Helping Students Develop “Ultimate Money Skills”

By Jasmine Willis – Hall Director University of Connecticut

Year after year thousands of students enter into college and graduate from college. Many college students may go through college with little to no financial management skills. More and more students are graduating with some type of debt, whether educational debt (through student loans), credit card debt, or some other form of debt. It has been stated that nearly 10- 15% of those seeking money management help are college students (www.ultimatemoneyskills.com). With this statistic being relatively high, the educational division of Monster.com and Bank of America has created a financial management skills program in which they have speakers travel around the country discussing the importance of managing your finances while in college. On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, I brought the Ultimate Money Skills program to campus.

About a year ago, I was introduced to the Ultimate Money Skills program. The program over exceeded expectations as far as the population of students that attended this program and it was evident that students truly benefited from being a participant in this program. Through my observations, I noticed that students were tremendously engaged in the program and the caliber of questions that were asked throughout the program confirmed why a program of this nature was necessary for the development of college students. As I pondered on the idea of bringing this program to UConn, I had an abundance of thoughts that went through my head. I wondered would this program receive the same reaction it did at my previous institution? Was this indeed a program that was really necessary for student on this campus? Would the student population at UConn have a reason to attend this program? Despite the fact that all of these thoughts were circling around in my head, I decided that I will never know the answers to these question unless I simply brought the program to campus. In the fall 2008 semester, I planned the program and executed the program in the spring 2009 semester.

The Ultimate Money Skills program is a free of cost program dedicated to teaching college students how to develop smart financial management skills which in turn results in financial independence during their college years and beyond. This interactive program educates college students on how to manage and live off a budget, how to use credit wisely, and gives students tips on how to protect their identity. The program is done in collaboration with Making It Count (which is the educational division of monster.com) and Bank of America and provides students with an Ultimate Money Skills workbook and a student financial handbook. By having the workbooks and handbooks available, this allowed for students to really engage themselves in the program by doing the provided activities. The program provides you with a presenter who is very knowledgeable on the topics being presented. The presenter of our program was a financial coach for both high school and college students. She is known for giving speeches across the country on finances and is a co-author of the book “Speaking of Success” which was written in collaboration with Stephen Covey (the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People).

With the current state of the economy not being in the best condition, it is important that college students understand what they can do as an individual to protect themselves from falling through the cracks of the economy while they are still attending college. Although this program tends to focus on the basics of money management, learning and gaining these basic skills can be to a college student’s advantage when it comes to thinking long term. Managing one’s finances while in college can only help a college student once they leave the campus grounds and begin life in what we refer to as the “real world”.

In the beginning of this article, I discussed with you all of the different thoughts I had prior to planning this program. Now that the program is completed, I can confirm that this program was a necessary program to bring to UConn. Having appropriate financial management skills is critical to success in life. By facilitating this program your will assist your residents in gaining these important skills.

About the Author

Jasmine Willis is a first year Hall Director at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. Before accepting the position at UConn, Jasmine attended Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts where she received her Master of Science in College Student Development and Counseling and was a graduate assistant with Northeastern University's Department of Residential Life. Prior to attending Northeastern University, Jasmine worked at Quincy College in Quincy, Massachusetts as an enrollment specialists. Jasmine also received a Bachelor of Science in Business from Miami University of Ohio in 2001.