In June of 2022, Michigan began mandating a half-credit personal finance class for current 10th graders and below. Then in November 2024, the Personal Finance Committee presented this idea to the Grosse Pointe Public School System (GPPSS) Board of Education to ensure these standards were met.
At South, there are many classes that students take already that incorporate an economics credit, so there are many ways to receive it. Furthermore, this credit does not require “seat time,” meaning students don’t have to take a course for an extra semester if it is already embedded in current economics courses. GPPSS Curriculum Director Holli McNally explains how this policy is going to work around the current economics credit.
“Our economics course already had these standards embedded and was the most natural choice,” McNally said. “However, some students choose to take our AP Microeconomics or AP Macroeconomics courses, and so the committee worked to embed these standards in those courses.”
According to McNally, this new financial credit will help students learn about paying taxes, utilizing insurance, investing, saving, using credit, buying goods and services and earning income.
“As a curriculum director and a parent of two teenagers, I know this curriculum is very important for all of our students,” McNally said. “I am confident that if you asked adults about this class, they would say that they wished they had this requirement when they were in school.”
