Incorporating Financial Education into Your Program

Hannah Yang

Center for Higher Education Policy AnalysisRossier School of EducationUniversity of Southern California

http://www.usc.edu/dept/chepa/IDApays/

Imagine this...

$8,000 dollar educational expense gap

$500 dollar credit card debt $10,000 dollar loan debt work 10 hours a week low-income financial illiterate drop-out or stop-out of school

Financial illiteracy of high school and college students

Jump$tart surveys: High school students – 48% College students – 62%

Other research: Concludes that college students are

financially at-risk and could benefit from education

Low-income individuals: Display higher levels of financial

illiteracy

Finances and retention

Loans

Credit card debt

Mismanaging finances

The definition of financial education

“The process by which people improve their understanding of financial products, services and concepts, so they are empowered to make informed choices, avoid pitfalls, know where to go for help and take other actions to improve their present and long-term financial well-being.”

However, little financial education is happening in high schools and colleges

High schools: 7 states require a personal finance

course to graduate Colleges:

Scattered offerings TRIO:

Only 51% were offering financial education (caveat), now new mandate

Best practices Teachable moments – Financial education

experts have found that learning and change in financial behaviors are more likely when the financial education is offered at the same time that individuals are making a specific financial decision

Example for college students Active, experiential, and problem-based

learning – Recently financial education experts have begun to look at the diversifying the teaching methods through worksheets, discussing personal experiences, and case studies.

Example for high school students

Best practices

Customized curriculum – The population (low-income high school or college students) and their goals (college education) should be taken into consideration in the curriculum.

One-on-one counseling – This one-on-one, face-to-face interaction allows students the freedom to open up their private financial considerations and in turn allows the instructor or coach to customize the financial material according to the participants’ need.

Financial education resources

NEFE High School program (http://hsfpp.nefe.org/home) curricular elements

GEAR UP (http://www.gearup-moneyskills.org/)

curricular elements

Financial education resources con.

IDAs (http://www.usc.edu/dept/chepa/IDApays/)

AFI has a tool on how to choose a curriculum, although it is for IDA practitioners some of the concepts are helpful: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/afi/finlit/ChoosingaCurriculum.htm

Your role

Activate best practices Combining expertise Be systematic in timing Include discussion, activities, and case

studies to engage students Evaluate student learning and program

effectiveness NEFE evaluation toolkit:

http://www2.nefe.org/eval/manual_db.php

Conclusion

Maria’s story continued...

Thank you for listening and good luck on your endeavors!

Now, Erika will speak about other ways to incorporate financial education into your programs