Month: April 2022

Many Texas colleges are making efforts to educate students on the effects and consequences of incurring college debt and encouraging them to make wise financial decisions.

Today, Phelan said he still has loans and works part time, but he isn’t saving much money

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has incorporated financial literacy into its GenTX Initiative to prepare students, especially high school seniors, to make better financial decisions. In April, the board hosted a Twitter chat – #FinLitTX – to engage students in a discussion about money management before college.

It’s really about reducing student debt and being mindful about your post-secondary experience, said Jerel Booker, assistant commissioner of the board’s college readiness and success team.

Financial literacy is not the most exciting topic – especially for younger students – but the costs of higher education can be confusing for prospective or incoming students, Booker said. For example, many students might wrongfully assume that tuition is the full price tag and have not considered the costs of room, board and transportation.

Financial literacy, and reducing debt, is a major part of the board’s signature 60x30TX plan, which aims to have 60 percent of adults between the ages of 25 and 34 with a post-secondary education by 2030. But the board’s efforts have moved away from solely budgeting and are helping students weigh their college choices, reasoning that the wisest choice is the school that offers the best education and experience with low amounts of debt.

Five universities, including Sam Houston State, Texas Tech University, the University of North Texas, Texas State University and the University of Houston, made LendEDU’s list of colleges with top financial literacy programs in the country. Texas Tech ranked second , Sam Houston State ranked sixth and UH was 39th.

Texas Tech has consistently been ranked a top financial literacy program, noted for its Red to Black Peer Financial Coaching program – a play on the school’s colors and the financial terms, in which being in the red means you’re at a loss, and black means you’ll likely break even. Continue reading “It was the first time he really took a close look at his credit”