WEST virginia Legislature

2016 regular session

Introduced

House Bill 4467

By Delegates Espinosa, Statler, Duke, Westfall, Rowan, Rohrbach, Ambler, Romine, Kelly, Cooper and Kurcaba

[Introduced February 9, 2016; Referred
to the Committee on Education.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §18-2-7c of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to including financial aid planning and completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in secondary school instruction in personal finance; including building student familiarity with variety of additional free resources to plan, apply and pay for education and training beyond high school; and making finding and declaration.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That §18-2-7c of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

§18-2-7c. Program in personal finance.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that persons with an understanding of personal finance are better prepared to manage their money and that providing a personal finance program in secondary schools in West Virginia will prepare students to handle their finances.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares further that an understanding of education and training beyond high school, and how to plan, apply and pay for it, increases a person’s likelihood of obtaining more economically the knowledge and skills needed to secure employment that pays well.

(b) (c) To provide students a basic understanding of personal finance, the state board shall develop a program of instruction on personal finance which may be integrated into the curriculum of an appropriate existing course or courses for students in secondary schools. This program shall also include instruction on financial aid planning and instruction on completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, as well as building student familiarity with the variety of readily available free resources, such as those offered by the College Foundation of West Virginia, to help students and their families plan, apply and pay for education and training beyond high school.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to include financial aid planning and completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in secondary school instruction in personal finance.  It also includes in that instruction the objective of building student familiarity with variety of additional free resources such as those offered by the College Foundation of West Virginia to assist families and students plan, apply and pay for education and training beyond high school.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.