Financial Literacy & Education

Financial education is one important area that matters for all students whether you are an engineering, liberal arts, graduate, or any other discipline of student. Understanding how to manage ones personal finances and all that it entails is vital for a successful life. The Turk/Peterson Administration believes that Government of the Student Body can help provide resources for students in this area and will be working with faculty and staff along with the board of regents and the state government to find ways to provide resources to the student body on a variety of different personal finance items.

We believe that every student should have basic understanding and competency in the following areas:

Resources Available to Students


Cash Course
Financial literacy is an essential life skill for the 21st century. This is especially important for college students who on campus and in real life will have more financial choices and opportunities to be made than any generation before. NEFE is responding to this challenge by offering to college students and recent graduates this Web site that contains comprehensive, non-commercial information to help their financial decisions be informed ones.

HDFS 183 X
To assist educating the students of Iowa State, GSB has funded the development and implantation of a one credit online course designed to provide students with a basic overview of personal finance items.

Orientation
To help better educate students and their parents about topics of personal finance, particularly student loans, GSB is partnering with the Office of Student Financial Aid to include a required orientation session on various topics in personal finance during summer orientation.

Financial Literacy First Year Experience
Though many topics in personal finance are simple enough for most to get a handle on, other areas such as mortgages, loans, credit issues, and insurance can prove to be daunting for a student fresh into the “real world”. To better prepare the students of ISU, and to help combat the highest student debt level in the country (that of ISU students), we are proposing a course requirement for all students to complete within their first year at ISU. The Turk/Peterson Administration will be working with ISU Administration to achieve this goal.

Financial Counseling Clinic
The Iowa State University Financial Counseling Clinic is a HUD-approved, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the financial wellbeing of ISU students, faculty, staff and Ames community citizens through education and counseling in the areas of homeownership, personal finance, and credit. As a GSB funded office, all services provided to students are free of charge. For more information about the Financial Counseling Clinic and services for students please click here to be taken to the Financial Counseling Resource page of the GSB website.