NEFE Unveils New Edition of High School Financial Planning Curriculum

Contact:
Jennifer Martin, CSREES Staff, (202) 720-8188
Paul Golden, NEFE, (303) 224-3514

WASHINGTON � With cooperation from the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES), the National Endowment for Financial Education^® (NEFE^®) launched the new 2007 NEFE High School Financial Planning Program^® (HSFPP) in early March.

The High School Financial Planning Program, which has reached nearly five million students in all 50 states since its inception in 1984, is a 7-unit curriculum that teaches the basics of money management to young people at a time when they are developing habits and attitudes about money that will influence them for the rest of their lives. This practical and non-commercial program is available at no cost to all high schools throughout the country.

�After 18 months and thousands of hours of hard work by dozens of people, we feel we have created a program that can really help the nation's youth to adopt positive financial behaviors to start them on a life-long path of financial responsibility,� said John Parfrey, director of the HSFPP.

The program was delivered to a national network of representatives, including CSREES, who work to ensure the financial well-being of America 's youth. Other partners include participating land-grant university cooperative extension services, and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and America 's Credit Unions.

Attendees at the High School Program kick-off event familiarized themselves with all the components of the new HSFPP, shared strategies for launching the program in their states and received instruction on how to train high school teachers to deliver the program.

The new HSFPP will take knowledge beyond the classroom by engaging families and financial professionals to help students move from classroom lessons to action in the real world. For example, rather than a student merely knowing what a checking account is, the student and parent might go to a bank and set up a checking account for the teen.

�We want teens to connect what they learn in the classroom to concrete actions that will build sound financial habits for a lifetime,� Parfrey said.

During the kick-off meeting, attendees explored the new High School Program Web portal, which�when launched later this year�will provide a steady stream of content for students, their parents and teachers, including online calculators, games, polls and real-life learning exercises.

HSFPP offers educators a flexible turnkey program that has been classroom-tested and evaluated regularly. Online resources are updated frequently and information can be integrated easily into additional coursework.

NEFE is an independent, nonprofit foundation committed to educating Americans about personal finance and empowering them to make positive and sound decisions to reach financial goals. To learn more about NEFE, visit www.nefe.org.

CSREES advances knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities by supporting research, education, and extension programs in the Land-Grant University System and other partner organizations. For more information, visit http://www.csrees.usda.gov.

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