Classification: Four-year private college or university.
Modules Used:
- Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for
Students.
- Module 2: Seek out Financial Aid: Funding Resources and Financial
Obligations.
- Module 3: Work Hard but Smart: How to Be Successful in School and
Graduate on Time.
- Module 4: Take Control of Your Future: Finishing School and Repaying
Your Loans.
- Module 5: Now That You Are About to Graduate: Taking Control of Your
Life.
How Used: Freshman-year-experience course.
Program Description: After attending a train-the-trainer
workshop, the director of financial aid became the champion for getting USA
Funds Life Skills® implemented at AIC. She met with the
administration to seek its support for incorporating the program in the
freshman-year experience. The administration approved her request without
hesitation and asked her to proceed. She worked with the instructors to
integrate the program into the course curriculum. For the first two years, one
class meeting was devoted to each of the five modules. Recently, the approach
has been revised to reflect the specific needs of the Native-American student
body. Information related to student loans is being de-emphasized because very
few of these students participate in the loan program. Information regarding
basic money management and other financial-literacy topics continues to be
presented.
Staffing Requirements: The director of financial aid selects
specific information from Modules 1-5 to integrate into her presentations to
sessions of the freshman-year-experience class.
Recommendations: The director of financial aid reports that
the train-the-trainer workshop provided a great opportunity to learn about USA
Funds Life Skills and how to present it. Following the lead of USA Funds
debt-management consultants, she has found that prizes and incentives work well
with freshmen. Vendors are very willing to support these efforts with pens,
pencils, mouse pads and other freebies that students enjoy. The director
encourages ongoing assessment of student needs, which, in turn, leads to
informed decisions about the best ways to deliver USA Funds Life Skills.
Campus Contact:
Nadine Waldrop, Director of Financial
Aid
Phone: (602) 944-3335
E-mail: mnwaldrop@aicag.edu