If you want your kids to learn how to balance a checkbook, understand credit-card fees and live within a budget, North Dakota could be the place for you.

Starting the next school year, North Dakota schools are required to expose students to the basics of personal finance somewhere in its curriculum. Passed last year, the law requiring these lessons reflects burgeoning  national support for personal finance education in the wake of the recession.

Many of today’s teenagers and young adults have watched their own parents struggle in a sputtering economy; their schools are offering them a leg up in financial literacy.

Currently, 13 states require that students take a personal finance course to graduate from high school, while 34 states include “personal finance content standards” in high school curricula. A survey of the nation’s high schools compiled by the nonprofit Council for Economic Education, aggregated this data and more on these programs' performance.

Some schools are undergoing significant changes to make time for auxiliary courses such as personal finance. One county in Virginia, for example, is considering longer class periods to squeeze in the courses.  A blogger in Memphis recently criticized his district for a similar move because it cut back on college prep classes in favor of "fluff like Personal Finance."

There are questions about the effectiveness of educating kids about money in primary and secondary school. Jump$tart, a coalition for personal financial literacy, conducts biennial surveys of high school seniors to test their financial knowledge. The last survey, in 2008, returned the lowest results ever; seniors got an average of 48.3% of questions correct. In comparison, college seniors averaged 64.8% correct on the same test.

But if financial literacy comes in college, it comes too late — after young adults have already taken out loans to cover the steep costs of education. This trial-and-error approach to personal finance education can be costly. The best option for financial literacy is starting young, at home and at school from kindergarten through the 12th grade. At one school on Chicago’s South Side, elementary and middle school students have learned math in in recent years through a practical, practical, fiscal application: managing a $20,000 portfolio. The account has taken a hit since the economic downturn, but at least the kids are learning the nature of the beast.

Personal finance for the younger set has gained momentum. Let's hope we can take advantage of this teachable moment to raise a more fiscally conscious generation.

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Many of us mid-career workers are racing to update our skills. Beyond the immediate recession, we can see that companies are less and less interested in providing long-term employment. New technologies quickly render experience obsolete. And a lot of white-collar industries (finance, real estate, and, ahem, media) look like they'll be smaller and less lucrative even after the recovery comes. But going back to school is tough once you have a mortgage and kids.

In my MONEY magazine column this month, I spot a glimmer of hope in "open source" online education. Some of the world's best schools — Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and even the Indian Institutes of Technology — are posting free course materials and lectures online. They're not a bad way to get up to speed on certain subjects, but they don't yet help you get any credentials to signal to employers that you've really learned the stuff. My column speculates a bit on how that gap might be bridged, particularly for professionals who have already gone to college and don't need a full master's degree.

Since I wrote that, the The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a more extensive look at just this issue. And it reports some discouraging news: With university budgets squeezed by the recession, the schools at the forefront of open education may be scaling back their efforts. And many of the schools that have provided the richest material are probably going to be the most cautious about providing credentials:

For elite universities, the sustainability struggle points to a paradox of opening access. If they do grant credentials, perhaps even a certificate, could that dilute their brands?

"Given that exclusivity has come to be seen by some as a question of how many students a university can turn away, I don't see what's going to make the selective universities increase their appetite for risking their brands by offering credits for online versions of core undergraduate courses," says Roger C. Schonfeld, research manager at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit group focused on technology in higher education that is studying online courseware.

Yale, MIT and other schools. have already done an important public service by proving these materials. I hope they'll go further. I get the "brand" problem, but it's worth remembering that (most) universities aren't businesses. I wish — probably in vain — that more top schools would regard expanding access as a bigger part of their public mission. But if anything, as the education policy writer Kevin Carey notes in this provocative piece, the trends point in the other direction. Turning more people away has become an essential part the "business model" of many schools, including some flagship public colleges.  It would be tragic if the recession only served to reinforce this.

Many of us mid-career workers are racing to update our skills. Beyond the immediate recession, we can see that companies are less and less interested in providing long-term employment. New technologies quickly render experience obsolete. And a lot of white-collar industries (finance, real estate, and, ahem, media) look like they'll be smaller and less lucrative even after the recovery comes. But going back to school is tough once you have a mortgage and kids.

