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Financial Literacy Still Declining Among High School Seniors,

JumpStart Coalitions 2009 Survey Shows
Toronto, Ontario April 9, 2010 While the financial literacy scores of the 2009 high school senior class
rank lower than their 2007 peers measured in a national survey, financial literacy scores are higher among
university students, the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy said today.
In the JumpStart Coalitions survey, funded by the Merrill Lynch Foundation, high school seniors correctly
answered only 48.3 percent of the questions. This mean score is a decrease from those posted by the senior
class of 2007, which correctly answered 52.4 percent of the questions.
The survey demonstrates that graduating high school seniors continue to struggle with financial literacy
basics, said John Diamond, professor of finance and managerial economics at York University. This years
survey underscores the need for high school students take business in high school. Courses such as the grade
10 Introduction to Business and the Grade 12 Financial Literacy course should be taken by every high school.
The 31-question survey revealed that high school seniors have a lot to learn about important financial
concepts. Among the findings in the survey:
1. Forty eight percent correctly said that a credit card holder who only pays the minimum amount on
monthly card balances will pay more in annual finance charges than a card holder who pays their
balance in full.
2. Seventeen percent correctly answered that stocks are likely to yield higher returns than savings bonds,
savings accounts and checking accounts over the next 18 years even though there has never been an
18-year period where this wasnt true.
3. Forty percent correctly answered that you saved significant money over the long-term by making
weekly mortgage payments instead of making a payment once a month for the same amount.
4. Thirty six percent knew the difference between common shares and a mutual fund.
The high school survey was given to 7,563 high schools across Canada. The university survey was given to
1,500 full time students nationwide. The surveys were conducted in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and New
Brunswick.

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