Kansas State University is expanding and enhancing financial educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students with Powercat Financial Counseling (PFC), financial literacy teaching events, and the American Student Assistance (ASA) online tool, SALT^TM. The project includes education in the key areas of budgeting, understanding credit, and managing student loans.

Project plan and activities:

The goal of Kansas State University’s Powercat Financial Counseling (PFC) is to improve the financial literacy and success of all students, while also proving professional experience for students interested in financial planning as a career. PFC is a nationally recognized college financial education program centered on proactive service learning in all areas of college financial education. One of the unique features of PFC is the use of peer-to-peer teaching, which has been shown to be effective in student learning retention. One-on-one, group, and online counseling education are available to meet different learning needs of students. Students in the PFC program are trained to provide free counseling and group education to fellow students on topics such as student loan planning, budgeting, credit and responsible credit use, saving, and identity theft. Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to meet one-on-one with PFC peer financial counselors to develop personalized financial planning strategies based on their individual financial circumstances. PFC also hosts a variety of fun, interactive events throughout the academic year to provide financial information via entertaining, memorable experiences.

As a part of Kansas State University’s project to enhance student financial education, the Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Recognition of Achievement in Professional Development Program incorporated financial education as a required component in at least one of the 10 teaching events graduate students must attend.

Kansas State University used university media venues (including newspaper, email, social media, bulletin boards, listservs, radio, etc.) to share information about available financial education resources.

The SALT online tool gives students and graduates the capability to understand and manage the full magnitude of their college debt in one view along with rich, multi-channel financial education that encourages positive behaviors for important financial skills relevant to students. SALT and the CGS developed financial tools and resources are incorporated in all approaches to allow students a hands-on experience understanding their own personal student loan debt and repayment options along with financial education and resources.

More information on the project can be found here.