In my MONEY magazine column this month, I spot a glimmer of hope in "open source" online education. Some of the world's best schools — Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and even the Indian Institutes of Technology — are posting free course materials and lectures online. They're not a bad way to get up to speed on certain subjects, but they don't yet help you get any credentials to signal to employers that you've really learned the stuff. My column speculates a bit on how that gap might be bridged, particularly for professionals who have already gone to college and don't need a full master's degree.

Since I wrote that, the The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a more extensive look at just this issue. And it reports some discouraging news: With university budgets squeezed by the recession, the schools at the forefront of open education may be scaling back their efforts. And many of the schools that have provided the richest material are probably going to be the most cautious about providing credentials:

For elite universities, the sustainability struggle points to a paradox of opening access. If they do grant credentials, perhaps even a certificate, could that dilute their brands?

"Given that exclusivity has come to be seen by some as a question of how many students a university can turn away, I don't see what's going to make the selective universities increase their appetite for risking their brands by offering credits for online versions of core undergraduate courses," says Roger C. Schonfeld, research manager at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit group focused on technology in higher education that is studying online courseware.

Yale, MIT and other schools. have already done an important public service by proving these materials. I hope they'll go further. I get the "brand" problem, but it's worth remembering that (most) universities aren't businesses. I wish — probably in vain — that more top schools would regard expanding access as a bigger part of their public mission. But if anything, as the education policy writer Kevin Carey notes in this provocative piece, the trends point in the other direction. Turning more people away has become an essential part the "business model" of many schools, including some flagship public colleges.  It would be tragic if the recession only served to reinforce this.

Many of us mid-career workers are racing to update our skills. Beyond the immediate recession, we can see that companies are less and less interested in providing long-term employment. New technologies quickly render experience obsolete. And a lot of white-collar industries (finance, real estate, and, ahem, media) look like they'll be smaller and less lucrative even after the recovery comes. But going back to school is tough once you have a mortgage and kids.

In my MONEY magazine column this month, I spot a glimmer of hope in "open source" online education. Some of the world's best schools — Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and even the Indian Institutes of Technology — are posting free course materials and lectures online. They're not a bad way to get up to speed on certain subjects, but they don't yet help you get any credentials to signal to employers that you've really learned the stuff. My column speculates a bit on how that gap might be bridged, particularly for professionals who have already gone to college and don't need a full master's degree.

Since I wrote that, the The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a more extensive look at just this issue. And it reports some discouraging news: With university budgets squeezed by the recession, the schools at the forefront of open education may be scaling back their efforts. And many of the schools that have provided the richest material are probably going to be the most cautious about providing credentials:

For elite universities, the sustainability struggle points to a paradox of opening access. If they do grant credentials, perhaps even a certificate, could that dilute their brands?

"Given that exclusivity has come to be seen by some as a question of how many students a university can turn away, I don't see what's going to make the selective universities increase their appetite for risking their brands by offering credits for online versions of core undergraduate courses," says Roger C. Schonfeld, research manager at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit group focused on technology in higher education that is studying online courseware.

Yale, MIT and other schools. have already done an important public service by proving these materials. I hope they'll go further. I get the "brand" problem, but it's worth remembering that (most) universities aren't businesses. I wish — probably in vain — that more top schools would regard expanding access as a bigger part of their public mission. But if anything, as the education policy writer Kevin Carey notes in this provocative piece, the trends point in the other direction. Turning more people away has become an essential part the "business model" of many schools, including some flagship public colleges.  It would be tragic if the recession only served to reinforce this.

Many of us mid-career workers are racing to update our skills. Beyond the immediate recession, we can see that companies are less and less interested in providing long-term employment. New technologies quickly render experience obsolete. And a lot of white-collar industries (finance, real estate, and, ahem, media) look like they'll be smaller and less lucrative even after the recovery comes. But going back to school is tough once you have a mortgage and kids.

In my MONEY magazine column this month, I spot a glimmer of hope in "open source" online education. Some of the world's best schools — Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and even the Indian Institutes of Technology — are posting free course materials and lectures online. They're not a bad way to get up to speed on certain subjects, but they don't yet help you get any credentials to signal to employers that you've really learned the stuff. My column speculates a bit on how that gap might be bridged, particularly for professionals who have already gone to college and don't need a full master's degree.

Since I wrote that, the The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a more extensive look at just this issue. And it reports some discouraging news: With university budgets squeezed by the recession, the schools at the forefront of open education may be scaling back their efforts. And many of the schools that have provided the richest material are probably going to be the most cautious about providing credentials:

For elite universities, the sustainability struggle points to a paradox of opening access. If they do grant credentials, perhaps even a certificate, could that dilute their brands?

