A Financial Literacy Program $uccessful Start

A Financial Literacy Program

$uccessful StartEASFAA

43rd Annual ConferenceWashington, DC

May 17th – 20th, 2009

John BrownBoston College

Session Topics•Reasons for Financial

Literacy Assistance•Program Start Up•Financial Topics•Campus Involvement•Focus Groups•Communication•Program Evaluation•Logistics

Session ResourcesSession Resources

•LibraryLibrary•Trio ProgramTrio Program•Similar programs at Similar programs at

Colleges/UniversitiesColleges/Universities•Resourceful Web SitesResourceful Web Sites•Boston College Web SiteBoston College Web Site

I subscribe to the following theory…

Don’t reinvent the wheel,

when you can steal the whole car!

John’s Top Ten Reasons to

Offer Financial Literacy

Workshops

10) Low credit scores result in higher interest rates on future mortgages, loans or credit cards and possible loan denial.

9) Student debt in the U.S. is now over $500 billion.

8) College students are not prepared to manage their personal finances.

7) Parents are not providing the financial experiences students need.

6) Student Loan Default rate has gone from 5.2 percent to 6.9 percent according to DOE.

5) Higher education is slow in responding to students’ need for financial education.

4) Rates of financial stress are significantly higher for minority and first generation college students.

3) There is an uneven delivery and availability of personal finance services.

2) The average student loan debt surpasses $20,000 and over $88,000 for Law Students.

1) Over 33% of college students graduate with $10,000 or more in credit card debt over and above student loans.

Current Student IssuesCurrent Student Issues

• Brainstorm• Survey Student Body• Early promotion of

presentations to students• Support from Administration• Session topics• Presenters

– External Partners - Vendors– Faculty and Staff

The Start to our Success

Campus Communication• University awareness by

publishing an article in campus newspaper read by Faculty and Staff.

• Encourage the Student Newspaper staff to write articles about the $uccessful Start Program.

• Post Billboards and flyers around campus for additional exposure.

Worried About Debt After College?Are You Confused About Your Financial

Future?Are You Looking For Some Guidance?

Sponsored by the Office of Student Serviceswill be hosting

“Building Your Financial Future”Tuesday, March 24

4 p.m. – 6 p.m.in Walsh Function Room

Join us for Food, Fun, and Prizes!The workshop is limited to 50 peopleR.S.V.P. to: successfulstart@bc.edu

$uccessful Start$uccessful Start

BC’s Financial Literacy ProgramBC’s Financial Literacy Program

Topics for Sessions• Budgeting• Credit • Credit Cards• Debt Management• Student Loan Consolidation • Loan Management• Personal Finance• Investments• Career Counseling • Job Interviews

Campus Involvement

Student Organizations Athletics Resident Assistants Deans & Dept. Heads Student Development Freshmen Orientation Staff

PEER to PEER PEER to PEER COUNSELINGCOUNSELING

• We are training student volunteers in the Business School to participate in 1 on 1 sessions with our students and/or employees interested in receiving financial counseling.

• Our Business School students are always looking for projects and our $uccessful Start program is an ideal fit for them.

Focus GroupsFocus Groups• We have utilized our Undergraduate We have utilized our Undergraduate

School of Management Students to School of Management Students to help in this endeavor.help in this endeavor.

• They have searched out Focus They have searched out Focus Groups for us and have invited Groups for us and have invited them to participate.them to participate.

• Students seem to respond to their Students seem to respond to their peers as opposed to faculty or peers as opposed to faculty or administration trying to impose the administration trying to impose the program on them.program on them.

B C BrochureClick on: Brochure for an example of how we promote our program at Boston College.

LogisticsLogistics•Obtaining Classroom Space•Audio/Video Equipment•Door prizes or give a ways•Pizza/Refreshments•Handouts•Evaluations•Classroom Aides

$uccessful Start Evaluation1) Which $uccessful Start session did you attend? _____________________________2) Was interaction with the speaker encouraged? Yes or No3) Did you receive handouts? Yes or No4) Are they useful to you Yes or No5) Name one or two of the most important things you learned at today’s

session._______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

6) Was the room comfortable and conducive to learning? Yes or No

7) Will you recommend these sessions to your classmates? Yes or No If no, please explain. _____________________________________________________

8) We offer workshops on Budgeting and Money Management, Credit Management evaluation and repair, taxes, and consolidation. Would you be interested in any of the following topics for future workshops?

Financial Planning Identity Theft Home Buying Financial Aid Basics Car Buying Social Security

Other ______________________________________________________________________

9) What is your class year? Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Grad Student Law Student

10) Additional Comments about your experience with the $uccessful Start program. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

LibraryLibrary• Create a well rounded source Create a well rounded source

of information for your of information for your students.students.

