Getting a job and a paycheck is important, but so is learning how to save and spend wisely.
Financial literacy, or knowing how to make, manage and invest money, is a skill not often emphasized in the classroom. At TCU, the One Million Reasons initiative is bringing financial literacy education straight to the students.
The Office of Scholarships and Student Financial Aid, the Office of Admission and Student Development Services partnered to create the program last fall.
The initiative helps students manage their money while in school and plan for the future, said Rachael Capua, assistant director of the sophomore and junior year experience.
“We want to make this a special area of focus because we want students to be more prepared when they graduate, especially in the circumstances of having student loans,” Capua said.
One Million Reasons hosted the first annual TCU Money Week last week as part of its campus programming efforts. TCU Money Week is a week of activities held across campus to promote financial fitness.
“It’s a great way and initiative to bring a lot of different activities, workshops, and presentations to campus all relating to money,” Capua said. “I really hope this is a launch into making it a campus conversation.”
The initiative also uses a specific curriculum, FOUNDATIONS, in workshops with student organizations and classrooms on campus.
To promote campus programming and curriculum workshops, students were enlisted to be ambassadors of One Million Reasons. The ambassadors “represent their colleges and can help facilitate group presentations on curriculum topics alongside TCU staff members,” according to the One Million Reasons website.
Elizabeth Rosales, graduate associate for One Million Reasons, said she was interested in being a One Million Reasons ambassador after her first-hand experience as a college counselor at a high school.
“I assisted my students with financial aid [and] scholarships, so I really saw the importance a lot more in financial literacy,” Rosales said. “I wanted to be on the other side of that.”
Rosales said One Million Reasons is effective because it gives students opportunities to gain awareness and education about financial literacy.
“In college, your ultimate goal is to graduate and to find a career, and within that comes a lot of financial planning and decisions,” Rosales said. “I feel that the program does help a lot in opening those doors to students and giving them the opportunity to become more aware how important budgeting is going to be when they graduate.”
Professors and campus organizations can request a One Million Reasons workshop by emailing [email protected].
Capua said the program has been well-received on campus so far.
“There’s really a million reasons why topics like this are important to look at, and we’ve been really thrilled with how successful the program has been these past two semesters,” Capua said.
