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FDIC Webinar
Please save the date for September 2, from 3-4:30pm. The FDIC, in conjunction with many other financial literacy organzations, will have a follow up webinar that will outline a plan to bank all Iowa high school students by 2025. Register here.
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College Credit Personal Finance Course at ISU
Personal and Family Finance (HD FS 283) is available online during the fall, spring and summer semesters at Iowa State University (ISU). This introductory financial education course empowers students with the information, knowledge, and skills to manage their personal finances and navigate the financial services marketplace. The course is part of the core curriculum for the Financial Counseling and Planning major in the College of Human Sciences, which is a CFP Board Registered Program and an AFCPE® Registered Education Program. Carolyn Steckelberg, Assistant Professor of Practice and Accredited Financial Counselor®, teaches the course with emphasis on high quality, unbiased financial content and application of financial literacy skills to students’ own financial situations.
Course modules include:
- Understanding personal finance
- Career planning
- Financial statements, tools, and budgets
- Managing income taxes
- Managing checking and savings accounts
- Building and maintaining good credit
- Credit cards and consumer loans
- Vehicle and other major purchases
- Obtaining affordable housing
- Managing property and liability risk
- Planning for health care expenses
- Life insurance planning
- Investment fundamentals
- Retirement and estate planning
Eligible Iowa high school juniors and seniors may be able to take the online course for college credit and meet the new financial literacy graduation requirement under provisions of the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) Act. For detailed information about eligibility and the application process, see https://www.registrar.iastate.edu/students/post-sec The deadline for new admissions to PSEO at Iowa State for Fall Semester 2020 is August 14, 2020.
Please contact Carolyn Steckelberg at steckelb@iastate.edu with any questions about this course.
Financial Education Affects Financial Knowledge and Behaviors
Does financial education work?
This question lies at the heart of the ongoing debate over whether investing in financial education is “worth it.” Those on both sides of the debate point to research to bolster their positions. The problem is, some of this research—and the conclusions drawn from it—are outdated.
A new study should bring everyone up to speed.
“Financial Education Affects Financial Knowledge and Downstream Behaviors” (Kaiser, Lusardi, Menkhoff, & Urban, 2020), a meta-analysis conducted by leading experts in the field, concludes that financial education has a sizable effect on both financial knowledge and financial behavior. In fact:
- The effect sizes of financial education interventions on financial knowledge were similar to those of educational interventions in reading and math.
- The effect sizes for financial behavior were similar to those in health or energy conservation behavior interventions.
Read more about the report here.
(Image credit: Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash)
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UNI Helps Prepare Educators to Teach Financial Literacy
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All Iowa high school students are now required to complete financial literacy courses, part of a legislative effort to ready students for life after graduation. UNI is helping educators teach those important fundamentals with a boost from the Iowa Credit Union Foundation (ICUF).
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The foundation recently pledged $50,000 to UNI’s business college to support its continuing education programming to prepare high school educators to teach financial literacy curriculum in Iowa high schools. “It aligns with our mission to empower people and communities to achieve financial well-being,” said Jaimie Miller, ‘08 UNI graduate and executive director of ICUF. “Educators are the core of any curriculum, and we want to ensure they have the resources needed to succeed in the classroom.”
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While Iowa school districts have a wide range of options available for a financial literacy curriculum, there are few options for the continuing education necessary for educators to teach this topic. This summer, UNI will provide continuing education in financial literacy with the option of earning graduate credit. An estimated 200-400 teachers will participate in the UNI training over the next five years.
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“We appreciate the Foundation’s support of this critical training curriculum for Iowa educators,” said Jennifer Anderson, business teaching coordinator and instructor at UNI’s business college. “Teaching the importance of personal finance early to Iowa students can make a difference for the rest of their lives, whether that be minimizing student debt, making wise career choices, keeping expenses low or saving early. It benefits these individuals and their future families and grows the prosperity of our Iowa communities.”
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The Iowa law, passed in 2018 and amended in 2019, requires that starting with the graduating class of 2020-2021, all high school students must complete at least one-half unit of personal finance literacy as a condition of graduation. Iowa Department of Education guidance can be found here.
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New Resources from Next Gen Personal Finance
Foolproof Foundation
FoolProof provides a completely free curriculum that focuses on teaching young people
consumer life skills, not just rote financial skills. FoolProof consist of 27 interactive modules for
middle and high school level. To reinforce module lessons we include assignments and group activities. Find out more about how to get students started at:
Family at Home Financial Fun Pack
The Council for Economic Education released several at home fun packs for learning about economics and financial literacy. They are available at each of the following grade levels: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12. View them all here.
Econ Lowdown
Econ Lowdown is a resource offered by the St. Louis Federal Reserve. They offer a wealth of resources. Check out all the resources and register for a free account here. They also offer a resource called Page One Economics, which provides timely overviews of economic topics.
Next Gen Personal Finance Certification Courses
NGPF now offers an NGPF Certification for Educators on specific Personal Finance topics, free of charge! There will be several opportunities later this fall to earn certification. Fall courses include budgeting, insurance, saving, and taxes. Find more information here.
(Image credit:Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash)
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Stefanie Rosenberg Wager
Social Studies Consultant
21st Century Skills- Civic and Financial Literacy
World Languages
Iowa Department of Education
Grimes State Office Building
400 E. 14th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone: 515-725-7842
Cell: 515-419-2876
Fax: 515-242-5988
Email: stefanie.wager@iowa.gov
Social Studies standards, website, Iowa Core Social Studies, newsletter, calendar, Pinterest
Financial Literacy website, newsletter, Pinterest
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