Building Financial Literacy, One Terp at a Time

They have frank conversations in class about their own situations,
such as whether their parents are paying for college or if they’re
working or taking out loans themselves, and discuss other financial
struggles, such as one student sharing how they still had to make
payments on their car after it got totaled.

The center is co-directed by Smith School Associate Clinical
Professor Michael McMillan and Lecturer Sam Handwerger and builds on
existing resources at UMD. These include TerpTax,
where Handwerger and student volunteers help low-income and
international community members file taxes, as well as classes on
personal and family finance in the School of Public Health and stock investing in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

“We’re harnessing all the passion so many people have around
financial literacy and centralizing it,” said McMillan, who teaches two
popular personal finance classes. “This is not just a business school
project—this belongs to the whole university.”

Toward the end of the semester, he and Handwerger are planning a
“Senior Send-off Week” series of fireside chats on Zoom to prepare the
Class of 2025 for the real world. Topics will include tenant and
landlord rights, student loan repayment options and credit cards. The
center’s newly hired coordinator, Lakeyla Whitaker, will help collect
all of that information for its website, creating a repository of
resources.

Support for the center’s work comes in part from Maryland’s State
Employees Credit Union (SECU), which is also hosting events at McKeldin
in April, including Ledo gift card giveaways for answering financial
trivia questions such as “What’s the average savings account rate?”
(Hint: It’s way lower than 5%, which is a popular guess).

“We know that financial education content can be a bit boring, but
SECU is hoping to have fun and give students a wake-up call around what
they know and don’t know,” said Annie Weinschenk, who oversees SECU’s
university partnerships. “This important topic will be a part of their
life as a student and a professional.”

In the fall, the center’s work will start in earnest, once University Libraries
installs two additional privacy pods on the first floor for peer
mentoring sessions. Having McKeldin as a main hub for the center is a
natural fit with the division’s goal of improving students’ information
literacy across topics, said Libraries Senior Associate Dean Gary White,
who has worked on financial education for years with Business Librarian
Lily Griner, a member of the center’s advisory committee.

Freshmen will get tips and workshops during orientation and Fall
Welcome, as the center seeks to reach students as early as possible to
start good habits.

“This is the time for students to take ownership over their financial
future,” said Bailey. “There are a lot of people who might say they’re
too busy, or they want someone else to think about it. But if you find
yourself in a difficult situation, like if your car breaks down or your
laptop is stolen, people who are better prepared can pivot and adjust.”