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.

How Used: College-survival course.

Program Description: According to the vice president for student affairs, improving student financial literacy was the underlying reason for introducing USA Funds^® Life Skills^® to students at Our Lady of Holy Cross College. Knowing that students carry a large debt load, she and her colleagues in admissions and financial aid agreed that the program supported the college's commitment to educating the whole person. As a commuter campus, the college has difficulty getting students to attend programs, so campus administrators chose to incorporate Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students and Module 2: Seek out Financial Aid: Funding Resources and Financial Obligations into a college-survival course. This one-credit course is required for graduation and generally is taken during the first or second term of enrollment. Instructors for the course include admissions counselors, the vice president for student affairs and the vice president for planning and development.

Modules 1 and 2 are incorporated into the college-survival-course curriculum. Developing budgets, distinguishing between needs and wants, examining credit reports, and making borrowing decisions are popular topics in this course. The instructors use the budgeting game as a homework assignment, requiring students to bring completed budgets to class for discussion. Adult students find the budgeting section especially helpful as they try to manage a household while attending college. Traditional students, on the other hand, gain a deeper appreciation of the financial decisions that their parents make.

Staffing Requirements: Modules 1 and 2 are facilitated by admissions counselors, the vice president for student affairs and the vice president for planning and development.

Recommendations: The vice president for student affairs suggests that defining how the program should be used is the first step in implementating USA Funds Life Skills. She also suggests expanding use of the program to prospective students and their parents so they can begin to think more realistically about appropriate budgeting. Providing the same information to high-school counselors could prove helpful to prospective students as well.

Campus Contact:
Kristine Kopecky, Vice President for Student Affairs
Phone: (504) 398-2185
E-mail: kkopecky@olhcc.edu