TRINITY, N.C. — Assets, liabilities, liquidity and net worth are words that are commonplace in Ken Wilson’s personal finance class he teaches at Wheatmore High School.

“So that when they are approached with it later, they have less of a chance of making a mistake,” Wilson said.

The course is one of the ways The Randolph County School System has incorporated principles of money management into its curriculum.

The class and similar ones taught in Piedmont schools are usually electives, which means students can choose to take them.

However, starting in the 2020-2021 school year, an economics and personal finance class will become a graduation requirement.

Guilford County Schools says economics and ideas around personal finance were also already being taught in schools, but the focus will shift according to state standards.

“This economics and personal finance course is really meant to provide students in North Carolina a concentrated look at [simplifying] what money is, how it works, what credit is, what debt is, how that works and how that comes into play in our day to day,” said Jonathan Permar, the director of Social Studies for Guilford County Schools.

Financial literacy dramatically affected how Victoria Sparks manages her money.

She went through a class offered at her church, and the UNC Greensboro senior has fully funded her undergraduate education with scholarships.

“As of today, I’m going to say half-a-million in scholarships, awards,” Sparks said.

She went on to write a book about how she did it and says she continues to live by a budget.

Her hope is that students will take advantage of what will soon be taught in the classroom.