Out of high school and on my way to Millikin, I didn’t know how to write a check and I didn't know the cursive to sign my name if I could fill out the check.
I wasn’t alone. Many schools today neglect or don’t require teaching practical finance, leaving students without essential financial literacy skills. Most students don’t know about writing checks, taxes, managing credit cards, and other valuable, everyday financial skills. In my opinion, American schools teach math and history, rather than more practical aspects in life. Illinois doesn’t even have requirements for financial education for grades K-12, according to Council for Economic Education (CEE).
Acknowledging this gap made me excited to be the president this fall for the Tabor Business Club at Millikin University. The club’s mission is to empower business students by fostering valuable connections, enhancing professional skills, and giving back to our community. And the club is dedicating time to educate students and the community on understanding personal finances.
To accomplish this goal, we are holding series of events, “Financial Fitness;” we held one of the workshops in April, “Budget Bootcamp.” We plan to do more of the series during this fall semester. Emily Ciambella, current club president, says, “By providing practical tools and strategies, the program aims to help individuals make informed financial decisions, achieve their financial goals, and gain greater control over their finances. Each session focuses on a different topic, such as budgeting, mortgages, or interest rates.” You can view the presentation from Budget Bootcamp here.
As a college student not knowing much about personal finances, this club has been very beneficial. The club can help other students like me boost their financial knowledge and learn more about themselves. Emily said the club has clarified her desire to peruse a leadership or mentoring role in her future career.
Dr. Michael Osei, Assistant Professor of Financial Economics and club advisor, emphasizes the importance of the club’s current emphasis on personal finances. He states, “Many Americans do not manage their financial situations well. These activities provide participants with the tools needed to make informed financial decisions and take control of their personal financial life.”
The workshops are open to the entire community as well as the students at Millikin University. We will provide all the necessary tools during the workshops, recognizing that not everyone has access to all the resources online.
Students can find the workshops useful since most of them will soon be dealing with their own finances after graduation if they aren’t dealing with them already. Millikin offers a course, FI300 Personal Finance; it is designed to provide students with the basic knowledge to successfully handle personal finance at all stages in their life. It’s open to all juniors and seniors in all majors. Most students won’t take it because the class is only 1 credit, while most classes are 3 or 4 credits. And, FI300 is not required! Professor Osei is trying to work on this course to make it 3 credits and make it required. “It’s that important,” he says.
As the upcoming president, I understand even more why it important for the Tabor Business Club to offer financial workshops.
I am excited to see the rest of the workshops in action and see how else we can help the students and community. At the end of each workshop, we offer a survey to see what the participants would like to learn next.
At my summer internship with INB, there were many opportunities to learn, especially with financial information since INB is a bank. After reading many blog posts on inb.com and attending meetings there is a lot more to learn than I had time for during my summer. Being ahead of the game on your budget is one of them. Halfway through the year, you should start to plan out next year’s budget now to give yourself some wiggle room. Also don’t let buy now pay later services lead you to impulse buys or going over your family’s budget.
I also learned that social media plays a big role in how banks provide outreach to customers. With that in mind, I encourage you to follow @IChooseINB and @TaborBusinessClub on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Email: TaborBusinessClub@millikin.edu