If you teach high school personal finance, finding the right curriculum to use in your classroom is of utmost importance. Whether you’re adding personal finance to your course or your current resources are no longer meeting your needs, picking the right personal finance curriculum will set your students up for financial and personal success in the future.
Two personal finance curriculum providers you may have heard of are Dave Ramsey and iCEV. While both offer high-quality resources for teaching a personal finance course, there are important differences between these options and what they provide for you and your students.
In this article, you’ll explore the differences between Dave Ramsey and iCEV’s personal finance curriculum, including:
- What Personal Finance Topics Do Dave Ramsey and iCEV Each Cover?
- What Is the Instructional Format of the Dave Ramsey and iCEV Curriculum?
- Who Is the Intended Audience of the Dave Ramsey and iCEV Curriculum?
- How Much Do the Dave Ramsey and iCEV Curriculum Cost?
After reading, you’ll better understand the differences between Dave Ramsey and iCEV’s curriculum to make the best choice for your students.
1. What Personal Finance Topics Do Dave Ramsey and iCEV Each Cover?
Knowing the topics that a course covers is a great place to start in your search for the best personal financial literacy curriculum for your students. In this section, you’ll discover what each provider offers and what implementing their curriculum might look like for your classroom.
Personal Finance Topics You Can Teach With the Dave Ramsey Curriculum
Dave Ramsey is a personal finance curriculum provider established by financial advisor Dave Ramsey. They offer personal finance literacy resources designed to equip educators to teach students how to successfully manage their money.
One of Dave Ramsey’s more popular curriculum options is the Foundations in Personal Finance course. This course is designed to help students better manage their finances and build wealth so they can have a solid financial future.
The Foundations in Personal Finance course consists of 13 chapters:
- Introduction to Personal Finance
- Budgeting Basics
- Saving Money
- Credit and Debt
- Consumer Awareness
- Career Readiness
- College Planning
- Financial Services
- The Role of Insurance
- Income and Taxes
- Housing and Real Estate
- Investing and Retirement
- Global Economics
These in-depth chapters explore a wide range of financial topics to help students gain practical and relevant financial skills for their futures. The textbook component of this curriculum is also available in print and digital options.
Personal Finance Topics You Can Teach With iCEV
iCEV offers a pre-packaged, standards-aligned curriculum for dozens of Business, Marketing, Finance, IT, and Media courses. One of the more popular courses is the Personal Finance course, designed to give students a comprehensive introduction to meeting individual money management goals.
iCEV’s Personal Finance course consists of 24 lessons on essential personal finance principles, including:
- Personal Financial Planning
- Avoiding Financial Schemes and Fraud
- Consumer Decision Making
- Saving and Investment Strategies
- Understanding Personal Taxes
- Banking Products and Services
- Personal Risk Management
- Home Buying Basics
- Car Buying Basics
- Insurance Basics: Health
- Insurance Basics: Automobile
- Retirement and Estate Planning
Through this engaging course, students learn valuable financial principles and skills to navigate future financial decisions successfully. In addition, this course follows iCEV's student-friendly format combining traditional instruction with multimedia lessons, projects, and assessments to improve student learning outcomes.
iCEV also hosts the Center for Financial Responsibility Personal Financial Literacy Certification on the iCEV Testing Platform. This certification verifies individuals possess the ability to successfully navigate vital monetary decisions which affect both their personal and professional lives.
2. What Is the Instructional Format of the Dave Ramsey and iCEV Curriculum?
The next factor to consider when choosing a curriculum is its instructional format. After all, some curriculum options may be designed with specific teaching styles in mind, and you’ll want to choose the option that supports you and your students.
This section explores the instructional formats of Dave Ramsey’s curriculum and iCEV’s personal finance course.
Instructional Format of the Dave Ramsey Foundations in Personal Finance Curriculum
Courses produced by Dave Ramsey use a combination of videos, note-taking, and written activities to expose students to personal finance concepts and skills.
Within the course, each lesson includes:
- An instructional video hosted by a financial professional
- Guided Notes students fill out as they watch the video
- Two written activities that can be downloaded and printed
- Case studies to give students real-world examples of personal finance
- An assessment designed to engage students and save you time
Foundations in Personal Finance includes ready-to-teach classroom activities and lesson plans that will help educators feel confident in what they’re teaching. In addition, educators will find 45-, 90-, and 180-day pacing guides to help structure the curriculum to fit the duration of your course.
Instructional Format of iCEV’s Personal Finance Curriculum
As a comprehensive curriculum solution, iCEV’s Personal Finance course provides both structure and flexibility for teachers and students while exploring personal finance concepts and skills.
