Proposal To Provide Budgeting To Freshman

Project description Our proposal is to provide freshmen with the tools and strategies to cope with financial problems. We will provide this information through a workshop for freshmen. The workshop will educate them about credit cards and money management while in college. These skills, once acquired, will help guide freshmen toward financial responsibility and independence.

Money management involves three aspects: choosing goals for your money, creating a workable spending plan, and following the plan. The first step entails making choices, particularly, deciding on what to spend money. Most people spend earned income on essentials such as food, shelter, and clothing. Nevertheless, there are many choices. The idea is to make money accomplish goals.

Creating a workable spending plan means translating goals into a budget that includes such items as necessities and savings. It is not necessary to compute these amounts down to the last penny. However, individuals need some kind of spending plan.

The last step is obvious but important. Follow the created plan and avoid financial detours. Need to have some flexibility in that unexpected money needs or changes in the overall plan may arise. However, the individual should be consistent and reasonably faithful to the budget.

Money problems affect everyone, no matter how much or how little an individual owns. This factor is one reason why financial planning is so important. Managing money carefully can make their money go further.

To stretch money further, these tips are helpful: "¢         Establish monetary goals.

"¢         Recognize how money is spent.

"¢         Know how to retain money longer.

"¢         Plan spending in advance.

"¢         Know and keep within credit limits The topics covered in the workshop, Managing Your Money, will deal with these issues. It will provide beneficial financial information, and in so doing, promote a more fiscally knowledgeable freshmen student body.

Objective The money management workshop will assist approximately 840 freshmen at East Carolina University by improving their money management skills through information on budgeting techniques and credit cards.

Method Using flyers, newspaper advertisements, and Freshmen Orientation to inform and involve students in the workshop. Students will receive information about the workshop in their orientation package. Guest speakers will discuss credit cards and budgeting, and students will receive workbooks to assist them during the workshop. The workbook will serve two purposes; it will act as a systematic guide during the workshop and as a reference after they leave the workshop.                 Seven workshops that will last one hour during the two days of Freshmen Orientation are planned. The first day will have four workshops, while the second day will have three.

Here is an example of a "mock" workshop: Introduction (Money management and speakers)         15 minutes Speaker 1         15 minutes Speaker 2         15 minutes Workbook         15 minutes Research has shown that college students are in enormous debt because of poor budgeting and credit card liabilities. Providing information to students to enable them to understand the principles of money management will prove to be beneficial to students' financial future. Similar money management programs, such as the one at Ohio State University, have proven to be effective in educating students.

Need/Statement of the Problem According to the American Council on Education, about half of all college students graduate with a student-loan debt of about $12,000. Indeed, in the last decade, the amount borrowed in Stafford loans has more than doubled from $15 billion to $35 million. Studies show that over a recent three-year period, the number of students graduating with a total debt of over $20,000 has nearly doubled, as well.

Much of this total debt represents credit card liabilities. Three years ago, 67% of college students had credit cards. By 2000, 78% of undergraduates had at least one card, and 32% of those undergraduates had four or more cards. Loan balances are rising among students, as well. In 1997, student credit card debt averaged $1,879. Two years later, that debt jumped to $2,748.

Students who are most likely to fall into advanced levels of debt are freshmen and sophomores, undergraduates who, on average, have the least understanding of debt management. Although credit card companies are blamed for making credit readily available to students without providing instruction on how to use the credit card, universities are beginning to take some responsibility, as well. Many schools now offer workshops and courses in debt management to help solve these problems.

East Carolina University's money management workshop for freshmen will offer this crucial financial information. The workshop will cover such issues as handling credit, budgeting money, and saving funds.

Project Detail Objectives "¢         Offer students money management information "¢         Share techniques in budgeting "¢         Provide students with an understanding of debt management Help keep college students out of debt Clientele "¢         Initially, incoming freshmen "¢         Subsequently, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students Methods "¢         Provide workshops at orientation "¢         Bring in experts on money management and budgets                         Staff/Administration "¢         Guest speakers from within East Carolina University and the Greenville community "¢         The event coordinator- the Dean of Undergraduate Studies "¢         Support staff, such as student workers, graduate assistants, and the associate dean Available Resources The guest speakers, the primary information sources, will speak during Freshmen Orientation, held in Brewster B Wing Room 101; the maximum capacity is 120 people. These rooms are equipped with projector screens, which would make Power Point presentations or the use of overhead projectors accessible. Rooms are reserved through Ms. Judy Smith, director of ECU room reservations, by calling her at (252)328-6747 or emailing her at smithj@mail.ecu.edu.

