The Akron Legal News

Ohio Dominican, Education First Credit Union team up for financial literacy

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: August 27, 2015

Ohio Dominican University and Education First Credit Union are teaming up to offer free personal finance seminars to high school students, college students, faculty, staff and even parents.

“I wouldn’t think that, in this day and age, (personal finance) would be an important issue,” said Deb Olbrys, chief sales and marketing officer for Education First Credit Union. “But finances play such a vital role in our lives and you’ve got to start that education at the time when you begin to make those decisions that start to affect the rest of your life.”

A bank account and a debit card might seem like they are pretty easy to manage, but today, high school students are entering a world where they are likely to be saddled with more college debt than any generation before them by the time they earn their first college degree.

In 2015, college graduates are leaving school as the most indebted class ever with 71 percent of bachelor’s degree earners accumulating at least some debt. The average graduate owes more than $35,000, according to an analysis of government data by Mark Kantrowitz, publisher at Edvisors.

Not to mention, once a high school student leaves home, the credit card offers start rolling in with pages and pages of small print accompanying pre-approved cards.

“By the time you get into the middle of high school you probably at least have a savings account and are maybe beginning to think about opening a checking account and getting a debit card,” said Olbrys. “But besides that one person you talk to at the bank or credit union, you probably haven’t heard much about it at that point in time.”

Kenneth Fah, chair of Ohio Dominican’s Division of Business and associate professor in economics and business, said that students today have thousands of dollars in debt even before they graduate and no idea how to manage it.

“But a lot of students these days are not exposed to the dangers of finance, the dangers of debt accumulation,” said Fah. “It has become our responsibility to educate them and make sure that they have the relevant skills to deal with the issues that they encounter.”

The idea for the collaboration came out of a mutual desire to create a program with impact and longevity.

“Both institutions were very interested in something that was long-lasting, a program that would allow students to become lifelong learners,” said Fah.

Education First was already in some high schools, but when ODU approached it with an idea to expand its reach throughout Franklin County, both institutions jumped at the opportunity.

The seminars will be presented by Education First staff and ODU juniors and seniors majoring in finance and economics.

Over the course of the next five years, the institutions plan to offer four Saturday seminars per semester, and high school students will be invited to attend, if they can be coaxed into a classroom on a weekend.

“We are working with the university where they will either get some extra credit at their school, or they could get some college credit,” Olbrys said.

ODU faculty and staff can also show up if they need to brush up on their finance skills, and even parents of high school students will be offered a few evening seminars.

“I think even they need it for the same reasons,” said Olbrys. “They may not have had much of it up to this point.”

The curriculum isn’t set in stone but ODU staff and Education First are working on hammering out the details. Some topics will focus on creating budgets, tracking income and expenses and setting financial goals.

“There’s a good session that we’re going to have about needs versus wants,” said Olbrys. “That is always an eye opener.”

Olbrys said that schools today are beginning to focus on preparing students for financial success more than they ever have in the past, possibly due to the realization that it shouldn’t be something that sets a young person back.

“I think they’ve come to understand from their own experiences that this is not something that you need to learn the hard way,” she said. “If you don’t have a sound, basic knowledge of how to manage your finances, you could make some serious mistakes that cost you a lot when you get it wrong and it costs you for a long time.”

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