Beginning with freshmen in the 2026-27 school year, all Anne Arundel County Public Schools students will be required to earn one-half credit in financial literacy in order to graduate, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell has announced.
Dr. Bedell made the announcement at the Board of Education’s December 17, 2025, meeting as the Board continued its discussion of altering Policy IIC, Graduation Requirements. Making the course a graduation requirement is part of Administrative Regulation IIC-RA, which is under Dr. Bedell’s purview.
“There is no question that the need to produce students who are financially literate is real,” Dr. Bedell said. “Adults who are not financially literate cannot lead the global economy into which our students will enter.”
The Board is not making substantive changes to Policy IIC, but is discussing the matter at three public meetings like other policy changes to ensure transparency and because Dr. Bedell is proposing to reduce the number of overall credits required to graduate from 26 to 23. The change is aimed and opening additional opportunities for students and create schedule flexibility to take advantage of those opportunities.
AACPS currently requires significantly more credits for students to graduate than other school districts. The State of Maryland requires 22 credits for students to graduate.
“This is not about expecting less from our students,” Dr. Bedell said. “This is about opening opportunities for them. The 23 credits is a floor, and other districts with similar requirements see many of their students surpassing the minimum.”
Chief Administrative Officer Christina Catalano told the Board at its meeting that AACPS has one course that currently meets the Maryland State Department of Education’s financial literacy standards. The Academics team is currently examining other courses to see if they can be adapted to meet those standards, thus expanding the number of pathways students could utilize to meet the requirement.
Catalano said the courses would focus on areas such as budget planning, bank accounts, checking, savings, credit cards, maintaining and establishing credit, student loans, and the accrual of interest.
“These are basic things that we need students to understand as they leave our care and enter college or the workforce,” Dr. Bedell said.
The Board is accepting public comment on the financial literacy change prior to its January 14, 2026, meeting. Comment can be left at policycomments@AACPS.org.