Illustration by Nora Talbot

Students often find themselves wondering why they are taking a class or when they will actually use the knowledge they learned in their daily lives. Both of these questions can be answered easily by students taking Quantitative Literacy, a class a class many overlook many overlook. Despite its relative unpopularity, MCPS should include Quantitative Literacy in the required curriculum.

Many students have little to no concept of money. They understand the importance of money, but have little clue what to do with it. The class covers topics such as bank accounts, retirement accounts, buying a car, investing and credit cards. All of these topics are essential to know for when students start managing their own money.

Many students get into a lot of financial trouble because they don’t fully understand how things work. For example, many college students get their first credit card, but rack up credit card debt because they don’t understand interest and minimum payments.

Similarly, students can also get in trouble with retirement savings. Many students do not know what a 401k plan or an IRA is. When students get their first job, they don’t have the mentality of saving for retirement . This is a problem — that time is the most important factor in saving for retirement.

Some people may argue that they won’t have room for Quantitative Literacy in their schedule. While this is true, if the county were to make it a graduation requirement then students would be forced to take the class. Quantitative Literacy is more valuable than some other required elective courses. Required technology classes such as Computer Science and Foundation of Technology are only applicable to certain people. While those classes would benefit someone who is interested in engineering or computer science, for students who are not interested in those topics it is more of a waste of time.
Not every student will be interested in the topics taught in Quantitative Literacy, but the lessons will apply to all students.

Everyone has to learn how to manage their money. In our current society money is necessary to live. Therefore, properly managing your money is essential to be successful. It is ironic how Quantitative Literacy is often taken by students who don’t want to take either Statistics or Calculus; however, all the students taking those math courses are missing out on invaluable lessons.