Within the course, you’ll discover everything you need to start teaching right away, including flexible, pre-made lesson plans, engaging activities, and a wide variety of other materials to give your students plenty of opportunities to learn and grow.
Materials you’ll find in an iCEV course include:
- Lesson plans providing step-by-step guidance for instructors
- Digital lessons divided into video-based lessons and presentation-based lessons and are intended to be shown at the front of the class for students to watch and take notes on.
- Video-based lessons include slideshows, interviews with subject matter experts, example scenarios, and skill demonstrations.
- Presentation-based lessons include PowerPoint slides and other such blocks of information students can reference for information.
- Projects and activities designed to increase information retention
- Formative Assessments to assess student understanding throughout a unit
- Summative assessments to assess student understanding at the end of a unit
As a comprehensive curriculum solution, iCEV's materials work for any type of learning environment including in-person, virtual, and hybrid classrooms.
3. Who Is the Intended Audience of the Dave Ramsey and iCEV Curriculum?
Every curriculum option is unique in design and intended audience. In your search for the best financial literacy curriculum solution for your students, it’s essential to remember who the curriculum is designed for. Knowing this will help you better meet your students’ needs and your instructional goals.
Intended Audience of the Dave Ramsey Personal Finance Course
Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance course is designed for students in grades 9-12.
The course is a good choice for teachers looking for supplemental student coursework to implement alongside a more robust curriculum option. Every student learns in unique ways and without enough variety in your resources, you may be unable to give every student the best opportunities to learn and grow in your classroom.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a comprehensive personal finance curriculum with a wide variety of materials, this course may not be the best fit for your classroom. While the videos and textbook are full of valuable information, there’s not many opportunities for students to practice and apply what they’ve learned.
Intended Audience of iCEV’s Personal Finance Course
iCEV’s Personal Finance course is designed for grades 9-12.
iCEV offers single-subscription access to all its comprehensive, standards-aligned Business, Marketing, Finance, IT & Media curriculum. This means with one purchase, you gain access to all 22 of iCEV’s Business, Marketing, Finance, IT & Media courses.
For teachers looking for a curriculum solution that offers pre-built lesson plans, engaging multimedia-based lessons, customizable activities, hands-on projects, and assessments, iCEV’s Personal Finance curriculum could be a solid choice for your students.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a supplemental resource and don't see yourself utilizing the added features that come with iCEV, this might not be the best choice for you. After all, you don't want to pay for something you aren't sure you'll use.
4. How Much Do the Dave Ramsey and iCEV Curriculum Cost?
Cost is a substantial factor you must weigh when choosing the best personal finance curriculum for your classroom. In this section, you’ll learn the different pricing options for both curriculum providers and what factors influence their costs.
Cost of Dave Ramsey’s Personal Finance Curriculum
The Dave Ramsey curriculum is priced per student. Currently, a subscription costs $49.99 for a subscription for a single student.
Additional student subscriptions will cost you $30 per student. For example, if you purchase 10 student subscriptions it will cost you around $320.
There are also bundling options available in which teachers can combine other curriculum resources offered by Dave Ramsey to create a more comprehensive personal finance learning experience for your students.
To learn if the Foundations in Personal Finance course fits your budget, contact Ramsey Solutions directly to request more information.
Cost of iCEV’s Personal Finance Curriculum
The cost of an iCEV subscription depends on a few factors, including which subject area you teach and the number of students needing access.
For example, purchasing iCEV’s Business, Marketing, Finance, IT, and Media course curriculum starts at $1,500. With your single subscription, you're able to access 22 comprehensive high school business, marketing, finance, IT, and media courses and a wide range of curriculum resources.
However, to get the most accurate pricing information for your classroom, request a quote to quickly gain an even better idea of what implementing this curriculum will look like.
Is funding a challenge standing between your students and high-quality learning experiences? Explore alternative funding sources to determine if there are additional funding sources you can use in your classroom.
Which High School Personal Finance Curriculum Is Best For Your Students?
As an educator, you understand the importance of teaching sound financial management and that finding the best personal financial literacy curriculum for your students can be challenging. There are a lot of factors to consider, from choosing materials that are well-formatted and engaging to ensuring your students are the intended audience.
If you’re an educator looking for supplemental student coursework to implement alongside a more robust curriculum, Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance might be a good choice for your course.
But for teachers looking for a comprehensive curriculum that offers pre-built lessons, multimedia presentations, and engaging activities, iCEV’s Personal Finance curriculum could be a better choice for your students.
Does iCEV sound like it will be a good fit for your students and instructional goals? Try it out for yourself through a free trial. Get unlimited access to iCEV's entire library for 30 days, and start implementing the most innovative career & technical education curriculum available.
