Standards issued · not required

Maryland Personal Finance Standards & Graduation Requirements

Maryland has no statewide graduation requirement for personal finance; it instead mandates that all 24 local school systems teach state-issued financial literacy standards, leaving each county to decide whether that means a standalone course or embedded instruction.

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Maryland at a glance

Requirement: State standards issued, not required to graduate
Legislation or authority: COMAR 13A.04.06, 'Personal Financial Literacy Instructional Programs' (adopted by the Maryland State Board of Education, June 2010); no statewide graduation-requirement statute in force
Takes effect: Standards program effective since September 2011 (statewide instructional mandate, not a diploma requirement)
State standards: Maryland State Standards for Personal Financial Literacy Education (COMAR 13A.04.06; adopted 2010, revised 2016 and 2022)

Read the official Maryland standards

Personal finance in Maryland

Maryland requires every one of its 24 local school systems to provide a K-12 personal financial literacy instructional program aligned to the state's six-standard curriculum under COMAR 13A.04.06, but the regulation stops short of making course completion a statewide condition of the diploma — that decision is left to counties. Per MSDE reporting, 9 of the 24 local systems impose a local standalone financial-literacy graduation credit while the others embed the standards in existing required courses such as government, U.S. history, or social studies.

A 2026 effort to create a statewide mandate — SB 592 / HB 943, targeting the Class of 2030 — was introduced in the General Assembly but stalled in committee and did not become law. In the meantime, individual systems continue to act locally: Prince George's County has required a standalone course since 2023-24, and Anne Arundel County added a half-credit financial-literacy graduation requirement for students entering 9th grade in 2026-27.

Last reviewed against official sources on 2026-07-15.

How Rapunzl maps to Maryland standards

Rapunzl's curriculum is built on the Council for Economic Education's six pillars. Here is how they line up with the Maryland framework.

Maryland strand	CEE pillar	Rapunzl modules
Make informed, financially responsible decisions	Financial Decision-Making	Financial Statistics Top Investor Strategies
Relate careers, education, and income	Earning Income	Taxes & Income Careers In Finance
Plan and manage money	Spending	The Basics Of Banking Buying Your First Home Paying For College
Manage credit and debt	Managing Credit	The Power & Risks Of Credit How To Make Loans Work For You
Create and build wealth	Investing	Welcome To The Stock Market What Makes A Good Stock?ETFs & Mutual Funds
Manage risks and preserve wealth	Managing Risk	Diversification & Risk Insurance & Retirement

Educators can request a full Maryland standards crosswalk through the Educator Dashboard.

Why Maryland schools choose Rapunzl

Rapunzl pairs a standards-aligned curriculum with a real-time investment simulator, so students learn personal finance by making real decisions with simulated $10,000 portfolios priced on live market data — not by reading about it. The curriculum scales from a three-week unit to a 28-week year-long course, which means it fits whichever shape Maryland's requirement takes in your district.

100,000+students have completed Rapunzl's curriculum
93%average financial literacy scores on national test over past 5 years, 24% above average
31interactive modules that can be customized into a course progression for your classroom
20+hours of gameplay in 2 interactive mini-games alongside our investment simulator and financial calculators

Teachers get an educator dashboard with grade export and standards crosswalks, English and Spanish materials, screen-reader accessibility, and a free national scholarship competition their students can enter each January.

Maryland personal finance requirement FAQ

The requirement is set by COMAR 13A.04.06, 'Personal Financial Literacy Instructional Programs' (adopted by the Maryland State Board of Education, June 2010); no statewide graduation-requirement statute in force.

Takes effect: Standards program effective since September 2011 (statewide instructional mandate, not a diploma requirement).

Maryland State Standards for Personal Financial Literacy Education (COMAR 13A.04.06; adopted 2010, revised 2016 and 2022).

Rapunzl's curriculum is built on the Council for Economic Education's six pillars: Earning Income, Spending, Saving, Investing, Managing Credit, and Managing Risk. Those pillars map to every strand in the framework, which is why the same course can satisfy standards that are worded differently from one state to the next.

Yes. Rapunzl's modules and real-time investing simulator cover the CEE six pillars, and those pillars crosswalk to the Maryland strands listed on this page.

Students learn by making real decisions with a simulated $10,000 portfolio priced on live market data, and teachers get an educator dashboard with grade export, materials in English and Spanish, and screen-reader accessibility.

Request a demo and we'll send the Maryland standards crosswalk along with classroom access.

Bring Rapunzl to your Maryland classroom

Explore the curriculum and real-time simulator free for 30 days. Tell us about your school and we'll send your all-access demo along with the Maryland standards crosswalk.

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