Financial Literacy should be taught to our college students!
I've lived in Mississippi for most of my life; I graduated high school here. I remember feeling so nervous my senior year and the summer before I started college for the first time, because I felt so unprepared. We had spent the past year in school casually discussing what we would do after high school, if we had any college plans, etc. - but I never felt that anyone actually taught me how to do the important things I would need to know to get enrolled in college, to pay for college, save for my future, or budget correctly. I am finding that, unfortunately, this was the standard.
Before last year, students in Mississippi were not
required to take any College and/or Career Readiness courses to graduate.
Thankfully, this has changed! Starting in 2022, Mississippi implemented a
year-long College & Career Readiness Course that is now required learning
for all students in order to graduate. In this year-long course, students learn
everything from choosing their career path to planning how to pay for college to
setting financial and career goals. Financial literacy is one of the eight
units covered in the course, and I feel this is something that has been
desperately needed for a long time!
Starting college is the first time many students experience
independence in making financial decisions. This can lead to unsustainable
spending habits and uninformed choices. College students need to learn how to
budget and to track their spending and manage savings, as everyone uses and benefits
from these skills in their lives after graduation. I believe implementing a
required financial literacy course to ensure students are comfortable managing
their money would be a smart move overall.
Research done in 2019 by the University of Illinois highlighted the staggering economic situation that many college students are currently dealing with. This study deemed only 22% of 18 to 24-year-olds as “financially stable”. In a stark contrast, almost 70% were considered “financially at risk”.
One of the most common debt traps for college students is poor
credit card choices; this age group is the group most likely to default on credit
cards and/or use alternative financing services, such as payday loans. Most
college students have a limited understanding of credit card terms and
conditions, the high interest rates, and any of the fees. Many students simply
do not know how to manage these cards, which hurts their overall financial
well-being. This cycle of early credit card debt and/or payday loans is only made
worse by a lack of skills in budgeting and expenditure tracking. According to a
survey by LendEDU, a financial advice website, a mere 18% of college students felt
that they were very knowledge about creating and maintaining a budget. On the
other side of this survey, over 40% of college students surveyed admitted that
they don’t track their monthly spending, and a total of 58% of those surveyed
reported not saving money each month.
Despite these findings proving that most college students
have limited financial literacy knowledge, many students still appear nervous
about the potential negative impact of their credit card usage on their credit scores. This is
promising only for the fact that it shows that college students understand the
implications of financial illiteracy, and therefore, should be more willing to learn
new financial skills and elaborate on any skills that they currently do have. I truly
believe that a required financial literacy course could get college students on
track for making better spending choices, which will benefit them and their
families in the future.
Because this isn't currently required learning, and those of you reading may already be in college or on your way to graduating, here are 5 quick tips for college students to get you started on the right path to financial literacy:
- Use a budget - and stick to it!
- Spend less than you earn; track all of your spending and earnings.
- If you have them, know the terms of your student loan(s) and/or scholarships.
- Have an Emergency Fund.
- Make your payments on time!
Hi Jennifer! I agree entirely with your point here. I struggled quite a bit when first throwing myself into financially taking care of myself because I didn't know how to properly budget my money. Even now if you asked me to do my taxes, I'd have no clue what to do either (though I don't make enough currently to have to file.) I absolutely love that they're now requiring a college and career readiness class that is year-long. I took one but it was only a semester, so I remember nothing. Thank you for this informative blog!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Jennifer! I remember in high school we only had to take one economics class, that focused mainly on economic theory (not financial literacy), and NO financial literacy courses in university. I'm very happy to learn that College/Career Readiness courses are required to graduate now!
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer! I absolutely could not agree with more! I have found things in my day-to-day life about finances and wondered why was I not taught this? Why did I have to learn this hard way? Not knowing the simple things about finances felt very embarrassing to me. A simple finance class should definitely be implemented into school programs.
ReplyDeleteI would not call myself financially literate at this time in my life but I do already strive for the tips you shared. Money is a scary thing to be in charge of and I do wish there was more focus on it in the school curriculum. It can feel like you are just thrown into life and expected to know the ins and outs of using money wisely. I am glad that classes like this may be required to graduate so that hopefully less people can be “financially at risk”.
ReplyDeleteJennifer this is an amazing post. lucky my mom taught some stuff to do to finance better while i am in college. i just recently graduated in 2022 and they implemented these thing in my school right before i graduated. I am so glad they did cause college and career readiness was really helpful for me and what i am doing in college now.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, your blog was very informative and I can tell you researched it thoroughly. College readiness is very important when you are planning your future. I love how you captured my attention with such immense tenacity. The quality of facts that you presented will help a student plan their college experience, or in someone's day to day life. Continuing education is essential to a successful career. The five tips you recommended is a great start in learning about financial literacy.
