Oakwood College is a private, four-year Historically Black College or University located in Huntsville, Ala. Oakwood College serves approximately 1,550 students.

Oakwood College conducts a special two-day program called “The B.A.R.B.Q” for Better Awareness Regarding Borrowers’ Questions. Students are required to attend one of six sessions of the program.

Separate stations are arranged for underclassmen, juniors and seniors. All students receive debt-management information. In addition, they receive information relevant to their academic level: Freshman and sophomores receive scholarship information, juniors learn about resume writing, and seniors practice interview techniques. The debt-management information provided during the program draws on the USA Funds Life Skills^® module, “Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students.”

To encourage student participation, the program is promoted through mass mailings, flyers, chapel-service announcements and through the quarterly financial-aid newsletter. In addition, education lenders and local merchants supply door prizes and barbeque-food items are served after each session.

In addition to financial-aid staff, faculty from the business and social-work departments, as well as career-education staff and outside consumer-credit counselors have participated in the program.

Based on student evaluations, nine out of 10 student-participants judged the program beneficial. The scholarship information provided at the event is credited with increasing the percentage of Oakwood students who receive scholarships. In addition, Oakwood College reports that it benefits from better-informed student-loan borrowers who are less likely to default on their education loans.