• A library with periodicals, A library with periodicals, magazines, relevant books on magazines, relevant books on financial matters.financial matters.

• Have $uccessful Start Have $uccessful Start resources located in Reference resources located in Reference Section of your main Library.Section of your main Library.

• If your college or university has a TRIO program, effective August 2008, the New Higher Education Act requires by law that you must offer your TRIO students a Financial Counseling Program.

TRIO PROGRAMS

TRIO PROGRAMS cont.• Examples of currently

established Trio programs – Educational Opportunity

Centers Program.– Ronald E. McNair Post

Baccalaureate Achievement Program.

– Talent Search Program– Upward Bound– Veterans Upward Bound

Educational Institutions Currently Providing Financial Literacy

ProgramBoston College California State Univ.Plymouth State Univ. Iowa State Univ.

Suffolk Un Law School Bowling Green State Univ.

Texas Tech Univ. The Ohio State Univ.

Univ. of Alabama Univ. of Georgia

Univ. of Minnesota Univ. of North Texas

Univ. of Pittsburgh Univ. of Virginia

Univ. of Washington Georgetown Univ. Law

New York Law School Virginia Tech

Educational Institutions Currently Providing Financial Literacy (cont.)

Brigham, Young Univ. Univ. of Missouri

Univ of Arizona Univ. of Rhode Island

Wright State Univ. Univ. of Wisconsin

Auburn Univ. Utah State Univ.

Midwestern Univ. Stanford Univ.

Montana State Univ. Spelman College

Northeastern IL. Univ. Univ. of Hawaii

Univ. of Iowa Temple University

Financial Literacy andCollege Success

• This web site provides contact information and data on many of the colleges and universities that are providing Financial Literacy Programs.

• Get_Financially_Fit_Education_Program_List

Valuable Web Sites

• www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/index.html

• www.bc.edu/successfulstart• www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/learn

ingcenter/index.html• www.cashcourse.org• www.jumpstart.org• www.studentdebthelp.org• www.creditcardnation.com• www.truthaboutcredit.org• www.temple.edu/sfs/budgeting.htm

Additional Web Sites

• www.hughchou.org/calc/coffee.cgi• www.decisionpartners.org• www.choosetosave.org• www.ibrinfo.org/about.vp.html• www.mappingyourfuture.org/money• www.wsj.com/financialplanning• www.bankrate.com• www.annualcreditreport.com• www.practicalmoneyskills.com

National Student Loan Program - Check Out NSLP's Financial Literacy Symposium.url

National Student Loan National Student Loan ProgramProgram

NSLP’s Financial Literacy NSLP’s Financial Literacy Symposium.urlSymposium.url

40 Money Management Tips

LinkClick.url

The Money Conference for Women

• Massachusetts State Treasurer, Tim Cahill sponsors a program each year specifically geared to women covering a myriad of financial information.

• www.themoneyconference.com

External Sources for Packaged Financial Literacy Programs

• www.decisionpartners.org

• www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/index.html

PowerPoint Presentations to consider

• North Texas State, a forerunner in promoting financial literacy on campus.

• The NASFA July 2008 Conference by the National Endowment for Financial Education another good presentation.

• Ed Fund has an great PowerPoint Presentation Go to their web site at www.edfund/BuildingFutures

Valuable Web siteValuable Web site

Citizens Bank Tip Sheets for Students and Parents

This is a great site for Early Intervention with great information for students prior to entering college.

Boston College Site

Our web site for our financial literacy program is located at:

www.bc.edu/successfulstart

PowerPoint PowerPoint PresentationPresentation

• For an electronic copy of any For an electronic copy of any of these presentations you of these presentations you can email me at: can email me at:

brownjo@bc.edubrownjo@bc.edu

Measuring Our Success• Successful Start Evaluations have

consistently generated extremely positive responses.

• Participation average is 27 students per session with a FY 2010 goal increase in attendance to 40 per session.

• Over 50 workshops have been offered to date with multiple repeat attendees.

• The Boston College Community is now very aware of our presence on campus.

What’s Next? • Our next program phase is to make

contact with our graduates who attended our financial literacy workshops and collect feedback from them. Is what they learned helping them post graduation?

• Another goal is to get our School of Management Students and our Committee involved at the local high schools and begin offering programs at the high school level.

Thank you for attending and please consider implementing a financial literacy program to

help secure the financial stability of your students.

John G. BrownBoston College

Student Services Lyons Hall Rm 111Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

Tel: 617.552.3370 Email: brownjo@bc.edu