Kids and Money: Teaching Financial Literacy in Howard County

In 2008, 84 percent of college students had credit cards, according to a study published by Sallie Mae. And of those card-carrying students, the average number of credit cards they had was 4.6.

According to the study, “How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards: Sallie Mae’s National Study of Usage Rates and Trends, 2009,” most students didn’t talk to their parents about getting a card. 

Next week, some students in Howard County will be talking about managing their finances with their teachers and some of the top education officials in the state. Interim State Superintendent Bernard J. Sadusky will be visiting classrooms to observe a new financial literacy program in action.

Beginning this year, public schools are required to teach financial literacy in grades 3 to 12 in all public schools in the state, but how they do that is partially up to each school district.  

Howard County Schools, according to William Reinhard, spokesman for the state’s Department of Education, has a program worth paying attention to.

“There are a lot of reasons why [financial literacy] is important,” Reinhard said. Regardless of whether students leaving Howard County schools go on to work or to college, they will be confronted with money issues.

And particularly in higher-income regions, “Some kids have a decent amount of spending money in middle school,” Reinhard said. “They should learn what that means.”

Sadusky will observe a financial literacy class at and one at Monday, Feb. 6.