Financial Literacy “ROI”
Constructing Measurable Financial
Literacy Initiatives
Sailing away the winter
blues with ISFAA …
2015 Winter Conference
Contact Info
Michele Wedel, Adjunct Instructor
Kelley School of Business, IUPUI
(317) 306-1769
mwedel@iupui.edu
Sara Wilson, USA Funds
(317) 806-0140
Sara.Wilson@usafunds.org
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Agenda
• Building The Program
• Evaluating The Program
• Discussion/Question & Answer
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Session Outcomes
• By the end of the this session, you will be able to:
– Cite the importance of involving all stakeholders in the
planning and implementation processes
– List the top financial literacy topics for the student
audience
– Describe how to make financial literacy sessions
interesting and relevant for students
– Use national datasets to develop an assessment plan
to measure the impact of the financial literacy
initiatives
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Why is financial literacy needed
• Student loan debt over $1.1 trillion. Compared
to:
– Credit card debt = $854 billion.
– Auto loan debt = $877 billion.
• Average student loan debt is approx. $30,000.
• Financial stress is one of the top reasons for
students leaving college prior to completing their
education.
• CDR change from 2-year rate to a 3-year rate.
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BUILDING THE PROGRAM
Who needs to Be Involved
• Implementing alone can be difficult
• Identify the key stakeholders
– Who/what areas benefit from financial education
• Or suffer from a lack of it
– Stakeholders will vary from campus to campus
• Look for overlapping areas – the sweet spot
Student Loan
Indebtedness
Students
Financial
Aid
Office
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Alumni
Office
Potential key stakeholders
• Admissions
• Enrollment/Retention
• Orientation/First-Year
Experience
• Financial Aid
• Academics/Academic
Services
– Course curriculum,
academic advising, Higher
Education Opportunity
Programs, summer bridge
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• Career
Development/Services
• Administration
– President’s office, business
office
• Support Services
– TRIO, Upward Bound, EOPS
• Alumni Services
• Accrediting Organizations
What is needed on my campus
• Ways to determine the
most important
financial literacy issues
on your campus
– Check with student-led
organizations
– Talk with other
departments like
financial aid, housing,
advising, alumni and
retention
– Survey students directly
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Create a Hub or Single Point of Contact
• For example, IUPUI Financial Wellness Committee
– Led by Marvin Smith, Director of Student Financial Services
– Representation by numerous stakeholder offices
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Financial aid
Student advising
Student housing
Student government
Undergraduate and graduate programs
Faculty
Office of Financial Literacy
– Significantly reduces silos/stovepipes; the barriers to
communicating across the institution
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Start Small, Build Up
• Focus on the most important outcome(s)
• Focus on what will impact the most number of
stakeholders
Student Loan
Indebtedness
Students
Financial
Aid
Office
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Alumni
Office
How can I apply this?
• Assess the need
– all stakeholders, instructional need
• Clearly and specifically define the goals and
objectives of the lesson, course, presentation…
– Start with goals, then assessment and finally methods
• Remember the learners’ perspective
– What is driving them, make it relevant
• Design, implement, evaluate, repeat….
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Classes, Workshops, Forums, Oh My!
• Biggest lesson learned – Just because you build it,
doesn’t mean they’ll come.
• Choose delivery methods that work best for you
and your students.
• Variety is key – Meets the needs of different
types of learners
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Classes, Workshops, Forums, Oh My!
• Formal admissions
process
• Freshman orientation
programs
• First year experience
courses
• Individual course work/
assignments
• Incorporated into
program of study
• Financial aid application
process
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• SAP appeals
• Peer mentor programs
• Electronic newsletter/
targeted emails
• Group presentations/
workshops
• Summer bridge programs
for high school students
• Student Success Programs
Classes, Workshops, Forums, Oh My!
• Office of Financial Literacy
– Phil Schuman, Director
– Money$marts web site
• FWC & SFS Leadership
• For credit class
– Hybrid & Online
– Same design
• Except for in-class portion
–
–
–
–
–
Pre/post-Tests
End of course survey
Launched Fall 2013
FWC key to promoting
306 so far, 88 started 1/12/15
• Silos reduced or removed!
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SLO’s for F151
• Upon successful completion of this course students
will be able to:
– Identify the benefits of using personal financial
planning techniques to manage finances.
– Measure risk and return and explain the trade-off
between risk and return in personal finance decisions
– Describe how to establish and maintain good credit
– Establish a strategy for monitoring and defending their
financial identity
– Identify and evaluate the components of a financial
aid package to make informed decisions regarding the
acceptance of financial aid and the taking out of
student loans.
