Students are taking on more college debt in this struggling economy, often without the knowledge to make wise choices. To help students better manage their debt, some college campuses and high schools are ramping up their financial-literacy efforts, where experts say such education should begin. But a squeeze on K-12 resources has hampered the…

For most people, including students, it is not easy to have a good grasp of the basic terms in the field of finance and of their interrelations, in particular due to the fact that the offer for financial products keeps changing and its statement is frequently unclear, insincere and confusing. The Pedagogical Faculty of the University of South…

American consumers owe more than $150 billion in outstanding private student loan debt. While this amount is significantly less than the amount outstanding on student loans guaranteed by the federal government, the private student loan ("PSL") product is an important component of higher education finance and does not appear to be well…

Despite ample evidence of the relative financial illiteracy of students in college, personal finance education remains inconsistent across postsecondary institutions in the United States. Moreover, existing programs and services related to personal finance education have had modest success in attracting student interest and participation. To…

This report presents the final findings of research carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), as part of an independent evaluation on behalf of pfeg, of the Learning Money Matters (LMM) initiative. LMM provides help, support and advice for secondary schools in delivering personal finance education (PFE) to their…

The lack of industry wide data on homeownership education and counseling (HEC) programs has severely limited evaluation. In particular, very little evidence exists on the relationship between HEC completion and loan prepayment, an outcome of interest to both mortgage lenders and consumer advocates. Where mortgage prepayment directly influences the…

The near-collapse of the American financial system has led to a search for its causes and ways to prevent it from happening again. Many political leaders blame at least some of the sub-prime mortgage crisis on mistakes caused by financially "illiterate" consumers and propose to solve that problem with mandatory classes in personal finance.…

Discusses the need for educating youth in the role and function of credit bureaus. (CH)

In a consumer education brochure, the Federal Trade Commission traces steps that a family might take in fiancing an auto. Through the use of a case study comparison of the credit terms of two car dealers, explanations are given for terms such as annual percentage rate, credit life insurance, finance charge, and deferred payment price. Copies of…

To teach money management effectively, an examination of credit use today and a profile of the person in financial trouble are needed. If credit patterns and bankruptcy are understood, recommendations can be made about curriculum content for money management. (SK)

Explication of the basic law defining the rights and responsibilities of creditors and creditees is given. (LH)

Prepare to teach a convincingly up-to-date unit on consumer credit by becoming acquainted with the people who consider these terms tools and not simply test items for a good matching test. (Author)

This booklet on managing credit, 1 in a series of 12, covers all the basic aspects of personal- and family-money management. Suitable for use by high school and college students as well as adults, this handbook tells how to establish credit, determine credit limits, and maintain a favorable credit history. Section 1 on understanding consumer…

Explains the provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunities Act Amendments of 1976 (Public Law 94-239, 94th Congress, H.R. 6516, March 23, 1976), discusses their implications, and suggests enforcement improvements in the Act. (Author/RK)