bonds from you before the maturity date. What is this feature called?
10. What is the name given to a stock that pays a higher-than-average dividend?

Answers

1. Principal; 2. Passkey; 3. Underwriting; 4 gig; 5. A cash advance; 6. Comprehensive; 7. fixable Spending Account; 8. Inflation risk; 9 A call feature; 10. income stock

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