CFEE Guidebook

5 BUILDING FINANCIAL CAPABILITY THROUGH FINANCIAL COACHING A Call to Action for Educators Community colleges have an exceptional track record in providing underserved students with pathways to higher education and meaningful careers, but many institutions have not been in a position to offer students an effective set of programs or activities to enable them to build financial wellness. This may be due to the fact that, until the past few decades, a focus on student financial health was not recognized as a mandate for most colleges, and therefore was not a priority in terms of allocating budget dollars. Colleges routinely designate funds in their budgets to support a variety of student services, such as career planning, leadership training, mental health counseling, health and nutrition ser- vices, and many others. However, institutions rarely allocate significant funding for student financial health programs. This is unfortunate because every college student in America needs the tools and skills to achieve financial health. The financial education programming offered at community colleges typically includes workshops, classes, or speaker seminars, which are all beneficial in terms of providing information on personal finance topics and raising awareness about the importance of financial wellness. However, these events are frequently sponsored by outside organizations, such as financial institutions, nonprofits, or community organizations. The support of these organizations is valuable, but it may lead colleges to believe that they do not have to fund student financial health programs with their own resources. In an ideal world, colleges would offer students a variety of opportunities to acquire financial management skills, frommandatory courses in personal finance to extra-curricular workshops and seminars to financial coaching, all delivered in a way that students can access at appropriate times throughout their college experience. However, most two- and four-year colleges today are far away from achieving that model. At Westchester Community College, the Mon- ey Smart financial coaching program has given us a strong foundation to offer students options for building financial health. But, like other community colleges, we grapple with issues of resources and funding. And we continue to ANDREA Andrea enrolled at Westchester Community College in the fall of 2018 to pursue a degree in engineering science. Her ambition after graduation is to become a chemical engineer and to do research in the area of environmental sustainability. She originally came to the US from Colombia, with the hope of improving her English and completing her education. She joined the Money Smart Forum because she needed to learn to better balance the demands of college with the financial obligations of her family. Like many young parents, Andrea and her husband were stretching their budget while also dealing with high-cost credit cards. By working with her coach, she was able to pay down card obligations and reap the benefits of lower interest charges. Andrea says, “Learning to follow a budget helped me to create priorities and find ways to save money. We also learned to manage our credit, which is benefiting our whole family.” Andrea believes that her work with the Money Smart Forum helped her family gain better financial stability, which will enable her to continue pursuing her goal of an engineering degree.