Education has always carried the critical role of preparing students for the future. But with rapid technological advancements that have reshaped every industry, what’s next for students is changing faster than ever, putting an enormous pressure on educators to keep up. Intuit for Education was built to help close that gap. The free program brings modern curriculum, real-world tools, and experiential learning directly to classrooms, so students are able to gain the financial skills they need to step into their futures with confidence.
To date, over 14.7 million individuals have engaged with Intuit for Education, exceeding our FY26 goal of 11.9 million, and making substantial progress toward our goal of helping 50 million students become financially literate and career ready.
Building Real Financial and Entrepreneurial Skills Before Graduation
Financial literacy has the power to open doors of opportunity, which is why we believe every student deserves a financial education before graduating high school. And most parents agree, as recent Intuit data shows that 88% of respondents believe financial literacy should be treated as a core subject, just like math and science.
Intuit for Education provides over 340+ hours of free classroom curriculum, immersing students in simulations that mirror real-world financial decisions they will actually face throughout their lives. This allows students to develop essential money management and entrepreneurship skills while the stakes are low, whether that’s filing a mock tax return using TurboTax, or managing a small business in QuickBooks. By the time these students graduate, they’ve already practiced making financial decisions that most adults are still figuring out in real time.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs Through the Intuit Food Truck Program
Today’s youth have proven to be deeply entrepreneurial, as QuickBooks research shows that 43% of Gen Z respondents plan to start a business in 2026, the highest intent of any generation. That’s why hands-on entrepreneurial learning opportunities like the Intuit Food Truck Program are essential in helping students turn those ambitions into reality one day.
This work-based program provides free, fully-equipped trucks and mobile carts to high schools to facilitate work-based learning. Beyond culinary arts, students gain hands-on experience running a business: they use QuickBooks to manage sales and track costs, learn how to budget, price products, manage inventory, and even develop branding and promotional strategies with Mailchimp. They also build critical soft skills like leadership, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving as they operate their own functioning food truck.
Educators are seeing the impact firsthand. In Intuit’s 2026 survey of educators leading the Food Truck program at their high schools:
- 94% observed students taking more initiative and demonstrating greater self-reliance
- 94% saw high or very high engagement in proactive problem-solving and decision-making
- 94% reported a strong or exceptional impact on students’ collaboration and teamwork skills
Giovani, a 2025 Polytechnic High School graduate and one of the Food Truck Program’s inaugural students, was so inspired by his experience he decided to pursue culinary school after graduation. Giovani’s father was a former cook who helped open several restaurants, but when his health kept him from working, Giovani took over cooking for his family, and his passion grew from there. Now, equipped with practical entrepreneurial skills and enduring passion, Giovani is well on his way to opening a thriving restaurant of his own. “This is what I love doing. This is what I’ve always loved doing, and this is what I want to continue to do,” said Giovani.
The program now spans 11 trucks across the country and has involved more than 20,000 students since it launched. Just this year, three new trucks were added to the Intuit for Education fleet in Lynchburg, Virginia; Milwaukee; and Atlanta.
Bringing Industry Expertise into College Accounting Classrooms
As Intuit for Education works to illuminate clear career paths and ignite student potential through financial education, we expanded our workforce development initiative this year with a bold new commitment: upskilling 1 million accounting students over the next five years.
In Intuit’s 2026 Accountant Technology Survey, firms ranked strategic judgment as their number one hiring priority (38%) and AI fluency as number two (22%), signaling that the skills employers need are shifting faster than traditional programs can adapt. Meanwhile, 77% of firms report hiring struggles in the last 12 months, and 56% say new hires take six or more months to become fully productive.
To help higher education keep pace with current professional expectations and encourage more students to pursue a career in accounting, Intuit’s Accounting Futures program provides expert-informed curriculum, industry credentials, and insights from practicing accountant advisors directly into classrooms.
Brittany Brown, a CPA, CEO and founder of LedgerGurus, and a professional resident at Utah Valley University led the pilot of Intuit’s Accounting Futures program. Weaving the Client Advisory Services-focused curriculum into her accounting courses, her students honed their strategic judgment skills, conducted real client work in QuickBooks, and every student left her course with industry-recognized QuickBooks certifications. But most impressively, half of her students signed their own client, or were offered an internship within the semester, and across three semesters at UVU, more than 500 students earned industry-recognized QuickBooks certifications.
“It’s really fun as a teacher to watch my students announce on LinkedIn ‘I’m now certified in QuickBooks, and I’m looking to take on new clients,’” said Brown. “I can see it changing their lives and their opportunities ahead. It’s not just happening after they graduate, it’s happening while they’re still in school, in the very semesters where they’re learning these skills.”
Armed with key industry credentials and practical skills, graduates of the program were able to stand out to employers, get hired, and enter the workforce with the assurance they already have what it takes to thrive.
“I think there are two sides to what this program did for me. One is personal — it empowered me to overcome the imposter syndrome that comes with being a new working professional. The other side is technical — it gave me concrete, buildable skills,” said Charlese Hoopes, a student participant in the Accounting Futures pilot program and 2026 graduate of UVU. “ I didn’t know anything about QuickBooks before taking the class. I started at zero and ended with my own client by the end of my education. It’s a competitive market, and this program totally set me apart from other applicants competing for the same job.”
Intuit for Education is aiming to bring the Accounting Futures program to 100 college campuses this 2026/2027 school year.
Ready Before Day One
Students should not have to wait until their first day on the job to begin learning the skills their careers will demand. By bringing real-world financial, entrepreneurial, and professional learning opportunities to the classroom, Intuit for Education is helping students learn and practice those skills earlier, while they still have educators there to guide them. The goal is not to simply prepare students to graduate, but to help them step into whatever comes next with the experience and confidence to succeed.
To learn more, explore programs, or sign up as an educator, visit the Intuit for Education site at intuit.com/education.