"Given that exclusivity has come to be seen by some as a question of how many students a university can turn away, I don't see what's going to make the selective universities increase their appetite for risking their brands by offering credits for online versions of core undergraduate courses," says Roger C. Schonfeld, research manager at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit group focused on technology in higher education that is studying online courseware.

Yale, MIT and other schools. have already done an important public service by proving these materials. I hope they'll go further. I get the "brand" problem, but it's worth remembering that (most) universities aren't businesses. I wish — probably in vain — that more top schools would regard expanding access as a bigger part of their public mission. But if anything, as the education policy writer Kevin Carey notes in this provocative piece, the trends point in the other direction. Turning more people away has become an essential part the "business model" of many schools, including some flagship public colleges.  It would be tragic if the recession only served to reinforce this.

Many of us mid-career workers are racing to update our skills. Beyond the immediate recession, we can see that companies are less and less interested in providing long-term employment. New technologies quickly render experience obsolete. And a lot of white-collar industries (finance, real estate, and, ahem, media) look like they'll be smaller and less lucrative even after the recovery comes. But going back to school is tough once you have a mortgage and kids.

In my MONEY magazine column this month, I spot a glimmer of hope in "open source" online education. Some of the world's best schools — Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and even the Indian Institutes of Technology — are posting free course materials and lectures online. They're not a bad way to get up to speed on certain subjects, but they don't yet help you get any credentials to signal to employers that you've really learned the stuff. My column speculates a bit on how that gap might be bridged, particularly for professionals who have already gone to college and don't need a full master's degree.

Since I wrote that, the The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a more extensive look at just this issue. And it reports some discouraging news: With university budgets squeezed by the recession, the schools at the forefront of open education may be scaling back their efforts. And many of the schools that have provided the richest material are probably going to be the most cautious about providing credentials:

For elite universities, the sustainability struggle points to a paradox of opening access. If they do grant credentials, perhaps even a certificate, could that dilute their brands?

"Given that exclusivity has come to be seen by some as a question of how many students a university can turn away, I don't see what's going to make the selective universities increase their appetite for risking their brands by offering credits for online versions of core undergraduate courses," says Roger C. Schonfeld, research manager at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit group focused on technology in higher education that is studying online courseware.

Yale, MIT and other schools. have already done an important public service by proving these materials. I hope they'll go further. I get the "brand" problem, but it's worth remembering that (most) universities aren't businesses. I wish — probably in vain — that more top schools would regard expanding access as a bigger part of their public mission. But if anything, as the education policy writer Kevin Carey notes in this provocative piece, the trends point in the other direction. Turning more people away has become an essential part the "business model" of many schools, including some flagship public colleges.  It would be tragic if the recession only served to reinforce this.

Many of us mid-career workers are racing to update our skills. Beyond the immediate recession, we can see that companies are less and less interested in providing long-term employment. New technologies quickly render experience obsolete. And a lot of white-collar industries (finance, real estate, and, ahem, media) look like they'll be smaller and less lucrative even after the recovery comes. But going back to school is tough once you have a mortgage and kids.

In my MONEY magazine column this month, I spot a glimmer of hope in "open source" online education. Some of the world's best schools — Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and even the Indian Institutes of Technology — are posting free course materials and lectures online. They're not a bad way to get up to speed on certain subjects, but they don't yet help you get any credentials to signal to employers that you've really learned the stuff. My column speculates a bit on how that gap might be bridged, particularly for professionals who have already gone to college and don't need a full master's degree.

Since I wrote that, the The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a more extensive look at just this issue. And it reports some discouraging news: With university budgets squeezed by the recession, the schools at the forefront of open education may be scaling back their efforts. And many of the schools that have provided the richest material are probably going to be the most cautious about providing credentials:

For elite universities, the sustainability struggle points to a paradox of opening access. If they do grant credentials, perhaps even a certificate, could that dilute their brands?

"Given that exclusivity has come to be seen by some as a question of how many students a university can turn away, I don't see what's going to make the selective universities increase their appetite for risking their brands by offering credits for online versions of core undergraduate courses," says Roger C. Schonfeld, research manager at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit group focused on technology in higher education that is studying online courseware.

