Stay Informed!

By Stephanie Halligan on 06/01/2011 @ 02:00 PM

Tags: Children's Savings Accounts, Individual Development Accounts

According to a new Visa Inc. survey, 82% of Americans surveyed believe that a course in personal finance should be a high school graduation requirement. In particular, 85% of parents surveyed said that they want to see personal finance as a graduation requirement. Yet despite this demand for classroom-based financial education, only four states have this requirement in place: Missouri, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.

The increasing complexity of our financial system makes financial knowledge and skills even more critical to a student’s future success. Financial literacy advocates continue to promote classroom-based personal finance, but with so many competing academic priorities, schools have been reluctant to add this requirement.

So given this tension, how do we encourage financial education in schools? Even without an explicit graduation requirement, there are several community partnership strategies that can help promote financial literacy in the classroom:

1. Connect with your state’s Jump$tart State Coalition to find out how you can promote financial literacy in your schools and community. Jump$tart’s state coalition network operates grassroots volunteer efforts dedicated to improving financial education access for pre-kindergarten through college-age youth.
2. Partner with a local bank or credit union and a school to start a “Bank at School” program. This is an opportunity for students to learn first-hand the basics of banking and the importance of savings by opening and depositing to accounts at their school “branch.” To learn more about Bank at School programs, visit the Delaware Bank At School website.
3. Refer students to an Individual Development Account (IDA) program serving youth. We know from practical experience that financial education – when provided in tandem with a savings account – gives children and young adults a tangible opportunity to develop and test their financial decisions. IDAs provide an excellent hands-on opportunity to develop good financial habits while actively saving toward a specific goal, like post secondary education. To learn more about IDAs or to find an IDA program in your area, visit CFED’s IDA program webpage.

Please visit CFED’s Children’s Savings and Financial Education webpage for more information on the connection between children savings initiatives and financial education.

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