When you finish the units your teacher has chosen in Personal Finance Core Foundations (3rd Edition), you earn a certificate of completion. It lists the national personal finance standards your work covered, and you can download it, print it, and share a link that lets a counselor or college check that it's real. This article shows you how to earn it, claim it, and use it.
Good to know: Certificates come with one course: Personal Finance Core Foundations (3rd Edition). If your class uses a different course, you won't see a certificate.
How to earn it
You earn your certificate by finishing every lesson and every section quiz in your class's certificate units. Your teacher decides which units count. Often it's the whole course, but your teacher may pick only the units your class is covering this year.
Check your progress
You'll find your certificate in a few places:
On the course page, under the Up next card, a Certificate card shows how many sections you've finished out of how many count. Click See what counts.
Once you've earned it, the card says Your certificate is ready with a Claim it button.
On My Courses and on your dashboard, a Claim your certificate or View certificate link appears under the course once there's something to claim or see.
While you're still working, the Certificate page says "You're on your way". It shows a progress bar with how many sections you've finished, the units your teacher counts, and a Continue the course button to get back to work.
Claim your certificate
When you finish the last section that counts, the page changes to "You earned your certificate".
Under Your name as it should print, check your name. Use your real first and last name, the way a counselor or college would know you.
Click Claim my certificate.
You'll see "Your certificate is ready." and your certificate appears on the page.
Important: You can't change the name after you claim. If you make a mistake, ask your teacher, who can reset it so you can claim again.
If you see "Use your real name, without numbers or an email address.", take out any numbers or @ signs. If you see "That's your class login, not your name.", your account has a login name your teacher set up. Type your real name instead.
What's on the certificate
Your certificate shows:
Your name, the course name, and the units you completed.
The date you completed the last of them.
Your teacher's name or your school's name.
The national personal finance standards those units cover, from the 2021 National Standards for Personal Financial Education.
A certificate ID, a code that's unique to your certificate.
Your quiz scores are never on it.
Download or print it
On the Certificate page, click Download PDF.
Your browser's print window opens. To save a file, choose Save as PDF as the printer. To print on paper, pick a printer.
The certificate fits on one landscape page.
Share a verify link
A verify link lets a counselor, college or employer check that your certificate is real. It's off until you turn it on, and you can turn it off at any time.
On the Certificate page, click Turn on a verify link.
Your link appears. Click Copy to copy it, then paste it wherever you need it, like an application or an email to your counselor.
To stop sharing, click Turn off. Anyone who opens the link after that won't see your certificate.
Anyone with the link sees a page that says "This certificate is valid" with your name, school, course, units and completion date. They never see your scores. While the link is on, it's also printed on your PDF, and the Certificate page tells you how many times it's been opened.
If you see "Verify links are turned off right now. You can still download the PDF.", sharing isn't available at the moment. Your certificate itself is fine.
Ways to use it
List it on a college application, as an honor or activity.
Add it to your resume.
Give a printed copy to your school counselor.
Whether it counts as course credit is up to your school. Ask your counselor.
Common questions
I finished the course. Why can't I claim my certificate?
Every lesson and every section quiz in your class's certificate units has to be finished. Open the Certificate page to see how many sections are left, then use the course outline to find sections without a green check.
I'm in two classes that use this course.
You'll see a button for each class at the top of the Certificate page. Each class has its own progress and its own certificate.
What happens to my certificate if I leave the class?
It stays yours. Your certificate, and any verify link you shared, keep working after you leave the class.
My teacher changed which units count. Does my certificate change?
No. Once you claim it, your certificate keeps the units and details it was earned with.
My certificate says "This certificate is turned off".
Your teacher turned this certificate off. Ask them about it.