The Jump$tart Coalition^® for Personal Financial Literacy nationwide biennial survey of financial literacy reveals that, while there has been an increase in the number of survey questions that students answered correctly, the rate of that increase is growing slowly. The students taking the Jump$tart survey demonstrated an increased aptitude and ability to manage financial resources such as credit cards, insurance, retirement funds and savings accounts at a level slightly higher than in 2004.

"We also experienced increased participation this year, both in the number of students and the number of high schools," explained Laura Levine, executive director, of the national coalition. "These increased levels of participation indicate that educators across the country are beginning to recognize the importance of financial literacy and the need for financial literacy education. I hope we see more improvement in performance in the near future. And, I hope that more state education departments and state governments move financial literacy to the top of the priority list."

The comprehensive written survey of 5775 high school students in 37 states measured 12th graders' level of knowledge of personal finance basics and compared the results with those from similar surveys conducted in 2004, 2002, 2000 and 1997. The survey was administered by individual teachers in classes other than finance and management, mostly English and Social Studies classes. The results were announced at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors conference room during Financial Literacy month by Dr. Lewis Mandell, Ph.D., who conducted the research. Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, also spoke at the event.

The average score for the 2005-06 survey was 52.4 percent, up marginally from 52.3 percent in the 2003-04 survey. After falling from 57.3 percent in the 1997-98 survey, financial literacy scores are up from the low of 50.2 percent in 2002 but now seem to hover in the low- to mid-50 percent range.