Financial Literacy 101 is an online financial literacy course designed for the specific challenges faced by today's college undergraduates. The course is intended for use in a variety of settings (University 101 courses, general student education, required interventions for at-risk students, fraternal organizations, sports teams) and works to prevent the financial and academic harm that often results from the mismanagement financial independence.
The course was developed exclusively by Decision Partners, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and has no ties to the lending industry.
Key components of Financial Literacy 101 include:
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 | An interactive, multimedia course that can be completed in about an hour. | | A personalized "MyMoney" homepage that organizes the educational experience and offers easy access to detailed textual resources, printable downloads, financial calculators, and other resources that students may use on an ongoing basis. | | A real-time administrative control panel from which course administrators may monitor student progress, add customized content including welcome messages and information about local financial counseling resources, and export usage data. |
| Easy integration with Blackboard and other online learning management systems. |
In addition, there are many quantifiable outcomes of participation in Financial Literacy 101, both for students and administrators Unlike lectures, brochures, and static web pages, administrators can be sure that students have mastered basic financial concepts and completed a variety of personal financial management exercises upon course completion, including:
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| A personal financial plan including short, medium, and long-term financial goals. |
| A monthly budget that can be referenced on an ongoing basis (includes budget-to-actual capability for financial tracking). |
| A comprehensive financial aid plan, including online comparison of multiple financial aid award letters (TuitionEdu only). |
| Financial self assessment, including stress, spending habits, credit cards, employment, and other factors based on dependent or independent financial aid status (Financial Literacy 101 only). |
| Verifiable course completion, including a 10 or 20 question final exam. |
For administrators, quantifiable outcomes include:
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Reporting – Administrators may export course usage data on a student-by-student basis to an Excel file based on both date range and program (SSS, GEAR UP, etc.). In less than a minute, a file with the year’s usage data may be generated. Includes student name, year in school, course completion code, exam score, dependent or independent status, and email address. |
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Survey Data – Administrators may generate an aggregate report of survey data compiled from students on each specific campus – great for determining future programming needs and for quantitatively supporting new program requests. |
Decision Partners programs automate each step of the financial education process, from testing to course completion verification to results reporting, leaving staff more time to concentrate on helping individual students.
The Financial Literacy 101 Course
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Financial Literacy 101 is an immersive experience that truly educates students about personal
finance. Using surveys, streaming media, quizzes, interactive exercises and journaling
opportunities, the course not only teaches students the facts they need, but helps them apply their newfound knowledge to their own financial decisions. Based on proven prevention education techniques, the course challenges potentially inaccurate expectations and promotes responsible decision making. For more information on our learning model, click here.
Pre-Course Survey
After registering for the course using a unique code provided by the school, students take a comprehensive survey that evaluates their financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Survey data is used to personalize certain parts of the course for each student, and aggregate survey responses are reported to the school in a yearly report. Individual student responses are completely confidential.
Part 1 - Your Spending Decisions
The first part of the course introduces the concept of "financial health" and covers the basics of budgeting, banking, and financial decision making. The course also describes important consumer protection differences between debit and credit cards, and offers account management strategies designed for students. Interactive exercises include a college-specific budget calculator, and students may download a number of fact sheets covering the material.
Mid-Term Exam
This brief quiz reinforces the most important points of Part 1. Students receive instant feedback on each answer, and are told why they answered correctly or incorrectly.
Part 2 - Credit and Debt
Part 2 of the course covers topics including credit reports, credit cards, identity theft, and managing debt. This section also helps students think critically about credit card marketing on or around campus - one of the main ways students acquire new credit cards and is an additional risk factor for increasing unplanned debt. Interactive exercises include a credit card repayment calculator and a "Real World" budget calculator in which students are given a sample post-graduation budget based on their stated major. Students have the opportunity to use different majors and to revise their projected debt load/expenses to yield a cash flow positive budget. In addition, students may download fact sheets on each topic.
Final Exam, Review, and Completion Certificate
To complete the course, students take an additional brief quiz on the material covered in Part 2. Once the exam is complete, they are given a final score that combines both the mid-term and final exams. Students then have the opportunity to revisit questions they answered incorrectly to raise their score. After students finish reviewing the exam, they receive a secure course confirmation code and completion certificate. The certificate may be printed as proof of course completion. Course administrators may also verify the completion code through a tool found in the administrative control panel. Non-administrators (professors, peer educators, residence hall staff, etc.) may also verify course completion through a separate interface that verifies each code without revealing usage information for students outside of their group.
Post-Course Survey
In a brief post-course survey, students are given the opportunity to rate the course and to leave open-ended feedback. Based on responses from both the 2005-6 and 2006-7 school years, over 90 percent of students would recommend the course to a friend, and nearly 4 of 5 participants said they learned something valuable from the course. Student feedback is taken seriously by Decision Partners production staff, and we work to ensure a positive learning experience that improves yearly.
Throughout the course, students are given the opportunity to take personal notes on each section and to "save" each section to their MyMoney page for future reference. Any part of the course may also be reviewed anytime after completion by using the Course Review feature. To learn more about content personalization, please continue the tour.
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