FINANCIAL EDUCATION FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF

ARIZONAProf. Michael Staten

Director, Take Charge America InstituteUniversity of Arizona

SFEPD Fourth Annual Financial Literacy Leadership ConferenceOctober 3, 2011

PERSONAL FINANCE LANDSCAPE IN ARIZONA

• University of Arizona– No Financial Planning major or professional certification program– No “for-credit” requirement for personal finance coursework

• State of Arizona– Dept. of Education adopted a high school graduation requirement for

coursework including economics and personal finance– 1 semester course, required of all graduating seniors as of May 2012– Approximately 80% econ; 20% personal finance

THE TAKE CHARGE AMERICA INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA• Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences

– Take Charge America Institute for Consumer Financial Education and Research

– Mission: Create research-based educational outreach programs

TCAI’S STRUCTUREUniversity of Arizona

Take Charge America Institute

Educational Advisory Board Institute Advisory Board Research Advisory Council

Educational Programming

Family Economics &

Financial Education

Credit-Wise Cats

Office of Economic Education

Consumer Jungle Young

Adult Web site

Research

Behavioral Economics

APLUSStudy

Youth Based Education Evaluation

Effectiveness of Credit

Counseling

University Coursework

TCAI’S STRUCTUREUniversity of Arizona

Take Charge America Institute

Educational Advisory Board Institute Advisory Board Research Advisory Council

Educational Programming

Family Economics &

Financial Education

Credit-Wise Cats

Office of Economic Education

Consumer Jungle Young

Adult Web site

Research

Behavioral Economics

APLUSStudy

Youth Based Education Evaluation

Effectiveness of Credit

Counseling

University Coursework

• Team of 13 University of Arizona undergraduate financial education ambassadors

• Building a financially informed youth in southern Arizona

• Directly impacting over 21,000 youth and adults in the Tucson community by conducting more than 260 workshops each year

TARGET AUDIENCE• Developing a Spending Plan• Savings• Selecting a Credit Card• Understanding Credit Reports• Understanding Paychecks• Income vs. Education• Identity Theft

• Organizations on the University of Arizona campus– Clubs– Classrooms– Athletic Dept.– Orientation and other

programs for students• Tucson Community

– High Schools– Middle Schools– Community Groups

Workshop Topics

• Workshop materials build on the Institute’s award- winning curriculum for high school – Family Economics and Financial Education (FEFE)– “Essentials” version of lessons for each of the CWC

topics include in-class activities – CWC team members are trained

and mentored to conductworkshops for grades 9-12

• www.creditwisecats.org

• Annual capstone event for schools that hosted Credit-Wise Cats workshops

• Personal finance-focused, team competition• Teams apply knowledge gained from the workshops• Teams work through fun financial stations to build “virtual”

wealth to be applied toward the goal of homeownership• Competition judged by a board of community partners• Over 20 community partners support the competition

Capstone Event for Schools: Arizona Financial Face-Off

TCAI’S STRUCTUREUniversity of Arizona

Take Charge America Institute

Educational Advisory Board Institute Advisory Board Research Advisory Council

Educational Programming

Family Economics &

Financial Education

Credit-Wise Cats

Office of Economic Education

Consumer Jungle Young

Adult Web site

Research

Behavioral Economics

APLUSStudy

Youth Based Education Evaluation

Effectiveness of Credit

Counseling

University Coursework

UNIVERSITY COURSEWORK

• Money, Consumers and Family (General Ed, lower division course, 3 credits)– Interweaves sociology, psychology and economics in a discussion of

personal finance decisions– Highly popular with freshman/sophomore students– Counts toward University Gen Ed requirements

• Family and Personal Finance (Junior level elective, 3 credits)– Intermediate course in personal financial management– Focused more heavily on savings/investment options and credit

decisions• Graduate level professional development coursework for

teachers in personal finance and economics

INDV 102 COURSE ENROLLMENT TRENDS AND PROJECTION

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

AY04-05

AY05-06

AY06-07

AY07-08

AY08-09

AY09-10

AY10-11

classonlineTotal

Total to Date: N= 3,000 Students

TCAI’S STRUCTUREUniversity of Arizona

Take Charge America Institute

Educational Advisory Board Institute Advisory Board Research Advisory Council

Educational Programming

Family Economics &

Financial Education

Credit-Wise Cats

Office of Economic Education

Consumer Jungle Young

Adult Web site

Research

Behavioral Economics

APLUSStudy

Youth Based Education Evaluation

Effectiveness of Credit

Counseling

University Coursework

FAMILY ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL EDUCATION (FEFE) PROJECT

“Provide educators with no-cost curriculum materials and the skills and confidence to effectively

teach family finance”

FEFE CURRICULUM: BY EDUCATORS, FOR EDUCATORS

Design• Easy-to-implement (ready-

to-teach)• Activity-based • Linked to state standards• Family focused• Continually updated

through the year– New activities introduced – Encourage educators to

provide feedback

What’s available• Grade 7-12 focus• 100+ lesson plans• Course recommendations• Simulations• Project-based learning• Web-based networking with

teachers nationwide

FEFE WEB SITE: WWW.FEFE.ARIZONA.EDU

Free of Charge!

TCAI’S STRUCTUREUniversity of Arizona

Take Charge America Institute

Educational Advisory Board Institute Advisory Board Research Advisory Council

Educational Programming

Family Economics &

Financial Education

Credit-Wise Cats

Office of Economic Education

Consumer Jungle Young

Adult Web site

Research

Behavioral Economics

APLUSStudy

Youth Based Education Evaluation

Effectiveness of Credit

Counseling

University Coursework

• Short term - To understand how young adults form financial behaviors and financial self-confidence

• Longer Term - How these financial behaviors affect - and are affected by – their life experiences

APLUS Synopsis

Arizona Pathways to Life success for University Students (APLUS):

Research Goals

• 2,000 students (1/3 of the entering freshman class at the U of Arizona) participated in the online survey

• Focused on how family background, parental roles, high school work experience and financial socialization affected financial literacy, confidence and well-being.

APLUS Synopsis

Wave 1 Data Collection February - April, 2008

HOW POSITIVE SOCIALIZATION LEADS TO FINANCIAL WELL-BEING

Parentalteaching and dialogue with students

Work

High schoolfinancialeducation

Continuedparental roleModeling and expectations

More financialknowledge

More feelingsof controlover financialBehaviors

More positiveattitudes abouthealthy financialbehaviors

More positiverelationshipswith parents

HigheracademicAchievement

Better physicaland mentalhealth

Positive Socialization Model

Pre-collegeexperiences

And Affect Drive

First-yearof college

How students think about finances and financial behavior

How studentsare affected

• Pathfinders (31%)• Most engaged in defining their own financial style• See themselves as actively choosing their own approach

• Followers (39%)• Tend to follow their parents’ guidance and imitate their parents’ style

of financial management• Least concerned about exploring finances on their own

• Drifters (30%)• Least accepting of their parents’ style, but haven’t established one of

their own• Financial behaviors tend to be worse than their peers, although

financial knowledge and awareness is solidly average

APLUS Synopsis

Three Waves of Surveys since 2008 Reveal Student Financial Identities