CLOSE
Tags Posts tagged with "financial planning"

financial planning

Lewis DeLuca works with students on improving their financial literacy.

LendEDU, a website that helps consumers learn about and compare financial products, including student loans, has released its fourth annual report that recognizes the top 50 financial literacy programs in the country, and the program at Southern was featured in the top 50 for 2020. This the fourth consecutive year Southern’s program is nationally ranked.

See the full report here

The institutions were not ranked, but are listed in alphabetical order.

Southern has made financial literacy a priority by helping students pay for college. Students learn payment plan options as well as financial aid and scholarship opportunities through one-on-one advising, presentations, and resources.

A goal is to embed responsibility by providing strategies for short- and long-term financial obligations. Over 100 annual workshops such as Paying for College, $mart Money Management, Financial Aid 101, Credit Talk$, Budget Talk$, Scholarship Talk$, Life After College, and Loan Repayment Talk$ provide students with tools for successful personal finance. More than 4010 individual financial plans have been created and aligned with academic goals for timely degree completion.

Lew DeLuca, coordinator of Student Financial Literacy & Advising at Southern, says, “Financial literacy has always been an email or phone call away for a timely and comprehensive response in addition to in person and walk-in appointments. During the COVID challenges, those appointments have obviously been virtual but still extremely effective.  No matter the circumstances, Financial Literacy’s commitment to excellence and support will always be there for any current, prospective, and alumni students and their families to support paying for college and all other financial literacy needs.”

Financial literacy, especially as it relates to college financing decisions, is more important now than ever before because of the economic impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on so many American households, according to the LendEDU website.

To compile the fourth annual rankings, hundreds of financial literacy programs were rated on three things: (1) the number of workshops and resources available; (2) access to one-on-one financial consultation; (3) incentivizing programs available.

 

Lewis DeLuca works with students on improving their financial literacy.

The website LendEDU has released its annual Top 50 Financial Literacy Programs report, and Southern made the list for the third year in a row. After analyzing colleges and universities based on LendEDU’s unique scoring system, LendEDU placed Southern in the top 50, at #9, up from #29 in 2018.

LendEDU is a marketplace for private student loans, student loan refinancing, credit cards, and personal loans, among other financial products. LendEDU’s goal is to create transparency in these markets to help consumers make educated decisions and better manage their money. It annually compiles a ranking of the 50 best financial literacy programs offered at colleges throughout the United States, looking at hundreds of colleges and universities that are known to have a financial literacy program. The rankings were based on three specifications:

  • The number of workshops and resources available
  • Access to one-on-one financial consultation
  • Incentivizing programs available (e.g., scholarships for attending workshops)

According to LendEDU, Southern “takes the ninth spot by offering over 100 annual workshops about financial literacy and education. Some workshops include Paying for College, Budget Talk$, and Life After College. The university also has an active and personalized financial advising program, with over 3,174 individual financial plans having been created over the years for students. Many resources have been gathered to a centralized webpage, including student discounts, recommended reading, and videos.”

LendEDU also includes Southern in the recent article, “Colleges That Are Making a Difference By Improving Financial Literacy.”

Lewis J. DeLuca, Jr., coordinator of Student Financial Literacy and Advising, advises students on financial literacy. Through advising, outreach and on-campus programming, he works closely with students and parents to raise awareness about financial literacy, student aid programs and scholarships, as well as the advantages of the timely completion of a degree.

“Financial aid departments in colleges and universities have people who talk with students, but generally not in the kind of depth that we are able to provide on a consistent basis,” DeLuca has said. “And we are available to talk with high school students and potential transfer students, as well.”

(Above:  Lewis J. DeLuca, Jr., coordinator of Student Financial Literacy and Advising, advises students on financial literacy.)

What if your college education included learning how to manage your finances, including student loan debt? At Southern, students are able to take advantage of the Student Financial Literacy and Advising program, which helps them do just that. Financial literacy initiatives have become popular on college campuses in large part because of the inflated expenses required to attend these institutions. Like Southern, many schools now offer workshops, courses, one-on-one consultations, and incentivizing programs to teach  students to become fiscally responsible.

The website LendEDU has released its annual Top 50 Financial Literacy Programs report, and Southern made the list for the second year in a row. After analyzing more than a thousand colleges and universities based on LendEDU’s unique scoring system, LendEDU placed Southern in the top 50, at #29.

LendEDU is a marketplace for private student loans, student loan refinancing, credit cards, and personal loans, among other financial products. LendEDU’s goal is to create transparency in these markets to help consumers make educated decisions and better manage their money. It annually compiles a ranking of the 50 best financial literacy programs offered at colleges throughout the United States, looking at hundreds of colleges and universities that are known to have a financial literacy program.

According to LendEDU’s assessment of Southern’s financial literacy program, the university’s financial literacy website “has an impressive collection of financial literacy resources and tools. Besides offering one-on-one financial literacy consultations and presentations, Southern Connecticut State University offers customized financial planning sessions with individual students. Individual financial plans can be created for each student according to their financial situation and academic goals.” To date, over 2039 individual financial plans for Southern students have been created and aligned with academic goals for timely degree completion.

Read LendEDU’s full report.

Learn more about Southern’s Financial Literacy and Advising Program.

© 2016 Southern Connecticut State University.