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Make It Relevant
• Topics of interest according to research
– Saving and investing for the future
– Getting ahead financially after graduation
– Avoiding credit problems and ID theft
– Budgeting income and expenses
– Financial aid and student loans
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Make It Relevant
• Find ways to relate training to topics that matter
to students
– Ways to save money on campus
– Skills needed to make financial decisions students are
being asked to make
• loans, food, housing, transportation
• Teach the concept, show an example and then
have the students apply
– Exercises can be simple and still teach life long
financial management and problem solving skills
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EVALUATING THE PROGRAM/IMPACT
Why Measure
• Track progress towards goal(s) identified when
building the program
• Assess effectiveness of program and make
improvements
• Challenges:
– “Doing no harm” does not equal “doing good”
– Difficult to prove scientifically (attribution vs.
contribution)
• Solution: look for leading indicators —
knowledge, attitudes and behaviors
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What to Measure
• What have others done? — Use national datasets
– Numerous school and program specific research studies
– Some nationwide research on the state of financial literacy
– Very few nationwide research on effectiveness
• What can you do? — Learning value chain
–
–
–
–
–
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Input: volume and exposure
Reaction: satisfaction
Learning: knowledge and ability
Attitude: planned actions
Application: changes in behavior
Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation
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Kirkpatrick, D. L. & James D. Kirkpatrick. (2006). Evaluating training programs: The four levels, 3rd ed. San Franciso: Berrett-Koehler
The Learning Value Chain - Simplified
Level
Measurement Focus
Key Questions
Input - 0
Volume and exposure
to materials
How many participants? What topics were
presented?
Reaction - 1
Satisfaction with
program
Was the program relevant, important and
useful at this time?
Learning - 2
Knowledge and ability
to apply newly learned
skills
Did participants increase or enhance
knowledge, skills or perceptions and have
confidence to use them?
Attitude and
Planned
Action - 2
Participant planned
actions
What’s one thing you plan to do differently
related to managing your finances after
receiving this training?
Application - 3
Changes in behavior
What did you do differently after related to
managing your finances after receiving
the training?
Impact - 4
Impact
Did it impact the bottom line? Did you
meet your ultimate goal?
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What to Measure
• Leading indicator examples:
– Number of borrowers and borrowed amounts.
• Indiana University – 12% decrease in borrowing from 201213 to 2013-14.
– Number of SAP appeals (repeat vs. new).
– Number of students retained from year to year.
• Discussion
– What data might you have at your disposal that
contains leading indicators?
– What new data could you collect? Remember to make
it measurable!
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How to Measure
• Again, review the SLO’s identified when building
the program
– Implement assessment methods that will measure
whether or not the SLO’s were met
• Pre-test and post-test
• End of course survey
– Self reported data, but is still a good way to measure
• Student surveys at set times after the course, workshop or
other training/teaching event
• Grades
– Information can also be used to fine tune the
instructional methods
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I would recommend this course to other students.
Hybrid (26)
Online (39)
25
25
20
20
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0
Because of this course I am better able to manage my
personal finances.
Hybrid (26)
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Online (39)
25
20
15
10
5
0
I can develop and use a budget to plan for and keep
track of my income vs. expenses.
Hybrid (26)
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Online (39)
25
20
15
10
5
0
I understand my student loan repayment options and
how to select one that fits my financial situation.
Hybrid (26)
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Online (39)
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Example Results: Life Skills
• Nearly 728,000 courses completed by more than
214,000 students.
• Average post-course assessment score: 88%
• Immediate post-course survey (approx. 104,000
surveys):
– Average student rating for usability, relevance and
satisfaction: 4.2 out of 5
– Average knowledge before: 3.4
– Average knowledge after: 4.4
– Intent to change behavior: 94%
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Example Results: Life Skills
• Follow-up survey (approx. 13,300 surveys):
– 90% reported making a positive change in behavior
• Top behavior changes reported:
– I consider if an item is a need or want before purchasing it
and spend less on wants.
– I established educational, financial and/or career goals.
– I researched and understand the requirements to
complete my program of study.
– I avoid taking on additional debt unless I am sure I can
afford the payments.
– I spend more time on activities that help me achieve my
educational, financial and career goals.
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DISCUSSION/Q&A
Contact Info
Michele Wedel, Adjunct Instructor
Kelley School of Business, IUPUI
(317) 306-1769
mwedel@iupui.edu
Sara Wilson, USA Funds
(317) 806-0140
Sara.Wilson@usafunds.org
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