Financial Education for Students: A Playbook for Success
Many people today are concerned about how to prepare young people to meet the challenges of the evolving financial landscape. But what are the best ways to present financial education for students? On this site, you’ll be introduced to the prime topics and strategic problems to address in order to build financial literacy programs for youth success.
Principal Personal Finance Subjects for Youth
Conducting financial education for students in high school and young adults requires a certain touch that involves addressing the subjects that have real-life relevance to them. Giving them real-world knowledge just in time to help them become self-sufficient and independent makes them enthusiastic about learning and willing to pick up new, positive habits. The three workshops we have found most engaging for young people are “Buying a Car,” “Paying for College,” and “Moving Out on Your Own.”
Buying a Car: this personal finance course for college or high school students discusses the topics of setting viable goals, budgeting for a vehicle purchase (including identifying all the hidden expenses), choosing the right vehicle, applying for credit, and insurance shopping.
Paying for College: this workshop covers the themes of career development, creating a college budget, educational return on investment, creative funding sources and educational options.
Moving Out on Your Own: this class imparts essential knowledge about personal finance goal-setting, budget-writing, fixed versus variable expenses, credit management, and the basics of insurance.
When you strive to give youth these valuable skills that will guide their real-life money decisions, you will insure the maximum success of your financial education for students project.
Know the Audience to Advance Financial Education for Students
Financial education for students of any age requires in-depth understanding of the challenges they must currently meet. First of all, what conditions in their family lives may be affecting their finances? For instance, are they from a low or high socioeconomic background? Are their parents involved in teaching them money skills, or not? The fiscal behaviors kids develop as children are major indicators of how they’ll handle money in the future.
Secondly, how have kids responded to the influences of advertising in their lives? Marketers spend billions every year to target young people with the message to buy, buy, buy. A personal finance course for high school students and above should include counteractive messaging that helps them understand how saving can help them set themselves up for a more positive outlook.
The third challenge is the financial sentiments kids have put in place. Money raises a different emotional response in each individual. These financial beliefs and attitudes begin to solidify at a very young age, and serve as indicators of how people will react to money decisions as they mature. It’s up to us to increase their willingness to work toward more secure financial futures.
Fourth, how much financial education have children received? Chances are it’s not very much. Although more states today may be mandating such courses, More States Require Students to Learn About Money Matters – The New York Times (nytimes.com), parents and schools alike are failing to transform young people into adults who are capable of self-sufficiency and independence. And existing financial education for students is frequently found to be substandard, even ineffective. We need to move forward with programs that make a real difference by addressing these challenges.
Financial Education Student Guides
The NFEC’s curriculum packages come with the Print on Demand Center, or PODC. The PODC gives you the ability to print high-quality student guides that perfectly align with your intended class structure, at a significantly reduced cost.
The PODC is an application the NFEC developed that allows you to print student guides from your computer or at a local printer. This program gives you several distinct advantages that will save you time and money as you easily customize the student guides you need.
-One of the most popular features of the Print on Demand Center is that it gives you maximum flexibility. You can print out only the specific lessons that you’ll be teaching. The PODC has a clearly organized table of contents, showing you the activity length and topics covered so you can quickly select lessons that fit your goals and schedule. From a 45-minute workshop to a full-semester course, the PODC and curriculum provides you modular lessons to meet a variety of end goals.
-Our Patrons save money with the Print on Demand Center. Compared to other organizations that charge high fees per student guide, the PODC allows you to make copies at a significantly reduced rate – more than 96% lower than many other programs. It’s our objective to make teaching financial literacy affordable, so you can serve more people.
-The PODC is also better for the environment. It reduces paper use and energy costs associated with product delivery. Instead of receiving a 400-page student guide filled with lessons that won’t be used, you just print the specific lessons you’ll be covering. Of course, you always have the option of purchasing the student guides from us too.
– You may print student guides anytime. In the past, we have received calls from financial educators who needed student guides immediately for a class. Now there’s no need for advance notice. You can have a customized student guide printed and in your hands in minutes, not weeks.
– One of the most important aspects of the PODC is that it distinguishes you as a consultant. While the average financial educator sells organizations on prepackaged workshops, NFEC Patrons act as highly-valued consultants. They take time to understand the needs of the groups they serve, and the PODC provides a solution to print student guides that specifically meet those needs. You can customize the program for your client or audience in just a few minutes.
The PODC is easy to use. After you download the Print on Demand Center, there are just 3 simple steps to follow:
First, select the lessons you wish to print. You’ll find a full list of lessons broken down by topic and activity length in the instructor’s guide – simply choose the lessons you plan to teach and print them with a few clicks of your mouse.
Next, click print. You can choose to print the lessons in black-and-white or color. The PODC prints the lessons in perfect order with a cover, testing, and all the other student guide features already included.
Third, bind the material with staples or your choice of binding options, and you’re off to teach.
The NFEC’s Print on Demand Center empowers you with the tools that highlight you as a highly-qualified consultant. The goals of the PODC are to save you money, build speaking opportunities, better serve your audience, and help you be an active part of the financial literacy movement.
We commend you for your interest and encourage you to take action to improve the financial capabilities of your community members.