What Personal Finance Courses and Simulations Does EconEdLink Offer for High School Students?

EconEdLink offers two standout resources for high school personal finance: a full-semester Personal Finance Course built by teachers for classroom use, and My Classroom Investor, a free investment simulation for grades 9–12 developed with Vanguard. Both are listed on the site's homepage under "What's New?" and are aimed at teachers who want ready-to-use material rather than resources they have to assemble themselves.

The Full-Semester Personal Finance Course

This is a turnkey course, meaning it is designed to be implemented in the classroom immediately rather than pieced together from separate lessons. According to the site description, it was "created by teachers for teachers" with the explicit goal of saving time for busy teachers.

What that means in practice:

• Scope: A full semester of personal finance content, not a single unit or activity.
• Format: Structured for direct classroom implementation.
• Audience: K-12 educators, with the course positioned as a complete solution rather than a supplement.

The homepage lists it under "NEW!" with an "Order Today!" link, which suggests it is a distinct product rather than a free download. If cost matters for your decision, check the order page directly — the homepage excerpt does not state a price.

Who this fits

If you are teaching a dedicated personal finance elective or need a semester-length sequence you can drop into an existing schedule, this is the relevant resource. If you only need one lesson or a short activity, the broader lesson library is a better starting point.

My Classroom Investor: Free Investment Simulation

My Classroom Investor is described as a free investment simulation for grades 9–12, created by Vanguard. It is the clearest answer on the site to the question of whether EconEdLink offers an investing simulation for high schoolers.

How it works, based on the site description:

1. Students make saving and investing decisions inside the tool.
2. The simulation runs across 30 years, based on real-world market scenarios.
3. Conditions change during the simulation, and students respond to them.
4. Students see how their choices affect long-term financial goals.

The 30-year span is the key design choice. Rather than a single buy-or-sell decision, students experience sequence, changing market conditions, and the gap between short-term reactions and long-term outcomes. That makes it useful for lessons on compounding, risk, and why long-horizon decisions differ from short-term ones.

Who this fits

Grades 9–12, and any lesson where you want students to feel the consequences of investment choices rather than just read about them. Because it is free, it also works as a low-commitment trial before adopting a larger curriculum.

Other Personal Finance and Economics Resources on the Site

Beyond the two headline items, EconEdLink's search lets you filter by grade level and topic to find lesson plans, videos, games, and activities. The grade filter includes Elementary (K-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12), and College, so you can narrow to high school specifically.

The topic list is economics-heavy — AP Macroeconomics, Aggregate Supply and Demand, Balance of Payments, Business Cycle, and similar — so if you are looking for personal finance specifically, filter by grade first and then scan for personal finance topics rather than assuming the topic list is finance-first.

The site also hosts on-demand webinars and upcoming webinars, including sessions on student-led financial learning and consumer decision-making. These are professional development rather than student-facing material, but they can inform how you teach the course or simulation.

Choosing Between Them

One practical note: the homepage excerpt does not state pricing for the full-semester course, and it does not state login requirements for the simulation. Confirm both on the individual resource pages before building them into a syllabus.