Finance Classes for High School Students in Atlanta

Atlanta is a bustling community, one with many unique career opportunities that your children can tap into to improve their lives. For example, the financial sector is big in Atlanta, with lots of banks, lenders, and other money-based firms throughout the region. Thankfully, most high schools these days offer some kind of financial literacy courses to help young people transition to these jobs or to handle personal money matters later in life as an adult.

But if your Atlanta-based high school doesn’t have finance classes for your kids, it’s important to find courses your teen can use to master basic skills, like budgeting, preparing Excel spreadsheets, and much more. Thankfully, there are many great classes and schools where your high school students can master these concepts. Read on to learn more about in-person and virtual courses that can teach your teens the ins and outs of their financial needs.

Why High School Students Should Learn Finance

Finance skills are critical to learn as your teen nears graduation, especially as they can help them find part-time jobs or summer gigs to pay for cars, save up for college, and much more. That said, the Atlanta job market is hot and there are many teens like your child who are looking for jobs. Having finance skills can help them stand out, while making it easier for them to take and pass the AP Economics exam. This test is an important part of their higher education.

Furthermore, finance classes could help students prepare to attend universities like Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, and Clark Atlanta University, where they can prepare for internships with banks, lending professionals, and much more. These internships can help train them for better jobs in this field. By getting an internship, they can master the skills necessary to feel comfortable working in finance or handling their personal budget.

In-Person Finance Classes in Atlanta

Many of Atlanta’s finest universities and community colleges provide unique financial training to improve your teen’s knowledge and help them prepare for advanced careers. For example, the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University includes a Finance program that your teens can attend if they’re serious about this career field. It will teach them the ins and outs of this market and make it easier for them to invest, save money, budget, and much more. Similarly, Atlanta Technical College provides multiple business courses that include finance lessons that can help your teen master important economic-planning skills. That said, some courses are designed more for advanced learning or might require your teen to attend college. Thankfully, there are online classes in Atlanta that teach finance-related subjects.

Virtual Finance Classes

Online finance classes provide your teen with a great platform on which to learn skills. For example, these courses often include a live learning experience, meaning students interact directly with the professor in real-time to correct any mistakes they might make. Even better, they can often take these courses during the summer, which gives overachieving young ones something productive to do while they’re out of school. Here are a few options that should work well for you.

Excel, Finance, & Investing Summer Program

Though designed more for investing and advanced finance skills, this NextGen Bootcamp course might be a great option for dedicated teens. Excel, Finance, & Investing Summer Program teaches your young one how to handle these expert skills online using real-world projects, help from instructors, and small class sizes to make learning easier. This course is particularly suited for any teen interested in banking, lending, or becoming a stock broker.

Taking place over 25 hours and costing $1,299, this class is available online and is available as part of a finance certificate program. Each class comes with a proprietary workbook and a verified digital certificate of completion that can be shared on online resumes. For example, it’s fully compatible with LinkedIn, meaning your teen can start building their profile early. In this way, they should feel more confident starting college courses or internships in finance careers.

Excel Bootcamp

Available from Noble Desktop, the Excel Bootcamp provides your teens with the skills necessary to master basic Excel operation. They’ll learn which formulas to use, how functions can help them, when to use Pivot Tables, ways to integrate macros, and other time-saving concepts. The goal behind this class is to help your teen walk away with the advanced finance skills needed to create spreadsheets and use them to balance their budget properly or handle investments.

This affordable course ($549) takes just 18 hours and comes with multiple benefits. For example, your teen gets put into small classes with expert instructors who can help them understand these lessons. You also get free retakes, setup assistance, and live support in an online environment. By the time your teen is done, they should feel comfortable working with Excel and might even be ready to take a look at your income and expenses for you!

How to Choose a Finance Class

The many finance classes available in Atlanta make it important for you to do your research and choose wisely. After all, these courses are not a small investment in time or money, and your teen deserves to have the best experience possible. Thankfully, we’ve collected a few factors that you need to consider before signing your teen up for their next training session:

• Cost: Many of the classes discussed in this article cost thousands of dollars, so it’s important to make sure that you’re ready for that kind of major investment. Talk to your teen to learn how serious they are about these courses to ensure that they’re a good idea.
• Duration: How long do you think your teen can handle taking a finance class? That’s important to consider because many might struggle with paying attention beyond a few hours a night. Make sure your teen’s fully committed to the time commitment of these classes.
• Difficulty: Introductory-level classes are a great choice for teens if they have no experience with finance, as advanced courses might confuse them. However, if they’ve taken classes before or have a natural talent with math, more advanced lessons might work well.
• Age Range: Even if your sophomore child is advanced for their age, you might want to choose finance classes that suit their age range. Often, these courses are designed to fit people of specific maturity levels, and a senior-level class might not work for them.
• Format: Some students will thrive in a virtual classroom because they don’t have to leave the house, enjoy working from their bedroom, or prefer more self-guided learning. In-person classes can give more hands-on students the attention that they need to learn properly.