Skipping school may finally pay off.
High school grads in Florida find a new passion — or path — after graduation instead of a four-year college or trade as…a customer service rep?
The state passed law HB 1343, allowing Florida grads to meet licensure requirements to be an insurance customer representative right out of high school.
The job varies by industry but essentially, reps will resolve complaints, answer any questions, and review accounts, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This new law allows students across the Sunshine State to enroll in a high school course teaching students the gig. But they must meet two major requirements.
Each student who decides to pursue the life of an insurance rep must have graduated with a diploma within four years before filing the license application and take the course in insurance and personal finance.
All license applications must be filed with the Florida Department of Financial Services.
The new class gives the government homework too, as it will be created by the Department of Education and will be worth 0.5 credits.
School districts will have the curriculum ready for the 2027-2028 school year, and will include a “comprehensive analysis of basic property and casualty lines of insurance” up to the standard of typical insurance licensing instruction.
As of today, insurance customer representative licensees must have a degree from an accredited institution and at least nine credit hours of insurance instruction on the books.
Back in 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed another law requiring all ninth graders to take a financial literacy class. While students learn the basic principles of personal insurance, this new course will cover more.
For nervous Nellies, the law will not change insurance coverage for consumers, it won’t affect insurance rates, and it doesn’t create any new regulations for the public. It just revises the qualification pathways to get a license in the insurance industry.
So where does the $37,000 come in? Online employment marketplace, ZipRecruiter, revealed the annual salary for insurance customer service representatives in Florida is $36,176, for those out of high school.
ZipRecruiter’s math works like this: at $17.39 per hour — or $695 per week — students would be able to walk away from high school making nearly $37,000.
The law will officially roll out on July 1, just in time for next year — because high school juniors love thinking about class as summer starts.
Florida isn’t the only state offering a pathway to success; Connecticut high school graduates accepted job offers from Electric Boat, an American defense contractor and the primary submarine builder for the U.S. Navy.
During the company’s annual Signing Day, 300 students will join and build the next generation of nuclear submarines — easy peasy.
Read the full article here
