Classification: Four-year private college or university; Historically Black 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:

• Entrance counseling.
• Exit counseling.
• Peer financial counseling.

Program Description: In its ongoing commitment to keeping the cohort-default rate low, the financial-aid staff at Spelman College focuses on providing sound financial information to students through entrance and exit counseling. The student-loan coordinator provides materials from USA Funds^® Life Skills^® to students when they arrive as freshmen and when they leave as graduates.

Module 1: Get a Grip on Your Finances: Smart Spending for Students is part of entrance counseling at Spelman College. All freshmen receive the student skills book from this module in their orientation packets. They are advised to read the book and come by the student-loan office to discuss any questions that arise.

Module 2: Seek out Financial Aid: Funding Resources and Financial Obligations and the budgeting CD are used in the exit-counseling session at the end of each semester. The loan coordinator indicates that the budgeting activity is a "reality check" for seniors as they begin to ready their "game plan" for life after college.

The program is expanding with the introduction of a peer financial-counseling component. All five modules will be used to train and empower student volunteers to help other students become more financially savvy in the areas of budgeting, saving and investing, managing credit and debt, and understanding student loans. The student-loan coordinator, a faculty representative, a lender representative, a student coordinator and student volunteers all will be involved in the delivery of this new initiative.

Staffing Requirements: The student-loan coordinator has primary responsibility for incorporating Modules 1 and 4 into the entrance- and exit-counseling activities. She will share the responsibility for overseeing the delivery of Modules 1-5 in peer financial counseling.

Recommendations: The first step in determining how to implement USA Funds Life Skills is to become familiar with the content of the program. Attending a training workshop or having a USA Funds consultant come to campus to demonstrate the program makes it easier to determine how to adapt the modules to your own program.

Campus Contact:
Jacqui Banks, Student Loan Coordinator
Phone: (404) 270-5213
E-mail: jfrasier@spelman.edu