Incorporating Financial Education into Your Program

1. Incorporating Financial Education into Your Program Hannah Yang Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis Rossier School of Education University of Southern California http://www.usc.edu/dept/chepa/IDApays/

2. 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

3. 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

4. Finances and retention • Loans • Credit card debt • Mismanaging finances

5. 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.”

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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.

9. Financial education resources • NEFE High School program (http://hsfpp.nefe.org/home) • curricular elements • GEAR UP (http://www.gearup-moneyskills.org/) • curricular elements

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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