FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

April 27, 2004
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Deputy Assistant Secretary Dan Iannicola, Jr. Visits Historic Little Rock Central High School to Teach Two Financial Education Classes on Credit Management

Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Financial Education Dan Iannicola, Jr. today visited Little Rock Central High School to teach over fifty students about the importance of good credit management. Little Rock Central High School holds major historical significance for the country's civil rights movement, as one of the region's first public high schools to integrate its student body in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education, which was handed down 50 years ago next month.

The classes focused on how credit works, how to avoid pitfalls in credit card use and the value of building and maintaining a good credit history. The class activities consisted of real life examples, questions and answers and reviewing a sample credit card billing statement.

"The wise use of credit can make dreams come true; for instance, allowing people to achieve college educations or move into their first homes," said Iannicola. "But, the misuse of credit can create a financial nightmare for people consisting of finance charges, late fees, garnishment, repossession and ultimately bankruptcy. Financial education is what makes the difference," Iannicola went on to say.

Financial education is critical for young people. For example, 64% of credit card holders ages 18 to 24 do not know the interest rates they pay on their credit cards. [1] Additionally, according to a 2002 Nellie Mae survey, undergraduate students carry an average of three credit cards and graduate with an average of $20,402 in combined education loans and credit card balances. [2]

Joining Little Rock Central High School Principal Nancy Rousseau in participating in the credit management classes were students in Jean Crockett's Computer Accounting class; Shannah Ellender's Family and Consumer Science class; and George West's Physics class.

The Department of the Treasury is a leader in promoting financial education. Treasury established the Office of Financial Education (OFE) in May 2002. The OFE coordinates the Department's interdisciplinary financial education efforts to raise awareness and ensure consumers have access to resources that can help all Americans make wiser personal finance management, spending, saving, and investing choices. The OFE's role to promote financial education through its policymaking function, its outreach efforts, and by working with public and private sector entities remains focused on furthering individual financial success and the country's ongoing economic growth. The OFE also coordinates 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. For more information about the Office of Financial Education visit: www.treas.gov/financialeducation.

[1] Margaret Webb Pressler, "Now They'll Have to Repay the Piper…," The Washington Post, December 7, 2003

[2] Tami Luhby, "For Students, A New Math / High School Program Shows Youth that Fiscal Responsibility is More Than Adding and Subtracting," Newsday, May 18, 2003

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