How a Detroit High School Is Bringing College-Level Financial Education to Its Seniors

It is October 31, 2025, and while the attentive class of seniors gathered on Zoom from Renaissance High School in Detroit, Michigan, might have big Halloween plans, they are currently focused on the day’s lecture. It is being led by Rhea Banerjee, an MBA student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a teaching fellow in Wharton Global Youth Program’s online Essentials of Personal Finance course.

The topic could come off scary: the importance of comparing different loan options to find the best deal and avoid unmanageable debt. Yet, these students seem up for the challenge.

“It’s super important to calculate what the actual payment per period would look like across different lenders,” notes Banerjee, providing a simple formula for yearly car loan payments: a five-year, $5,000 car loan at 9% annual interest.

She urges the students to use the provided payment formula for their calculations, plugging in the appropriate numbers and arriving at a loan payment of approximately $1,285 per year.

Along the way, Banerjee and her teaching assistant, Wharton undergrad Cormari Brown, define key concepts for the students, such as present value of the loan, and loan-to-value ratio, also detailing how to adjust the formula for monthly payments related to a 30-year mortgage at a 3% annual rate.

Then it’s the students’ turn to calculate. Some 12 answers appear in rapid succession in the chat. It’s important, adds Banerjee, that you all know why you are going to the trouble to make these calculations: “Why is it important to know what your yearly payment on the car will look like?”

“I think it’s important because knowing how much we have to pay compared to how much we are getting in our paycheck tells us if we have enough money to pay back the loan,” says one student.

“Yes, of course,” says Banerjee. “And using this formula also helps you compare different loan options from different banks” so you can identify the best deal.

After 45 minutes, Banerjee bids her online students a Happy Halloween and promises to see them again in a week for another Essentials of Personal Finance lesson. Remaining topics include: understanding how the U.S. tax system works, exploring ways to fund higher education and learn to negotiate the best available aid package, and key money-management skills, such as budgeting, saving and investing.

Zooming Out on Embedded Pre-baccalaureate

Detroit’s Renaissance High School personal finance class illustrates the Wharton School’s Embedded Pre-baccalaureate Program in action, a unique delivery model for Wharton Global Youth’s dual-enrollment Pre-baccalaureate courses for high school students.

Instead of individual students applying to and enrolling in online business education courses for college credit – as is the case in the traditional Pre-baccalaureate Program – Embedded Pre-bacc admits entire classes of high school students, who take the course together directly from their high schools.

Through the program, Wharton Global Youth collaborates with the National Education Opportunity Network and Heights Philadelphia to educate and inspire high school students from primarily urban communities.

“I’ve become an advocate for this kind of online, higher-ed personal finance education. It was an excellent opportunity, and the students I worked with took full advantage of it.” –Paddy Mullin, teacher, Renaissance High School

The signature Embedded Essentials of Personal Finance course is led by Wharton School professor David Musto and supported by Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance. It is designed to teach personal finance concepts and financial decision making to high school students. Wharton finance MBAs serve as fellows, teaching the online classes, while Wharton undergrad teaching assistants provide support and online study sessions. Co-teachers already present in the enrolled high schools provide students with additional support and lesson enrichments.

The 10-week fall 2025 Embedded Pre-baccalaureate course, in which Renaissance High School participated as the first Detroit-based school, reached 30 high schools and 504 students across nine U.S. states. Students had a 99% completion rate and a 95% pass rate.

A New Level of Finance

Padraic “Paddy” Mullin has taught high school for 30 years in Detroit, everything from English Language Arts and AP Human Geography to International Business & Technology. He served as the co-teacher for the 20 seniors enrolled in the fall 2025 Essentials of Personal Finance course.

“Our school district is implementing a mandatory personal finance class, and it’s going to roll out in various stages,” says Mullin. “But students at our high school have not yet been exposed to this material. This was new for them. I feel that paying for things and moving money back and forth using phone apps has added another layer of confusion around how finance works. I also think it can be elitist for people in urban and rural communities who don’t have bank accounts to show up at cashless campuses or cashless businesses. So, I think teaching personal finance is essential.”

Mullin appreciated the introductory nature of Wharton’s Essentials of Personal Finance course for his students, because he wants them to understand the fundamentals before moving on to mid-level finance. He was also impressed by the access to Wharton School MBAs.

“My students have come to me with some “aha moments” and some questions. I think they all landed firmly on their feet once we got into a routine and they got used to the Wharton instruction,” says Mullin. “I’ve become an advocate for this kind of online, higher-ed personal finance education. It was an excellent opportunity, and the students I worked with took full advantage of it.”

Useful Rules and Formulas

Ivy P., 16 and a student in the Renaissance High School Essentials of Personal Finance course, works every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the local Wendy’s restaurant. She says her new skills from Wharton have improved her approach to financial management.

“In our first session we did budgeting with the 50-30-20 rule,” recalls Ivy, who plans to go to college to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. “Since I already work, I am actively applying what I learned. So, 50% goes to my needs, I always try to save 20% of my paycheck, and then the other 30% goes for things that I want.” Ivy adds that she appreciated the lesson on FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and taking out student loans, which she will be thinking about very soon in 2026.

Did she ever feel overwhelmed by this first-time personal finance material? “Honestly, I liked the course,” says Ivy. “I learned a lot of useful things and the format was set up in a great way. I feel like it’s a good experience to have a college course in a high school setting, and credits got on my transcript, which I also really like. I’m thankful for the experience. A lot of high school students aren’t getting this type of education.”

Oh, and those complex car loan calculations? Ivy’s a self-described “math person,” so she wasn’t daunted: “We always have the formulas to go back to.”

Hero Image Shot By: Milles Studio for Unsplash+