Eat. Drink. Study. Money. This is the new slogan on t-shirts circulating the campus to encourage Northwest Vista College students to learn about being savvy with money and reducing debt.
April is a perfect time to educate students since the month is recognized as Financial Literacy Month. The Council for Economic Education said at last count, only 20 states require students to take a high school economics course to graduate, and only 17 require a course in financial literacy.
To help NVC students, the college received funds from a five- college grant called the Student Financial Empowerment Project, in partnership with Achieving the Dream and funded by One Main financial. A major part of this program is CashCourse, a free online financial education resource designed by the National Endowment for Financial Education.
While NVC received this grant last year, it wasn’t until this year, under the leadership of Lisa McGoldrick of the President’s Office, that branding and implementation of this project really kicked off. During the month of April, the NVC Financial Literacy committee has planned four events to encourage students and employees to register for CashCourse. The online software covers six main areas:
- Money 101
- Paying for education
- Shopping smart
- Working and earning
- Money and relationships
- Solving financial problems
Educating students about loans and credit cards is critical because many pay for college with those two items. According to Sallie Mae’s 2016 report, “How America Pays for College,” 20 percent of college costs are paid by borrowing (either by the student or the parent). Most of that is comprised of student loans, but 5 percent of students use credit cards to help fund college costs.
At the local level, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 10,416 NVC students in the 2014-15 academic year received some type of grant, scholarship or student loans to pay for college. Also about 12.6 percent of our students who borrow loans default on their payments, according to the National Student Loan Data System. The national default rate is 11.3 percent.
Lisa said NVC’s overarching goal in financial literacy is to implement a process into the math and EDUC curriculums to help students improve their understanding of financial products, services and concepts.
“We want to empower students to make informed choices, avoid pitfalls, know where to go for help, and take responsible actions to improve their present and long-term financial well-being.” Lisa added.
Students line up to get food and free gifts if they sign up for Cash Course