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Decision Partners Releases New Fact Sheet on the Case for Financial Literacy Education

May 20, 2008 – Boston – Decision Partners today released a new fact sheet addressing the need for comprehensive campus wide financial education. "Why Teach Financial Literacy?" highlights student debt levels and trends, student financial attitudes, and the negative consequences of financial mismanagement on student success. The fact sheet includes complete references for further reading, and may be downloaded for printing at www.decisionpartners.org/financial_literacy.htm.

"It can be difficult for campus decision makers to truly understand the financial challenges faced by students today," said Austin Jackson, CEO of Decision Partners. "Industry-sponsored groups tend to downplay uncomfortable facts about debt, while the popular media tends to sensationalize relatively unusual situations. We hope this fact sheet clarifies the financial reality faced by increasing numbers of students and the very real need for campus wide financial education."

The fact sheet covers topics including:

• Overall increase in average student debt levels since the 1990s.
• Credit card debt levels at graduation.
• Student attitudes toward credit card use.
• The effects of low credit scores on overall education cost.
• The percentage of employers using credit reports in the hiring process.
• The percentage of first-year students reporting financial problems that interfere with school work.
• The disproportionate impact of financial awareness and stress on first-generation and minority students.

"Why Teach Financial Literacy?" attempts to make sense of the multitude of student financial statistics cited in media reports and industry documents. For example, one reference to undergraduate credit card debt may state an average student debt of just $2,000. While approximately true, what is not disclosed in the reference is that the figure includes all students - including first-year students who have lower average balances and even students who do not have credit cards. If one focuses on average credit card debt at graduation, the figure doubles. If one focuses on the top 33 percent, the figure rises fivefold. If one includes the students who have dropped out of school to pay off debt, the figure is higher still. We feel that an additional high interest loan burden of over $10,000 for one in three students is highly relevant to anyone involved in student success, and is the figure reported in the fact sheet.

The fact sheet draws from nearly a dozen studies and surveys from organizations such as the US Department of Education, the College Student Journal, DEMOS, Sallie Mae, Georgetown University, the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, and the Journal of Economic Psychology, among others. The single page format makes it an ideal conversation starter for all campus stakeholders in the current debt crisis, from students and parents to campus departments.

When discussing financial literacy on campus, we encourage staff members to consider the practical implications of the facts cited. How many students will forgo an unpaid, career building internship to pay off unintended credit card debt? How many students will not excel academically because they work additional hours? How many students will leave school to pay off a debt and never return? How much more will a student pay in interest on private educational loans because they did not understand the implications of a low credit score? Quantifiable answers to these questions are difficult, if not impossible, to find. But these are the types of questions families are asking themselves - financial worries are consistently at the top of both student and parent concerns in national surveys.

For more information, please contact Jim Pfeiffer, Decision Partners' VP of Customer Development, at jim@decisionpartners.org or by phone at (978) 562-1390.

About Decision Partners

Decision Partners is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that produces Financial Literacy 101, an online course designed to teach students the skills they need to effectively manage money in college. The course may be taken prior to arriving on campus, as a required intervention for students making unsatisfactory academic progress (often accompanied by financial stress), as part of a first-year experience/orientation program, or as part of a University 101 course. Starting this fall, Financial Literacy 101 will offer enhanced screening tools to help schools assist students experiencing financial stress before negative academic or financial consequences are apparent.

Decision Partners financial literacy courses have been endorsed by organizations such as College Parents of America and the American College Personnel Association. For more information, please visit www.decisionpartners.org.