PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Office of the General Treasurer in partnership with the R.I. Department of Education and the Rhode Island Foundation announced a $50,000 grant for financial literacy education, according to a news release.
The grant, awarded by the national nonprofit Next Gen Personal Finance and secured by R.I. General Treasurer Seth Magaziner with the Rhode Island Foundation acting as the fiscal agent, will support implementation of a law passed in the 2021 legislative session making personal finance classes a requirement across Rhode Island public high schools. Specifically, the funding will pay for consumer education, teacher stipends for those who participate in professional development through Next Gen Personal Finance and ambassadors with the state’s PrepareRI program.
The new law gives the state until the start of the 2022-2023 school year to develop instruction standards for personal finance classes. High School students who graduate in 2024 or later either must take a class or prove financial literacy through an alternative project or some other metric set by the R.I. Council on Elementary and Secondary Education.
This story has been updated to clarify the funding relationship for the grant between Next Gen Personal Finance, the R.I. Office of the General Treasurer and the Rhode Island Foundation.
Nancy Lavin is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
