Prepare students for real life

The tassels have been flipped, the diplomas handed out and another class of graduates has crossed the stage.

Over the coming weeks, many of these young adults will leave home for college, enroll in trade schools or step directly into the workforce. For the first time, they will begin making decisions with real consequences.

They will sign leases they are legally bound to honor. They will open credit cards. Some will take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt before they are old enough to rent a car.

And many will do so with less practical financial knowledge than they have about mathematical...