What is Financial Literacy and why does it matter?

It is widely believed that lack of financial literacy in our society was a major factor in the recent financial crisis. Financial literacy in today’s world is almost as important as learning to read and write and one could argue that a student’s credit history is far more important to his or her future than grade point average. Yet most students come to college ill-prepared to manage their money. 

How does Higher One^® help?

Higher One is committed to helping students learn about banking and financial services in responsible ways.  After all, today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders who face extremely important and complex financial decisions – including providing affordable health care, planning for retirement and keeping Social Security solvent.  We want to help students stay in school, graduate and go on to lead productive lives.  In doing so, we offer unique account features that help students actively learn money management skills, including budgeting tools, mobile alerts, clear explanations of banking terms, and a simple-to-use account statement.

Financial Literacy Counts - Higher One's Financial Literacy Grant Program

Higher One is deeply committed to promoting financial literacy and ensuring that college students have the tools they need to effectively manage their money.  The purpose of Financial Literacy Counts is to help support financial literacy promotional programs and initiatives on college and university campuses. Click here for more details.

Financial Literacy Tools:

Financial Literacy and Student Aid Policy Director – Mary Johnson, our in-house financial literacy expert, helps students manage their money by addressing their questions and helps colleges and universities strengthen their financial education initiatives.

Mary has over 25 years of experience in higher education finance and state student financial aid administration.  As Associate Commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Higher Education, Mary was a strong advocate for maintaining college affordability and financial stability for students.  She also managed the development of an on-line, interactive financial literacy program specifically for college students.  Additionally, Mary authored numerous reports on important higher education issues such as degree productivity, college affordability, cost containment, and workforce success of college graduates and has been an invited speaker at both state and national venues including the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor, and the National Governors’ Association. Learn more about Mary's speaking opportunities. More on Mary on Twitter @MoneyTalkMary.

One For Your Money – Our student social media blog provides financial information, tips and answers to students’ money management questions. Here students will find informative articles, videos, tools and other resources on budgeting, spending control, debt management, identify protection and other important personal finance topics. One For Your Money was recently named one of Cheap Scholar’s Top Ten Student Financial Literacy Resource on the web! 

Money Talk with Mary – A place on One For Your Money where students can ask questions about managing their money and receive answers from our financial literacy expert, Mary Johnson.  In addition, Mary posts informative tips, articles, videos and other personal financial management resources. 

Articles and Reports for Administrators and Parents - Although Higher One’s ultimate goal is to provide useful financial education tools that students can easily access, we like to do the same for administration and parents. On HigherEdvice, our new higher education blog devoted to student customer service, financial literacy and campus efficiency, we post relevant and current financial literacy information. Some of these include Two Institutions Championing the Cause and Helping Parents Talk to their Student about Money.

Scholars and Cents Webcast - Check out Mary’s new webcast  - Scholars and Cents:  A Student Guide to Money Management from College Week Live. The webcast provides tips on how to avoid common freshman money mistakes and how to manage student's finances while in school. View webcast by clicking here: http://cwlwebcast.stream57.com/integration/auth.aspx?EnrollmentKey=APK53900b5298fc4622945b87c04c591f78

For additional questions about financial literacy please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it