Financial Literacy Trends, Problems, and Best Practices

Presented By:Rob LaBreche

What did we learn from our student survey?

• 12,000 original respondents filled out one section• 6,000 attempted several sections• 4,095 filled out all sections

• Ages 18-76• Median age = 32

• Nearly 1/5 of respondents identified as being “unbanked”

• 31.2% were without a savings account• Over 50% have a least ONE credit card• 98% have student loans

Current Student Status

Educational Attainment

Types of Student Loans Borrowed

What is your current job search priority?

What caused you to drop out?

General Comments/Observations

• A significant portion of respondents indicated that their institution did not provide the guidance or direction they need to be successful

• Students enrolled entirely in online programs thought about dropping out and ultimately ended up dropping out more than their traditional campus counterparts

What keeps you in school/staying positive?

What do you want to know/understand about your

future?

Recorded Response

Will/Already is Affecting Me

Might Affect Me

Won’t Affect Me

Unsure if it will Affect Me

18-34 Years Young

35-64 Years Young

46.3%

10.9%

32.7%

10.2%

47.5%

8.3%

27.5%

15.8%

Note: Responses may not equal 100% due to rounding

Preference for Learning Tools

What motivates you to use iGrad?

Administrators were asked to rank a student’s knowledge and their own knowledge of the following areas:• Money

Management• Investing• Financial Aid• ID Theft

Scoring:4 = Above Average3 = Average2 = Below Average1 = Poor

Can you guess what the scores were?

What else did we learn from our Administrator Survey?

Do you have a Financial Literacy task force?

Not Sure,11.5%

Do you have a Financial Literacy strategy or platform in place?

Not Sure,9.4%

Who “owns” Financial Literacy on your campus?

Academics/Faculty

Alumni

Default Prevention

Financial Literacy

Other

All

Bursar/Financial Services

Financial Aid

FYE

Is your Financial Literacy program mandatory?

Not Sure,8.4%

Do you believe that Financial Literacy should be mandatory?

No

Yes, but only for borrowers

Yes, but students should be able to test out

Yes, mandatory for all71%

If you have a Financial Literacy program in place, what percentage of

the student population is using it?

Over 50%,

16.2%31-50%,

8.8%

What is your budget for a Financial Literacy program?

> $1.50/student,7.70%

Less than $1.50/student,11.10%

Financial Literacy Best Practices

There is no singular or perfect operational model for a campus

financial literacy program

Institutional Action Plan

1. Identify your advocates on campus and in the community

2. Start a task force3. Involve students4. Know your students5. Start small, but choose engaging content and

delivery methods6. Learn from other institutions7. Create a mission/goal statement and definition of

success

AND the most prevalent and successful models

are:• Interactive Online Programs• Classroom Based Programs• Game Based Education• Event Based Programs• Individual Counseling

Research Will Unlock The Answers1. University of Arizona study• Multi-year study on how young adults develop and

gain financial knowledge• Research is based on behavioral economics and

psychological aspects of decision making• Hope is that study’s long-term results will unlock

about what causes people to spend, save, take on debt, etc.

2. iGrad study

• Currently measuring impact of financial literacy strategies with regard to lowering defaults and increasing retention

5 6 Keys to a Successful Financial Literacy Program

(5 just wasn’t enough!)

1. Make is ACCESSIBLE2. Make it MANDATORY3. Get Buy-In from MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS4. Make it RELEVANT5. Make it REPETITIVE6. MEASURE IT!!!

Questions/Discussion