The Akron Legal News

Local colleges putting greater emphasis on financial literacy for their students

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: January 26, 2016

When students graduate from Capital University and The Ohio State University, school officials want them to leave with more than an academic education.

Both schools have bolstered their efforts to provide students with financial smarts.

“There is no question in anyone’s mind that many of our students are not adequately prepared to deal with financial realities,” said Susan Kannenwischer, Capital director of financial aid.

“Incorporating financial literacy into the curriculum has begun to evolve and will continue to do so. College students don’t typically see the need for this type of education and so it is an ongoing challenge for us to find new and exciting ways to make this relevant and help them understand how important it is for them to learn this material.”

Bryan Ashton, assistant director of OSU’s Office of Student Life Student Wellness Center, oversees the university’s financial education and outreach programs, including Scarlet and Gray Financial.

Scarlet and Gray, available to all enrolled students, features a peer to peer financial coaching component.

Ashton said he believes there’s a common misconception that students will inherently understand financial matters and how to manage their money.

“What we know is that this topic is often not fully covered in schools and often not discussed in the home environment. We are hopeful to erode the stigma around talking about money and allow students to ask questions that they may have in a safe environment,” he said.

“Additionally, many students think that since they may have limited resources that they do not need to develop a financial plan. However, this is a great time to develop a plan and begin to examine how today’s financial decisions can impact their financial future.”

Kannenwischer agreed.

“We see a lot of students that take the attitude that they’ll worry about financial issues later. They are doing whatever it takes to get their degree while enjoying the college experience and they will worry about the money once they’re done,” she said.

“Many of these students feel like their current financial habits don’t have any impact on their long-term financial lives so they continue to splurge on wants or fail to save or take steps to spend less money.”

In an effort to create balance, Capital offers SALT, a resource created by American Student Assistance, to help students become financially savvy.

The two-fold initiative incorporates financial literacy tools and loan repayment assistance.

“We partnered with them just under a year ago primarily for the financial literacy tools that include on-demand, web-based modules (MyMoney 101) about budgeting, credit cards, saving, insurance, student loans, investing, etc. They also provide scholarship and internship searches and many helpful articles and other resources our students can use to gain valuable money-management skills,” Kannenwischer said.

The second piece of the resource is that SALT serves as a neutral third-party to help students transition from college students to successful loan repayers.

“In spite of our best efforts to help prepare students, the most confusing time is often six months after graduation when students enter into loan repayment,” Kannenwischer said.

In addition to SALT, Capital offers a personal finance course and an online learning program that is completed prior to incoming students arriving on campus.

Kannenwischer also provides an in-person financial literacy session to all incoming students.

“I stress that the daily choices they make even as ‘poor college students’ will have a long-term impact,” she said, adding that the programming is making a difference.

“One student recently came to our office struggling to pay the balance on his account. While we were able to find some additional funding for him, I required him to complete two of the MyMoney 101 modules through SALT before we added the funding to his account. When he came back into the office to follow up, he said the modules were very helpful and really got him to think about money in a new light. I considered this a huge success.”

Ashton said Ohio State has been providing financial education and support to students since the early 2000s.

“Scarlet and Gray helps students to create the life that they desire through a goal-driven financial budgeting process,” he said.

In addition to personalized peer coaching appointments, the venture includes group financial presentations and online financial education resources.

The large group presentations typically fall into a series targeted at first-year students or presentations to student organizations and classes.

“Additionally, online offerings provide an opportunity for us to scale the reach of financial education across the campus,” he said.

“In the past year, we have used a third-party online module that assists students in enhancing their financial knowledge and an iTunes U course, which allows for some self-guided knowledge gain.”

Ashton said the university takes pride in being one of the first institutions in the country to launch a comprehensive financial wellness program.

Nearly all of the students — 94 percent — who have had a one-on-one peer coaching session said they would refer the service to a friend.

“Qualitative data gathered from coaching sessions shows that students benefit from peer coaching for a variety of reasons. First, they find it beneficial to talk to someone other than friends or family regarding financial concerns,” Ashton said.

“Second, they appreciate having a peer coach who is in their same age range guide them through financial education. Finally, they find the relaxed atmosphere of a peer coaching session to be comfortable and less intimidating.”

Ashton said he enjoys helping students navigate the complex world of money in an unbiased way.

“For many students, the conversation with our team may be one of the first conversations that they’ve had about money and we can really work with them to see how money can assist them in achieving their dreams,” he said.

“I think that one of the biggest challenges is that students, and humans in general, tend to have a short-term outlook when it comes to issues like their finances. However, early years can have a huge impact on an individual’s long-term financial situation, and we have an opportunity to help shape students financial lives.”

Kannenwischer said Capital officials are always available for students who need help taking control of their financial lives.

“Money is very personal and I believe it’s human nature to feel judged if someone tells them they are not handling money correctly. I don’t think this is unique to college students,” she said.

“Some students I have seen are genuinely afraid and have no idea how things will work out financially for them but they choose to live in ignorance. These realities make it very hard to get students to buy into any sort of programming. The few students who experience a light bulb moment make it all worthwhile, though. When a student is proud of the smart financial choices they’ve made, we feel like we have made a small difference in their future.”

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