While a proposal sits in the General Assembly aimed at increasing financial literacy among students, AccessUVa has already begun this initative at the University. Coordinated by Student Financial Services, AccessUVa is currently in the process of creating more opportunities for students to improve their financial understanding, according to Steve Miller, assistant director of student financial services.
Miller said Student Financial Services began hosting a series of three financial literacy workshops for about 125 first-year students last September. All student participants were involved with AccessUVa.
The first workshop focused on budgeting. An October workshop covered the use of credit cards, and the final workshop, held in November, focused on credit scores.
Miller said Student Financial Services teamed up with the National Student Loan Program, the guarantor of student loans, to hold these workshops.
Miller said SFS began creating the University's newest programs after the General Assembly passed legislation in 2005 requiring the state's public colleges and universities to provide students with educational opportunities concerning economics and financial literacy. A bill requiring entering first-year students to take a one-hour lecture class in financial literacy was previously introduced in the House of Delegates.
First-year College student Nana Agyemang attended the September workshop about budgeting, where she said she was exposed many financial facts.
"I got hints and tips about watching my money, like you shouldn't let big purchases get out of hand," Agyemang said. "I came away from the experience learning to be responsible and watch out for [myself] in terms of credit."
She said prior to the workshop, she wasn't really familiar with the concept of personal credit.
"I didn't know a lot because usually stuff is taken care of by my parents so I got a lot out of it," Agyemang said. "It was a worthwhile experience and we got free stuff, too."
Miller said he wants to form a partnership with student organizations so that AccessU.Va. can offer these workshops to all students.
Miller added that these efforts are all part of the fourth component of AccessU.Va., which aims to provide financial counseling and aid students in learning about financial literacy.
He said planning for these developments began last spring, when SFS distributed a survey to first-year and fourth-year students to gage their financial knowledge
"It was to ... see what students knew and what they didn't and what they were interested in learning," Miller said.
He said it is important to familiarize students with such financial information.
"Knowing your credit score will be important in so many ways once you graduate from college," Miller said.
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