ND Improves Grade In Financial Literacy

State School Superintendent Levi Bachmeier lauded North Dakota’s improvement on a national financial literacy report card, saying the result strengthens efforts to make North Dakota the nation’s most financially literate state.

The report card examined state laws, educational policies, and curricula that affect financial literacy instruction in each state’s K-12 schools. It is published every two years by the Tennessee-based American Public Education Foundation, or APEF.

In 2023, the report card rated North Dakota a “C” on financial literacy instruction. This year’s edition moved the grade to a “B,” citing a new legislative mandate that each high school student complete one-half unit of financial literacy or receive instruction in other classes about personal finance elements, including budgeting, investing, debt, and risk management.

“Our state government has set a goal of having North Dakota rated as the nation’s most financially literate state by 2027,” Bachmeier said. “This improvement on a national report card represents important progress toward that goal.”

The new K-12 financial literacy mandate was included in House Bill 1533, which lawmakers overwhelmingly approved in April. The APEF report also speaks approvingly of new K-12 academic content standards on financial literacy, which were approved by the Department of Public Instruction in July.

“This is the first time our state has developed a stand-alone set of standards specifically focused on financial literacy,” then-Superintendent Kirsten Baesler wrote in a foreword to the standards.

The report card says the new law and academic standards represented “huge progress” for financial literacy in North Dakota, but noted that high schools still are not required to have a stand-alone course in the subject. That is needed to raise the state’s grade to “A,” it says.

In April 2024, then-Gov. Doug Burgum announced an initiative to make North Dakota the nation’s most financially literate state by 2027. His statement coincided with the launch of a new website, SmartWithMyMoney.nd.gov., which includes several financial literacy tools.

The initiative is being led by the superintendent of public instruction, the state treasurer and several state agencies, including the Bank of North Dakota, the state Insurance and Securities Department and the Department of Financial Institutions, which regulates state-chartered banks, credit unions, and trust companies.

The Finra Investor Education Foundation, which publishes a national study on consumers’ financial capabilities every three years, most recently found that 30 percent of the North Dakota residents surveyed scored high in financial literacy, based on their responses to a series of questions. The latest survey data was gathered in 2024 and published in July 2025.

The APEF report card rated the financial literacy of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Seventeen states, including Minnesota, earned “A” grades. North Dakota was one of 22 that received “B”s. There were six “Cs,” four “Ds,” -- including Montana -- and three “Fs” – from South Dakota, Alaska, and the District of Columbia.