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.
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)
- Legislative watch
- No statewide graduation-requirement statute today — the state mandates instruction, not a diploma requirement. A 2026 bill to create one was introduced but did not pass; several districts require it locally.
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.
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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 StatisticsTop Investor Strategies |
| Relate careers, education, and income | Earning Income | Taxes & IncomeCareers In Finance |
| Plan and manage money | Spending | The Basics Of BankingBuying Your First HomePaying For College |
| Manage credit and debt | Managing Credit | The Power & Risks Of CreditHow To Make Loans Work For You |
| Create and build wealth | Investing | Welcome To The Stock MarketWhat Makes A Good Stock?ETFs & Mutual Funds |
| Manage risks and preserve wealth | Managing Risk | Diversification & RiskInsurance & Retirement |
Educators can request a full Maryland standards crosswalk through the Educator Dashboard.
Why Maryland schools choose Rapunzl
Maryland requires all 24 of its school systems to teach the state's financial literacy standards, but it does not make a course a condition of the diploma, so each county decides whether that means a standalone class or embedded lessons. Nine systems require a standalone credit; the rest fold the standards into government, U.S. history, or social studies. Curriculum that works either way is what a Maryland district needs, and Rapunzl fits: students manage a $10,000 portfolio in a live-market simulator, and the modules can anchor a dedicated course or drop into an existing one. Counties like Prince George's and Anne Arundel that have added local requirements are choosing materials now.
- 150,000+students have completed Rapunzl's curriculum
- 93%average financial literacy scores on national test over past 5 years, 26% higher than 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 a dashboard that exports grades and crosswalks each lesson to Maryland's financial literacy standards, with materials in English and Spanish that work with a screen reader. Rapunzl's January scholarship competition gives students a reason to keep managing their portfolio however a county delivers the standards.
Maryland personal finance requirement FAQ
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.
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 is built on the Council for Economic Education's six pillars: earning income, spending, saving, investing, managing credit, and managing risk. Maryland's six financial literacy standards cover the same ground, so the crosswalk above ties each to the modules that teach it, whether a county teaches them standalone or embedded.
Yes. Because Maryland leaves delivery to each county, Rapunzl's modules can carry a standalone course or embed in government or social studies, and each still maps to a Maryland financial literacy standard.
Students learn by investing a simulated $10,000 in real market conditions, and teachers manage the class from a dashboard with grade export, bilingual materials, and screen-reader support.
Request a demo and we'll send the Maryland crosswalk plus classroom access so you can see how it fits your system's model.
Maryland's COMAR 13A.04.06 requires every one of the state's 24 local school systems to teach financial literacy standards, but it stops short of a statewide graduation requirement. That choice is left to counties, and per MSDE reporting only 9 of the 24 currently require a standalone course rather than embedding it in an existing class.
A 2026 bill to create a statewide standalone requirement, SB 592 and HB 943, aimed at the class of 2030, stalled in committee, so districts are still setting their own timeline: Anne Arundel County just added a half-credit requirement for students entering 9th grade in 2026-27. Rapunzl fits either path, working as a standalone course or slotted into an existing one teachers already run.
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.
Request DemoPersonal finance requirements in other states
- Alabama Standards
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- Arkansas Standards
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- Connecticut Standards
- Delaware Standards
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- Wisconsin Standards