A Financial Literacy Program
$uccessful Start
EASFAA
43rd Annual Conference
Washington, DC
May 17th – 20th, 2009
John Brown
Boston College
Session Topics
• Reasons for Financial
Literacy Assistance
• Program Start Up
• Financial Topics
• Campus Involvement
• Focus Groups
• Communication
• Program Evaluation
• Logistics
Session Resources
• Library
• Trio Program
• Similar programs at
Colleges/Universities
• Resourceful Web Sites
• Boston 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 Issues
The Start to our Success
• Brainstorm
• Survey Student Body
• Early promotion of
presentations to students
• Support from Administration
• Session topics
• Presenters
– External Partners - Vendors
– Faculty and Staff
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?
$uccessful Start
BC’s Financial Literacy Program
Sponsored by the Office of Student Services
will 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 people
R.S.V.P. to: successfulstart@bc.edu
Topics for Sessions
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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
COUNSELING
• 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 Groups
• We have utilized our Undergraduate
School of Management Students to
help in this endeavor.
• They have searched out Focus
Groups for us and have invited them
to participate.
• Students seem to respond to their
peers as opposed to faculty or
administration trying to impose the
program on them.
B C Brochure
Click on:
Brochure
for an example
of how we
promote our
program at
Boston College.
Logistics
• Obtaining Classroom Space
• Audio/Video Equipment
• Door prizes or give a ways
• Pizza/Refreshments
• Handouts
• Evaluations
• Classroom Aides
$uccessful Start Evaluation
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Which $uccessful Start session did you attend? _____________________________
Was interaction with the speaker encouraged?
Yes or
No
Did you receive handouts?
Yes or
No
Are they useful to you
Yes or
No
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
8)
If no, please explain. _____________________________________________________
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
Senior
Sophomore
Grad Student
Junior
Law Student
10) Additional Comments about your experience with the $uccessful Start program.
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Library
• Create a well rounded source of
information for your students.
• A library with periodicals,
magazines, relevant books on
financial matters.
• Have $uccessful Start
resources located in Reference
Section of your main Library.
TRIO PROGRAMS
• 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 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 Program
Boston College
Plymouth State Univ.
Suffolk Un Law School
Texas Tech Univ.
California State Univ.
Iowa State Univ.
Bowling Green State Univ.
Univ. of Alabama
The Ohio State Univ.
Univ. of Georgia
Univ. of Minnesota
Univ. of North Texas
Univ. of Pittsburgh
Univ. of Virginia
Univ. of Washington
New York Law School
Georgetown Univ. Law
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 and
College 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_Pro
gram_List
Valuable Web Sites
• www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/mo
neysmart/index.html
• www.bc.edu/successfulstart
• www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/le
arningcenter/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
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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
NSLP’s Financial Literacy
Symposium.url
National Student Loan Program - Check Out NSLP's Financial Literacy Symposium.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/consu
mer/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 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 Presentation
• For an electronic copy of any
of these presentations you
can email me at:
brownjo@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. Brown
Boston College
Student Services Lyons Hall Rm 111
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Tel: 617.552.3370
Email: brownjo@bc.edu