Classification: Four-year private college or university.

Modules Used: Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students.

How Used: Student-affairs workshops.

Program Description: The financial-aid office at Naropa University is using USA Funds^® Life Skills^® to achieve its goal of offering more financial education to its students. Partnering with the office of student affairs, a financial-aid counselor leads workshop sessions using Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students in conjunction with the community-gatherings series. An hour is allocated for the workshops, which generally are scheduled after the first four weeks of the term. The sessions on budgeting and scholarship searches are open to all students, not just freshmen. In many cases, students indicate that this is the first time anyone has talked to them about budgeting and money management. Flyers, the university newspaper, e-mail and verbal reminders during financial-aid entrance counseling are the primary vehicles for advertising each session.

Staffing Requirements: A financial-aid counselor conducts the workshops; the student-affairs staff assists with publicizing the sessions.

Recommendations: It's important to start somewhere with the implementation of a financial-literacy program. While one hour isn't nearly enough time to cover all of the financial information that the financial-aid staff would like to deliver, it's a good springboard for a longer-term vision of developing a credit-bearing course for all freshmen. Including all students in the sessions can be a delivery challenge, especially when the financial knowledge of members of the group varies widely. The practical tips for presenting the USA Funds Life Skills materials offered by the trainer are especially helpful.

Campus Contact:
Karen Leinberger, Financial Aid Counselor
Phone: (303) 546-3563
E-mail: karenl@naropa.edu