Colleges Teach Students How to Pay for School, Manage Money

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:56:00 GMT

Several Texas colleges and universities are rolling out new classes and programs designed to help their students become more financially-savvy about everything from student loans to personal finances, reports Pamela Yip, business columnist for The Dallas Morning News (“Colleges Spending More Time Teaching Financial Literacy,” Sept. 1, 2008).

At the University of Texas in Arlington, students may take a course that covers such topics as life and casualty insurance, taxes, investments, and estate planning. Southern Methodist University near Dallas offers a personal finance class for students pursuing a business minor.

And the University of North Texas, in Denton, has a Student Money Management Center that provides free financial consultations to students. Students can talk to trained professionals about how to research housing options, how to establish and manage their credit, and how to graduate with a financial plan to repay their student loans.

North Texas University Unveils Comprehensive Program for All Students

The north Texas school also launched the Student-to-Student Financial Success Projects on Sept. 2 that uses a peer-to-peer model of teaching. Students can meet and discuss money matters with trained students, known as Money Management Mentors, or go online and take self-paced training models.

“We feel that some students may learn better from another student who is actually going through a similar situation, or who has recently gone through similar circumstances,” says Kimberly Goldsmith, a student coordinator for the project.

While the program is available to all students, it primarily targets first-generation college students, families with low to moderate incomes, and other traditionally under-represented students.

Unlike the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University which offer such classes only at the college level, the University of North Texas seeks to assist students with financial literacy before they enter college. The school’s Center for Economic Education helps elementary and high school teachers integrate personal finance concepts into their lesson plans.

“One of the things that we have found is that the population has very little background in basic economics and personal finance,” said Steven Cobb, director of the center and chairman of the economics department. “The earlier that we start teaching economics, the earlier students begin to understand these concepts and the better the chance that they will be good consumers.”

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Colleges Teach Students How to Pay for School, Manage Money