The Office of Financial Aid and the student Finance Club have partnered to offer FinanceU, a financial literacy program designed to increase the financial awareness of students and to assist students in making informed financial decisions now and in their professional lives. The Finance Club is advised by Emanuel Oliveira in the School of Business and Economics. The Financial Aid Office representative is Cindy Cowell.
The inaugural event was an informational table in the library on Dec 12. Students who stopped by were offered information on budgeting, saving (including retirement saving), and financial aid.
FinanceU is a great avenue to introduce students to CashCourse, a free financial literacy tool sponsored by the Alumni Association and available on the Financial Aid website at www.cashcourse.org/michigantech.
On Dec 12 students who attended the event were surveyed regarding their current budgeting and saving practices.
A total of 69 surveys were collected. An overview of the responses follows showed that 54 male and 15 females responded. The surveys represented 22 different majors and one faculty member.
Of the respondents, 78% have a savings plan with 100% of those with a savings plan indicating that the tool they use for tracking saving is their checking account. Other savings tools used include a piggy bank, securities and no tool used.
Only 15% of those surveyed budget their money. The budgeting tools used by this 15% include Quick Books, Mint.com, an online banking site, phone apps or by hand.
FinanceU will sponsor additional financial literacy events during the Spring 2013 semester. The program is also available for presentation to student groups. For more information or to schedule a presentation, contact Cindy Cowell at ccowell@mtu.edu.