UNI prepares high school educators to teach financial literacy

UNI prepares high school educators to teach financial literacy 

All Iowa high school students are now required to complete financial literacy courses, part of a legislative effort to ready students for life after graduation. UNI is helping educators teach those important fundamentals with a boost from the Iowa Credit Union Foundation (ICUF).   

The foundation recently pledged $50,000 to UNI’s business college to support its continuing education programming to prepare high school educators to teach financial literacy curriculum in Iowa high schools. “It aligns with our mission to empower people and communities to achieve financial well-being,” said Jaimie Miller, ‘08 UNI graduate and executive director of ICUF. “Educators are the core of any curriculum, and we want to ensure they have the resources needed to succeed in the classroom.”

While Iowa school districts have a wide range of options available for a financial literacy curriculum, there are few options in the state for the continuing education necessary for educators to teach this topic. TBeginning this summer, UNI will provide continuing education in financial literacy with the option of earning graduate credit. An estimated 200-400 teachers will participate in the UNI training over the next five years.

“We appreciate the Foundation’s support of this critical training curriculum for Iowa educators,” said Jennifer Anderson, business teaching coordinator and instructor at UNI’s business college. “Teaching the importance of personal finance early to Iowa students can make a difference for the rest of their lives, whether that be minimizing student debt, making wise career choices, keeping expenses low or saving early. It benefits these individuals and their future families and grows the prosperity of our Iowa communities.”

The Iowa law, passed in 2018 and amended in 2019, requires that starting with the graduating class of 2020-2021, all high school students must complete at least one-half unit of personal finance literacy as a condition of graduation. Iowa Department of Education guidance can be found here.