FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

April 5, 2004
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Treasury’s Office of Financial Education Joins the Jump Start Coalition in Tallahassee to Announce Results of the Jump Start Personal Finance Survey of 12th Graders

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education Dan Iannicola, Jr. today joined the Florida Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy (Florida Jump$tart) at a press conference to announce the results of Jump$tart’s personal finance survey. The survey was administered to 12th graders in random high schools around the country. The survey’s results will help assess the personal financial literacy of 12th graders, an age when many individuals are entering the job market or attending college and dealing with their own finances for the first time.

“Financial education is important for all Americans from the youngest individuals receiving an allowance for the first time to senior citizens preparing to embark on retirement. It is particularly important that young adults, many preparing to move into the financial mainstream for the first time, have the practical knowledge and skills to successfully build a good credit history and manage a budget, that will allow them to go on and achieve their financial dreams,” said Iannicola.

Iannicola went on to say, “The Department of the Treasury and the entire Bush Administration share Jump $tart’s commitment to helping Americans get the information they need to make sound financial decisions.”

The results of the Jump $tart survey showed that while financial literacy among 12th graders has improved since the last survey was conducted in 2002, there is still work to be done.

A recent survey conducted by the Florida Department of Financial Services found that among 1,000 Florida employers polled, 64 percent said that they feel worker productivity would be enhanced by financial literacy training. Further, 83 percent of employers believe that financial literacy education will help prepare future employees for the workplace, and 96 percent agreed that financial literacy education is important in Florida’s K-12 curriculum^[1].

Today’s press conference took place in the Rotunda of the Old Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida. Participants in the press conference included Tom Gallagher, Chief Financial Officer, State of Florida; Alex Sanchez, Chief Financial Officer, Florida Bankers Association; Rosanna Jacobsen, President, Florida Jump$tart; and William Cheeks, Eastern States Coordinator for Jump$tart.

The Florida Jump$tart Coalition is a non-profit organization which seeks to improve the personal financial literacy of Floridians by focusing on the state’s youth by promoting and teaching personal finance skills so that individuals can make responsible financial decisions.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Financial Education was established in May 2002. The OFE focuses the Department’s financial education policymaking, and ensures coordination on financial education within the Department and all of its bureaus. The OFE provides the Department of the Treasury with expertise on the many complex and interdisciplinary issues involved in financial education, and taps into the Department’s wide base of expertise on finance. The OFE also supports the efforts of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, a group chaired by the Secretary of Treasury and composed of representatives from 20 federal departments, agencies, and commissions, which works to improve financial literacy and education for people throughout the United States.

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^[1] “FLORIDA'S EMPLOYERS RECOGNIZE NEED FOR FINANCIAL LITERACY,”  Consumer eViews-Florida Department of Financial Services, January 12, 2004