Financial Literacy Trends Problems and Best Practices Presented

Financial Literacy Trends, Problems, and Best Practices Presented By: Rob La. Breche

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 18 -34 Years 35 -64 Years Young Will/Already is Affecting Me 46. 3% 47. 5% Might Affect Me 10. 9% 8. 3% Won’t Affect Me 32. 7% 27. 5% Unsure if it will Affect Me 10. 2% 15. 8% Note: Responses may not equal 100% due to rounding

Preference for Learning Tools

What motivates you to use i. Grad?

Administrators were asked to rank a student’s knowledge and their own knowledge of the following areas: • • Money Management Investing Scoring: Financial Aid 4 = Above Average ID Theft 3 = Average 2 = Below Average 1 = 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 All Alumni Bursar/Financial Services Default Prevention Financial Aid Financial Literacy FYE Other

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 71% Yes, but students should be able to test out Yes, mandatory for all

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. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Identify your advocates on campus and in the community Start a task force Involve students Know your students Start small, but choose engaging content and delivery methods Learn from other institutions 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 Answers 1. 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. i. Grad 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. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Make is ACCESSIBLE Make it MANDATORY Get Buy-In from MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS Make it RELEVANT Make it REPETITIVE MEASURE IT!!!

Questions/Discussion