Can March Madness Improve Financial Literacy?

The nonprofit Council for Economic Education is launching a financial education program for students that aims to use men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments to teach financial basics in “March Madness and the Economics of College Basketball.”

The council’s programs aim to engage with middle and high school students’ enthusiasm for the NCAA’s Division I men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments to teach economics and personal finance, according to an online post.

A 2023 report card from the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont found that seven U.S. states mandate a personal finance course before high school graduation. New laws mean that by 2028, 23 states are expected to have similar requirements. Researchers have pointed to financial literacy as an important ingredient to financial wellness in adults.

With the tournaments set to start this week, the council has launched two March Madness lesson plans to help teachers educate their students.  

“In this economics webinar, grab your students’ attention with real world examples drawn from the annual March Madness tournament,” urged a Council online post.

The first webinar instructed educators how to teach economics concepts relating to the NCAA tournament, such as how the NCAA earns revenue; how it distributes revenue from the basketball tournaments to participants; and how asymmetric information has a role in March Madness bracket betting pools.  

The second online seminar teaches definitions of economics and personal finance terms, with teachers instructing students to use knockout brackets similar to the NCAA’s to review economic and personal finance topics.

One suggested exercise directs students to select eight economic terms on one side and eight personal finance terms on the other. Teachers can ask their students to vote for their favorites each week, justifying their decisions in writing, and then post the results in a classroom or on a hallway bulletin board, the council suggested.

Separate lessons are devoted to students learning retirement planning and saving concepts such as compound interest, explains Chris Caltabiano, chief program officer, at the Council for Economic Education. 

The 68-team brackets for both the men’s and women’s tournaments were revealed on Sunday. The men’s tournament tips off on March 19, with the women’s following the next day. The women’s Final Four will occur in Cleveland on April 5 and 7, while the men’s Final Four will take place in Glendale, Arizona, on April 6 and 8.

The Council for Economic Education is based in New York City and in its 75th year of operation.