New High School Graduation Requirements: Personal Financial Education and Higher Education and Career Path Skills

In the Winter of 2022, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) partnered with Oregon’s Kitchen Table (OKT) to conduct a broad and inclusive statewide community engagement process related to Oregon’s high school graduation requirements. ODE used the input gathered during that process to inform a set of recommendations to the legislature regarding high school graduation requirements. Responding directly to community input, ODE recommended that the legislature add a future planning course and a personal financial education course to the required curriculum. In 2023, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 3, which required a 0.5 credit in both: 1) Personal Financial Education; and 2) Higher Education and Career Path Skills as part of the 24 credit requirement for an Oregon Diploma.

Between December 2023 and April 2024, the Oregon Department of Education again partnered with Oregon’s Kitchen Table (OKT) inform the development of instructional standards for these two requirements, with a particular focus on students who have experienced educational disparities. OKT conducted 13 individual interviews and held 10 community conversations across the state, including following up with many people who were part of the prior engagement process for Senate Bill 744. It was important and meaningful for many participants to hear what had happened with their earlier input and to be invited into this next phase of shaping high school graduation requirements. 

Plain language summary and translation under development.