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GREENSBORO -- Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., returned home to Greensboro on Monday to continue promoting the first piece of legislation she introduced as a U.S. senator, the Financial Literacy for Students Act.

The bill would create incentive grants for states to incorporate financial literacy into their curriculum for grades 6 through 12.

"As our students enter the workforce, it is critical that they have the tools that they need to make sound financial decisions when they apply for credit cards, when they secure student loans, when they take out a mortgage and when they manage a budget,” said Hagan. “And as I've always said, this is not rocket science, we just don't teach it, and we need to start doing that."

Hagan says it's a change that couldn't come at a more crucial time, as Americans continue to rack up more personal debt than the national debt.

A survey released last year from the Harvard Business School and Dartmouth College found only 35 percent of respondents were able to correctly estimate how interest compounds over time.

And almost none of the respondents understood the financial difference between paying in monthly installments versus one lump sum at the end of a certain time period.

The bill will be referred to the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on which Hagan sits.

Currently, only three states require a minimum of one semester of financial literacy. North Carolina and 17 other states require the topic be taught within another subject.

Hagan also presented a $50,000 check from the UPS Foundation to Junior Achievement, a group dedicated to the promotion of financial literacy among students in North Carolina.