By Lasherica Thornton, EdSource
On a recent Friday morning, Fresno Unified high school students learned about the rise and fall of major companies in the stock market — from Walmart’s longevity to Apple’s surge past oil companies and Amazon’s emergence as a $1 trillion company.
Earlier that week, students at the Farber Educational Center, an alternative learning campus, had finished a competitive project for their personal finance class. Using $100,000 in pretend money, they invested in the stock market and tracked their strategy’s success.
The state’s third-largest school district, a pioneer in developing these personal finance courses, offers a preview of how educators will meet California’s new high school graduation requirement, teaching students life skills such as banking, managing debt and building wealth.
California will require all high schools to offer a personal finance course starting in 2027-28, and all students must take the class beginning with the graduating class of 2031. By adding the course at most of its high schools before the legislation, Fresno Unified emerged as an early adopter — so much so that the state tapped one of the district’s educators to help guide the statewide rollout.
Since the 2023-24 school year, Jeff Allen has led the creation and implementation of personal finance courses across Fresno Unified, helping turn them into some of the district’s most sought-after electives.
The California Department of Education selected Allen to lead the statewide rollout because of his hands-on approach in implementing Fresno Unified’s program. Already, Allen has authored a curriculum guide for the state’s educators.
“He demonstrated a combination of subject-matter expertise and direct, district-level implementation experience, along with a strong understanding of scheduling, credentialing and classroom realities,” said Scott Roark, a spokesperson for the state department of education.
‘I wish I had that’
In 2024, the state Legislature added personal finance to what every California high school graduate must learn. Assembly Bill 2927 made California the 26th state to require a stand-alone personal finance course for all public high school students.
Making personal finance a graduation requirement has received little resistance because adults recognize its value, Allen said.
“You say personal finance, and it’s like a universal, ‘Oh, I wish I had that,’” he said. “You do not see that physical reaction (to other subjects) from parents and community members the same way that you see it with personal finance because, as an adult, you understand what you didn’t know and how you paid the consequences for it.”
That sentiment resonates with students, too, including 18-year-old Daniel Tecomulapa at the Farber Educational Center.
“I wanted to be better with my finances,” Daniel said.
The practical benefits students receive from learning personal finance has motivated many educators to teach the course. KongMia Her, who teaches the class at Farber, said he wants students entering adulthood to avoid the financial mistakes he made.
“I didn’t have any education,” Her said. “No one taught me at school or at home.”
Fresno Unified personal finance classes
Following a class project, teacher KongMia Her reviewed the different strategies that students used to invest in stocks on May 22, 2026.Lasherica Thornton/EdSource
Her is among 17 Fresno Unified teachers this year who are instructing 730 students in the course.
Most Fresno Unified high schools offer personal finance as a yearlong course, though state law will only require one semester. Regardless of length, the district’s personal finance classes already cover the 13 topics mandated under AB 2927.
The lessons on retirement plans, savings, investments and credit scores have been some of the most meaningful for students in Her’s class at Farber.
The teens learned why they didn’t yet have credit scores, for example. During a call to Experian, Daniel discovered he had not owned his credit card long enough to develop a credit profile.
Students also learned how to build and maintain strong credit, including by making payments on time.
“(The class) teaches you to manage money correctly,” 16-year-old Autumn Walker said.
Over the past three years, Allen has supported and coached teachers, reviewed lessons and organized professional development.
Because the classes are already aligned with state standards, and most educators are in their second year of teaching the course, Allen is now helping teachers enrich the personal finance classes through community partnerships and programs.
So, teachers are going beyond the classroom, bringing in speakers from local credit unions, Rotary clubs and businesses.
During a financial literacy event at Farber, community organizations presented students with real-life scenarios about how food, housing and transportation costs affect budgets. At McLane High, students use the on-campus bank as part of the course. At Edison High, students pitched business ideas in a “Shark Tank”-style project that required them to calculate startup costs, needed investments and profit margins.
The qualifications required to teach personal finance in Fresno Unified will change under the state mandate. Right now, any teacher with a single-subject credential can teach the course in the district. Beginning 2027-28, however, only teachers credentialed in four subject areas will be eligible to teach the class.
Other school districts aren’t waiting for the state mandate to begin teaching personal finance. Pasadena Unified, Yosemite Unified in Oakhurst and San Luis Coastal Unified have launched courses at multiple high schools.
Elk Grove Unified in Sacramento County has offered a course since 2021, with enrollment growing each year.
Supporting teachers and schools
Staffing is often a challenge when schools must add new graduation requirements, but the state’s personal finance law gives districts several years to train teachers before the requirement takes effect.
Allen, who led the rollout in Fresno Unified, wrote the state’s personal finance curriculum guide to help districts create their own courses. He said he authored the guide to make the implementation of the new mandate less daunting for rank-and-file teachers.
He intentionally organized the curriculum guide around three questions: why personal finance education matters, what students should learn and how schools can put the course into practice.
And Allen continues to support districts as the state rolls out the requirement. Nearly 700 educators registered for a late May webinar he led on legislative requirements, implementation challenges and professional learning opportunities.
Allen highlighted ready-made resources districts can use, including the Next Gen Personal Finance platform, so teachers don’t have to build courses from scratch. Teachers statewide can access hours of professional development on topics ranging from car buying to “buy now, pay later” plans — lessons to pass down to their students.
Allen said personal finance classes generate some of the highest student engagement he has seen. Students enter class eager to pick up where the conversation left off the day before, he said.
“This is clearly seen by families, by students as one of the most, if not the most, relevant topics that they can be exposed to right now.”
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