CFEE Guidebook

2 PREFACE This Guide is intended to be a resource for community college faculty, staff, and administrators interested in implementing financial coaching as a way to empower students to make healthy financial decisions to support a path toward completing college and beginning careers. The purpose of this Guide is to advocate for the importance of financial health initiatives for commu- nity college students, and to provide a framework for incorporating financial coaching into strategies for student success. By documenting the lessons that we have learned at Westchester Community College, we hope to present compelling reasons why financial coaching should be an integral part of services offered to all students in the community college setting. The goals of this Guide are to:  ` INSPIRE college leaders and administrators to think of student financial health as a strategic priority for all students and one that needs to be addressed by a set of holistic initiatives that should be implemented on a sustainable basis;  ` PROVIDE information and ideas to help colleges develop the rationale for financial coaching services and the ways they can be implemented;  ` DEMONSTRATE the significant connection between financial coaching and students’ ability to succeed and persist;  ` HIGHLIGHT the unique challenges of community college students and why they need to be financially capable;  ` OUTLINE how financial coaching works and how it can be part of a college’s strategy to help students improve their financial health; and  ` DESCRIBE the lessons learned and best practices developed over the five years of the Money Smart financial coaching program.