All East Carolina University students are members of the Student Government Association (SGA), which provides means for responsible and effective student participation. It also serves as a viable resource to assist in the orientation process. Students with a business background and with active participation in the SGA may also assist with the workshop by sharing their experiences as freshmen and offering tips on money management.

The Center for Counseling and Student Development assists students in making the most of their opportunities for academic and personal development while attending the university. It also serves as an important asset to this program in that it can serve as another medium through which the workshop can advertise.

Needed Resources The primary information resource will be the guest speakers. These guest speakers will be professors from the university's finance department, bankers, and accountants within Greenville. Several professors and banking and accounting community members are willing to do this free. All other resources are currently available to us at no cost. The only monetary cost incurred will come from the production of the workbook and the cost of advertising for the workshop. The total cost for seven workshops held at each orientation is $242.30. This amount is a small percentage, less than two percent, of the overall materials and advertising budget of Undergraduate Studies (See Appendix).

Project Evaluation We will evaluate success of the workshop through a two-part process beginning at the start of the workshop. We will ask attending students to fill out an information form to contact them in six months. In addition, we will ask all students to comment on the workshop at the end. Thus, there will be two steps of evaluation: 1. Qualitative analysis: prompt reactions through student comments to evaluate students' opinions on the usefulness of the information provided in coping with financial problems in the future.

2. Quantitative analysis: an investigation after 6 months using email or phone calls to survey these students. Since we cannot get a response from every attending student, we will use the collected information for estimation using linear regression. This method will require a confidence interval within 2 standard deviations or approximately 95% and an r-square of at least 80 percent, attained through sample distributions and other variance. At the same time, we will investigate those who did not attend, using the fore mentioned method and compare the two results.

Appendix Budget Amount of Materials Required         Number of Orientations         Required Amount for Workshop*         Sub- Total         Pages Needed         Total Required Amount Paper         7         120         840         6         5040 Card Stock         7         120         840         2         1680 Binder Rings         7         120         840                 840 Pencils         7         120         840                 840                 *Room capacity used as maximum amount.

                                        Amount of Advertising Required                         Average Number of People Attending Orientation         Number of Orientations         Total Amount Required                 Advertising:                                         Newspaper         400         7         7                 Fliers (Paper)         400         7         2800                                                         Materials and Advertising Budget                                 Per Item Cost         Required Amount         Order Amount         Total Cost Per Item         Materials:                                         Paper         3.00 Ream(500)         10.08         11 Reams         $33.00         Card Stock         5.00 Ream (250)         6.72         7 Reams         $35.00         Binder Rings         5.00 Box of 200         4.20         5 Boxes         $25.00         Pencils         5.00 Box of 250         3.36         4 Boxes         $20.00         Advertising:                                         Newspaper         15.90 per 2x3 Ad         7.00         7 Ads         $111.30         Fliers (Paper)         3.00 Ream(500)         5.60         6 Reams         $18.00         Total Cost                                 $242.30         Works Cited Chandler, Michele. "For Young Credit Users, Bankruptcy on the Rise." The Miami Herald. 3 December 2000. Retrieved from, Minon, Michelle. "Report: More Students Taking Out Loans Resulting in Debts." Pennsylvania State University Daily Collegian 29 March 2001:1.

Rzewnicki, Anna. "First Personal Finance Boot Camp a Success". FISHERnews, the Fisher College e-newsletter. 10 May 2000. Retrieved from, .

Rzewnicki, Anna. "'Personal Finance Boot Camp' Hosted by Fisher College Students". FISHERnews, the Fisher College e-newsletter. 26 April 2000. Retrieved from, http://fisher.osu.edu/news/2000/000426-bootcamp.htm>.

"Tips for the New College Graduate." USA Today 130.2675 (2001): 11.