FINANCIAL EDUCATION FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Prof. Michael Staten
Director, Take Charge America Institute
University of Arizona
SFEPD Fourth Annual Financial Literacy Leadership Conference
October 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 STRUCTURE
University of Arizona
Take Charge America Institute
Educational Advisory Board
Institute Advisory Board
Educational Programming
Family
Economics &
Financial
Education
Office of
Economic
Education
Credit-Wise
Cats
Consumer
Jungle Young
Adult Web
site
University Coursework
Research Advisory Council
Research
Behavioral
Economics
APLUS
Study
Effectiveness
of Credit
Counseling
Youth Based
Education
Evaluation
TCAI’S STRUCTURE
University of Arizona
Take Charge America Institute
Educational Advisory Board
Institute Advisory Board
Educational Programming
Family
Economics &
Financial
Education
Office of
Economic
Education
Credit-Wise
Cats
Consumer
Jungle Young
Adult Web
site
University Coursework
Research Advisory Council
Research
Behavioral
Economics
APLUS
Study
Effectiveness
of Credit
Counseling
Youth Based
Education
Evaluation
•
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
Workshop Topics
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Developing a Spending Plan
Savings
Selecting a Credit Card
Understanding Credit Reports
Understanding Paychecks
Income vs. Education
Identity Theft
TARGET AUDIENCE
•
•
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 materials build on the Institute’s awardwinning 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 conduct
workshops for grades 9-12
• www.creditwisecats.org
Capstone Event for Schools:
Arizona Financial Face-Off
• 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
TCAI’S STRUCTURE
University of Arizona
Take Charge America Institute
Educational Advisory Board
Institute Advisory Board
Educational Programming
Family
Economics &
Financial
Education
Office of
Economic
Education
Credit-Wise
Cats
Consumer
Jungle Young
Adult Web
site
University Coursework
Research Advisory Council
Research
Behavioral
Economics
APLUS
Study
Effectiveness
of Credit
Counseling
Youth Based
Education
Evaluation
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
700 Total to Date: N= 3,000 Students
600
500
400
class
online
Total
300
200
100
0
AY04- AY05- AY06- AY07- AY08- AY
AY
05
06
07
08
09 09-10 10-11
TCAI’S STRUCTURE
University of Arizona
Take Charge America Institute
Educational Advisory Board
Institute Advisory Board
Educational Programming
Family
Economics &
Financial
Education
Office of
Economic
Education
Credit-Wise
Cats
Consumer
Jungle Young
Adult Web
site
University Coursework
Research Advisory Council
Research
Behavioral
Economics
APLUS
Study
Effectiveness
of Credit
Counseling
Youth Based
Education
Evaluation
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 (readyto-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 STRUCTURE
University of Arizona
Take Charge America Institute
Educational Advisory Board
Institute Advisory Board
Educational Programming
Family
Economics &
Financial
Education
Office of
Economic
Education
Credit-Wise
Cats
Consumer
Jungle Young
Adult Web
site
University Coursework
Research Advisory Council
Research
Behavioral
Economics
APLUS
Study
Effectiveness
of Credit
Counseling
Youth Based
Education
Evaluation
APLUS
Synopsis
Arizona Pathways to Life success for University
Students (APLUS):
Research Goals
• 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
Wave 1 Data Collection
February - April, 2008
• 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.
Positive Socialization
Model
HOW POSITIVE SOCIALIZATION LEADS TO
FINANCIAL WELL-BEING
Pre-college
experiences
First-year
of college
Parental
teaching and
dialogue with
students
Work
High school
financial
education
How students think about
finances and financial
behavior
And
Continued
parental role
Modeling and
expectations
More financial
knowledge
More feelings
of control
over financial
Behaviors
Affect
More positive
attitudes about
healthy
financial
behaviors
How students
are affected
More positive
relationships
with parents
Drive
Higher
academic
Achievement
Better physical
and mental
health
APLUS
Synopsis
Three Waves of Surveys since 2008 Reveal Student
Financial Identities
• 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