The Academy of Finance (AOF) was first established in 1982 by the National Academy Foundation. The Academy of Finance is one of the four member programs sponsored by the National Academy Foundation (AOF, AOIT, AOHT, AOE). It is a small learning community that offers high school students an opportunity to study accounting, international trade, leadership, and the use of technology in preparing for college and the financial services industry. It also allows students to earn college credit while still in secondary education. The program is offered in more than 260 secondary education institutions nationwide.
The National Academy Foundation was the vision of P. Frankfort, the Director of the Academy of Finance that she established in 1989. In 1981, she designed a program for the New York City Department of Education and for Shearson Lehman Brothers chaired by Sanford I. Weill. Her proposal for the "Institute for the Study of Finance" recommended a program for public high school students. Weill's gave $100,000 to develop the program through the firm's foundation, headed by D. Topol. This was matched by the New York City Board of Education. Frankfort designed and implemented the program and the he first Academy of Finance opened at John Dewey High School in Brooklyn in 1982 with 35 students. The program was designed to introduce young people in New York City to potential careers in the financial services industry.
Weill explained in his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee: "You saw young people playing in the street, young people without having a clue of what life was about, and how they can become part of the system. That was the beginning of the idea that maybe the private sector should get together with the public sector and see if we can create a high-school level program that can expose young people for a career in the financial services industry."
Schools offering the program
Northern High School (Owings, Maryland)
Huntingtown High School (Huntingtown, Maryland)
Calvert High School (Prince Frederick, Maryland)
Patuxent High School (Lusby, Maryland)
Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School in San Francisco, CA
Coral Glades High School in Coral Springs, Florida
Sanderson High School in Raleigh, NC
Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland
Douglas Byrd High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina
Paint Branch High School
Dunwoody High School
Coral Gables Senior High School in Coral Gables, Fl
Fort Lee High School in Fort Lee, NJ
Franklin High School in Seattle, Washington
Independence High School
Business Careers High School
Walter M. Williams High School
Buchholz High School
West Seneca East High School
Northeast High School
Center Grove High School
Greenfield High School
Columbus East High School
Hamilton Southeastern High School
Northwest High School
North Rockland High School
North Tonawanda High School
Perry Meridian High School
Pike High School
Spruce Creek High School
Paul Robeson High School
Southport High School
Flanagan High School
John Dewey High School
East Davidson High School
James Madison High School (New York)
Northport High School in Northport, Long Island
Westport High School
William R. Boone High School
Overlea High School
New Hyde Park Memorial High School
Waipahu High School
Lancaster High School (New York)
Omaha Bryan High School
Orchard Park High School
Charles Herbert Flowers High School
Lansdowne High School
Oak Grove High School (San Jose, California)
Highland School of Technology
Brandon High School Brandon High School
Bishop Ward High School
Tottenville High School on Staten Island, NY
Amos P. Godby High School (Tallahassee)
T.C. Willams High School
Fort Hamilton HS (Brooklyn NYC)
Middletown High School in Middletown, New York
Carroll High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana
John Dewey High School (Brooklyn, New York)
Gloucester High School (Virginia)
Jamaica High School (New York City)