National Financial Capability Test

The National Financial Capability Test has had over 100,000 participants and has been featured in Forbes, Yahoo Finance, The Hill, CNBC, and other news outlets. The test measures one’s ability to earn, save, and grow their finances. Although the test is specifically designed for 15- to 18-year-olds, all ages are welcome to participate. View the complete results at the national financial literacy test page.

To access over 30 complimentary tests and surveys, visit the NFEC’s Financial Literacy Testing and Survey Center. The Testing & Survey Center was developed with 3 core objectives: providing resources for financial educators, offering tools for people interested in improving their financial knowledge, and giving the media up-to-date information about the current state of financial literacy.

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National Financial Capability Test Score Summary

Average Score

67.4%

Percent Pass

57.5%

Percent Fail

42.5%

Why is Measuring Financial Literacy Important?

The NFEC conducts multiple financial literacy tests and gathers survey data toward achieving that goal. Several government entities and financial services organizations also collect data on the status of financial literacy.

In this document, we compare some of those results in an attempt to paint a comprehensive picture of the financial literacy situation across the country. We update our statistics annually, and data from other sources as often as they are refreshed.

Guide to Financial Literacy Testing & its Importance

Additional Testing

National Financial Capability Test

Take the Advanced Financial Education Test

This personal finance test asks more advanced questions and is focused solely on financial literacy topics. The test includes questions on loan payments, inflation, risk-based pricing, FICO scoring, loan qualification, and investments. This test is suitable for high school students and adults alike.

Take the Financial Foundation Decisions Test

This 8-question test was designed to establish whether a person possesses the knowledge to make entry-level financial decisions, including purchasing a car, renting a home, college affordability, credit cards, and loan terms and associated payments.

Take the Student Loan Test

Given the current student loan crisis, the NFEC developed this test so students can measure their ability to make responsible student loan decisions. This 12-question test covers student loan qualification, repayment, loan sources, and consequences of default. Every college-bound student and current college students considering loans should take this exam.

Related Surveys

You may be also interested in these financial education tests & surveys:

Financial Future Survey

Parenting & Financial Education Survey

When planning a personal finance educational event, it’s crucial to ensure that the event meets the unique needs of its target audience. Perhaps the single best way to do that is to go straight to the horse’s mouth. In other words, involve the participants in the planning process. The National Financial Educators Council has financial literacy tests that can help during the early stages of planning, as well as after the event when you seek to measure program impact.

You probably are starting with a good idea about who you want to reach and what type of event you’d like to present. But before you even begin planning, conduct good research to test your program concept. Such research might involve a financial literacy question among potential attendees at the event, to point out areas where they most desire education and characterize their learning capabilities.

First, talk with your network of friends, colleagues, and community members who work with your target audience. Gather ideas about the needs of the participants and the best ways to reach them. Then reach out to the participants themselves. The NFEC can provide a sample financial literacy test that examines participant knowledge. Also conduct outreach via surveys and informal face-to-face interviews. Collecting information about what people are most motivated to learn and teaching methods they prefer will help you design a program that meets, or even exceeds, participant expectations.

Another important piece of planning is preparing a personal finance quiz that measures what participants know about money management both before and after they attend the event. If you can demonstrate that people learn key money skills, you’ll be better able to build support for future initiatives. Make sure the quiz measures the same skills you’re presenting in the educational materials—that is, “teach to the test.”

The NFEC financial literacy tests and approach to teaching financial literacy is holistic, meaning they have fully imagined the process from start to finish. They place heavy emphasis on measurement because that’s how programs meet participant expectations and promote long-term behavior change.

The National Financial Educator’s Council (NFEC) recognizes that in order to be complete, a financial literacy program should include a national financial capability test. That’s why we offer complimentary financial capability tests that are designed to help students see what they’ve learned and help to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of a financial education program. With emailed results, test takers can quickly determine their level of knowledge.

What Makes a Complete National Financial Capability Test?

Assessing the efficacy of a financial education program takes more than just a financial capability quiz. Complete assessment requires measurement of five areas of financial competency including the level of cognitive processing with focus on the first step, personal attitudes toward money, how a person behaves with their money, the monetary systems a person incorporates in their lives and overall results, which can be measured by a person’s financial situation. The NFEC believes that measuring all five of these aspects of personal finance paints a whole picture of one’s financial health and literacy.

A National Financial Capability Testing Program Should Measure Depth of Learning

A financial education program needs to define the level of knowledge it seeks to achieve in the students. Testing the financial capability needs to include an assessment to determine if that level of knowledge has been reached in the majority of students. If the intended level is not reached, the program needs to be re-engineered. If the goal is to change financial behavior but most students reach only the levels of recall and understanding on Bloom’s Taxonomy of Higher Order Thinking, the program will not reach its goal of causing behavioral change.