The University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s (UMBC) project, entitled Go Live, assists undergraduate and graduate students in developing sound financial behaviors in three segments: Cultivation of New Graduate Students (undergraduate students), Success Seminars and Workshops (undergraduate and graduate students), and PROF-it Professors-in-Training (Graduate Students). The content of UMBC’s project focuses on funding graduate education, debt reduction, budgeting, and planning for good financial health following graduate school.

Project plan and activities:

The program Go Live implements flexible programming/curricula to strengthen and enhance the financial literacy of UMBC’s diverse student population. Go Live involves transitioning existing print and online materials to “live mini-workshops,” geared towards financial literacy. These workshops are incorporated into the annual Graduate Student Success Seminar curriculum for the professional development of graduate students and into the PROF-it Professors-in-Training (a Preparing Future Faculty-type program) workshop schedule. Some of these sessions were videotaped and webcasted, to be used as self-paced learning aids and as content material to supplement future in-person workshops. The GoLive financial education series includes, how to save money and avoid debt when you make less than $30,000/year; how improving your credit rating improves your competitiveness for jobs that require security clearance and lowers mortgage rates; planning your move from a “student” budget to a professional paycheck; and a regional personal finance expo featuring sessions on insurance, annuities, mortgages, spending, and credit.

To engage undergraduate students, UMBC worked with the Office of Undergraduate Education, the Student Government Association, Office of Student Life, and UMBC’s scholarship programs. Modules on financial education were added to the freshman “Introduction to an Honors University” seminar course.  In addition, they leveraged the Annual Summer Horizons program for undergraduate students, and added a session on “Financial Preparations for Live after College.”

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County program used a multitude of social media avenues to engage students, including the Graduate School website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, a career portal, and Dissertation House blog. Financial literacy modules were followed by Go Live in-person mini-discussions on topics such as: CashCourse video, Credit, Easy Living on a Budget, Managing Your Bank Accounts, Basic Investing, and Financing Your Education.

More information on the project can be found here.