ReplyDeleteExcellent blog Jennifer! I found myself in the same situation when i also graduated high school last year. Though in my high school we had a college readiness course (that was required), i felt like we weren't really taught about the financial side of being in college or just on your own as well as we should've. The furthest we were taught was a simulation game we played in hypothetical situations, and we were responsible to keep a budget. Though it was a great visualization, that was all I was taught. I feel that they need to go in further detail when it comes to financials, and not just for the college years.
ReplyDeleteHello Jennifer! Great blog and information about financial literacy. I also think it is important for people our age to learn smart ways to manage money. I need to learn a little more myself because I have bad spending habit on the smallest things. Your blog enlightened me into finding ways to manage my money and saving for the future. When I was a freshman coming into mgccc I was quite prepared because I had money saved up from my summer job but as soon as a was moved in for a month I saw an increase number in my savings account because I did not know how to save while I was in college.
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer! I finished reading your article and I agree with your position of financial and college readiness courses being available to high school students. Too many first time college students fall into the trap of not understanding how to properly manage their finances, and they can fall into a pit of debt they don't know how to climb out of. So helping many students improve their financial situations before college is a great idea that I'm glad is being implemented now.
ReplyDeleteJenn, I am so glad this is a conversation topic! I have been complaining for YEARS that financial literacy is a CORE education topic and should be taught as such. In the Junior/Senior year of High School - students should be required to take a tax course, a credit score course (what is credit and how do you build/maintain it), and a college/career readiness course. I am super grateful to know that they are at least implementing one of these three life skills. Knowing that students take out immense loans to pay for college, with no real insight on how they will be paying those loans back, coupled with the fact that many believe it is the "only way," - I am not surprised to see that 70% are considered "financially at risk!" Thankfully, I grew up in a household where I was taught these competencies, but I know only some are that lucky. Thank you for bringing this subject to light in your blog.
ReplyDeleteI moved out at 17 and didn't have parents that were financially savvy. It was tough figuring out bills and over spending. Luckily, I never got a credit card. I didn't truly figure out my finances till I was at least 25. I have always believed a financial class should be offered as young as freshman year in high and mandatory to graduate. I am very glad things are changing for the better. I'll teach my kids what I have learned and maybe one day they will be able to teach me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Jennifer. You made so many good points in your post. I couldn't agree more that these skills need to be taught to highschool/college students. It is such an important part of adulthood that young adults should feel prepared for.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, your article was great. I'm so glad I am not the only one who thinks this. Kids are the future and this article will equip them for the real world in the best way. I wish articles like this were around when I was a kid. Thank you for touching on this topic!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well put together and informative article Jennifer! I strongly agree with everything you have said about financial literacy, it is nice to see more people caring. I even think they need to really push this subject throughout high school. It is also crazy to see the 70% fact that you wrote about cause I know a lot of people that have bad habits with credit card, I have even had a few of my own but definitely learned from them.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very informative article. Thank you Jennifer for providing such a good representation of Financial Literacy. I'm sure we could all have better spending habits. When it comes to money we have to be careful to not get carried away with spending. It's always good to have a budget or something of that nature to help with our spending decisions. Thanks for the blog.
ReplyDeleteJenn, this was such a great pick! From my perspective, it seems that every graduating high school class longs for the same things: we all wish we had been better prepared for the real world and the issues we face in adulthood. Money is probably the most common issue we all face. I'm glad you highlighted debt traps and other real-world examples of how uneducated people make mistakes with their money. The youth NEEDS to be educated on this topic! Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well thought out and informative article. You made a lot of very interesting points and provided good information. I completely agree with your statements that starting college is the first time many students experience independence in making financial decisions.This can lead to unsustainable spending habits and uninformed choices. College students need to learn how to budget and to track their spending and manage savings, as everyone uses and benefits from these skills in their lives after graduation. I believe implementing a required financial literacy course to ensure students are comfortable managing their money would be a smart move overall.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I believe your post brought up a very good topic that should be discussed more often. We often send high schoolers into the world of college not being prepared for the life change at all, especially when it comes to financial literacy. I didn't learn how to fill out a check or balance a check book until early last year! I believe the article you chose to use was very informative also and contained a lot of important components.
ReplyDeleteAwesome article. I believe every institute needs to follow pursuit with such. I went to beauty school however; so it was very different. Our FASA covered our books and workbook and supplies we needed. Only thing we came out of pocket for was our lunch. Also, only con in beauty school is was from 8am to 4pm so its no time to work and it took up all of your time because of school work in the beginning. Now that I have enter COLLEGE, COLLEGE, it was totally different for me and hard because I work a full time position as a hair stylist, and I was not use to paying for books. But this is informative information.
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