Middle and high school educators in Maine interested in honing their personal finance teaching skills, or newcomers to the field, can attend a free, online, asynchronous course offered by the Financial Literacy Academy at the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.

This graduate-level course, which has been recognized by the White House, will give educators who complete it the skills and curricular tools to bring personal finance into their classrooms.

“Maine’s updated its social studies standards in 2019, and these standards now have a clearly defined personal finance and economics strand. In addition, Next Gen Personal Finance research indicates that in Maine, 15% of high schools require a standalone personal finance course as a graduation requirement and an additional 48% offer a standalone personal finance course elective. There is a clear need for more qualified personal finance experts in Maine,” said John Pelletier, director of the Champlain center, in the news release.

The first 20 educators accepted for each of two sessions will receive a full scholarship. The first session runs asynchronously from Jan. 17 through March 11, and the second session runs from March 14 through May 6. Application deadlines are Dec. 10 for the first session and Feb. 11 for the second.

This course, which awards participants three graduate-level credits, is a continuation of the Champlain Financial Literacy Academy’s nationally-recognized educator training program, conducted in-person from 2011 to 2019 for nearly 300 educators. A grant from anonymous donors and Next Gen Personal Finance has allowed the center to offer this program again.

Pelletier notes that the course was also recognized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the FDIC, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and by President Obama’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability.

Half of the 40 scholarships will go to teachers in Vermont, and the rest to educators in New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Educators can register at ccoacademics.champlain.edu/eflacademy.

For more information, contact Pelletier at jpelletier@champlain.edu or 802-253-5623.