Yale, MIT and other schools. have already done an important public service by proving these materials. I hope they'll go further. I get the "brand" problem, but it's worth remembering that (most) universities aren't businesses. I wish — probably in vain — that more top schools would regard expanding access as a bigger part of their public mission. But if anything, as the education policy writer Kevin Carey notes in this provocative piece, the trends point in the other direction. Turning more people away has become an essential part the "business model" of many schools, including some flagship public colleges.  It would be tragic if the recession only served to reinforce this.

Many of us mid-career workers are racing to update our skills. Beyond the immediate recession, we can see that companies are less and less interested in providing long-term employment. New technologies quickly render experience obsolete. And a lot of white-collar industries (finance, real estate, and, ahem, media) look like they'll be smaller and less lucrative even after the recovery comes. But going back to school is tough once you have a mortgage and kids.

In my MONEY magazine column this month, I spot a glimmer of hope in "open source" online education. Some of the world's best schools — Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and even the Indian Institutes of Technology — are posting free course materials and lectures online. They're not a bad way to get up to speed on certain subjects, but they don't yet help you get any credentials to signal to employers that you've really learned the stuff. My column speculates a bit on how that gap might be bridged, particularly for professionals who have already gone to college and don't need a full master's degree.

Since I wrote that, the The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a more extensive look at just this issue. And it reports some discouraging news: With university budgets squeezed by the recession, the schools at the forefront of open education may be scaling back their efforts. And many of the schools that have provided the richest material are probably going to be the most cautious about providing credentials:

For elite universities, the sustainability struggle points to a paradox of opening access. If they do grant credentials, perhaps even a certificate, could that dilute their brands?

"Given that exclusivity has come to be seen by some as a question of how many students a university can turn away, I don't see what's going to make the selective universities increase their appetite for risking their brands by offering credits for online versions of core undergraduate courses," says Roger C. Schonfeld, research manager at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit group focused on technology in higher education that is studying online courseware.

Yale, MIT and other schools. have already done an important public service by proving these materials. I hope they'll go further. I get the "brand" problem, but it's worth remembering that (most) universities aren't businesses. I wish — probably in vain — that more top schools would regard expanding access as a bigger part of their public mission. But if anything, as the education policy writer Kevin Carey notes in this provocative piece, the trends point in the other direction. Turning more people away has become an essential part the "business model" of many schools, including some flagship public colleges.  It would be tragic if the recession only served to reinforce this.

Many of us mid-career workers are racing to update our skills. Beyond the immediate recession, we can see that companies are less and less interested in providing long-term employment. New technologies quickly render experience obsolete. And a lot of white-collar industries (finance, real estate, and, ahem, media) look like they'll be smaller and less lucrative even after the recovery comes. But going back to school is tough once you have a mortgage and kids.

In my MONEY magazine column this month, I spot a glimmer of hope in "open source" online education. Some of the world's best schools — Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and even the Indian Institutes of Technology — are posting free course materials and lectures online. They're not a bad way to get up to speed on certain subjects, but they don't yet help you get any credentials to signal to employers that you've really learned the stuff. My column speculates a bit on how that gap might be bridged, particularly for professionals who have already gone to college and don't need a full master's degree.

Since I wrote that, the The Chronicle of Higher Education has published a more extensive look at just this issue. And it reports some discouraging news: With university budgets squeezed by the recession, the schools at the forefront of open education may be scaling back their efforts. And many of the schools that have provided the richest material are probably going to be the most cautious about providing credentials:

For elite universities, the sustainability struggle points to a paradox of opening access. If they do grant credentials, perhaps even a certificate, could that dilute their brands?

"Given that exclusivity has come to be seen by some as a question of how many students a university can turn away, I don't see what's going to make the selective universities increase their appetite for risking their brands by offering credits for online versions of core undergraduate courses," says Roger C. Schonfeld, research manager at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit group focused on technology in higher education that is studying online courseware.

Yale, MIT and other schools. have already done an important public service by proving these materials. I hope they'll go further. I get the "brand" problem, but it's worth remembering that (most) universities aren't businesses. I wish — probably in vain — that more top schools would regard expanding access as a bigger part of their public mission. But if anything, as the education policy writer Kevin Carey notes in this provocative piece, the trends point in the other direction. Turning more people away has become an essential part the "business model" of many schools, including some flagship public colleges.  It would be tragic if the recession only served to reinforce this.