UC Hosts Financial Empowerment Summit

Unmet financial need of the nation’s college students and affordability issues are the greatest hurdles to student retention and degree completion. The Equifax credit reporting agency indicates that the national average student loan debt is $29,000 per student.  At UC, average student loan debt was $28,590 for students graduating in 2013-14. The University of Cincinnati is taking the lead on addressing those issues as part of a new student success initiative.

UC will host its first Financial Empowerment Summit from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Thursday, April 9, in the Tangeman University Center Atrium.

Students attending the free summit will get information about money management, preventing identity theft, investing, salary negotiation, budgeting for life after college and understanding credit scores. They’ll also get information about the difference between grants, scholarships and loans as well as understanding their college bill, monitoring their student loans, loan consolidation, student loan forgiveness and changes in the federal

Parent Plus Loan.

The event is presented by the UC Financial Literacy Coalition and UCan Manage It Financial Literacy-One Stop Student Services.

“We wanted to inform students about all of these services on campus that can help them navigate the costs of college, and that’s how the Financial Empowerment Summit came about,” says Vivian Renee Scott, assistant manager for UC’s One Stop Student Services Center. “It’s a convenient way for students to get help and gather resources in one central location.”

As part of UC’s Campus Completion Plan, UC aims to increase its retention rates to 90 percent for baccalaureate degree-seeking students and 65 percent for associate degree-seeking students by 2016, and graduation rates (64.2 percent baccalaureate and 22 percent associate) each by 1 percent per year as part of its time-to-degree goals by 2019.

UC formed the signature Financial Literacy Coalition last fall to support financial literacy and college planning for students and families as part of the Complete College Ohio task force recommendations from the Ohio Board of Regents. The statewide task force examined challenges around college completion and developed a set of recommendations to significantly increase the number of Ohio residents earning a postsecondary education certificate or degree.

Photo/Video Advisory: The Life After UC Game

Students participating in the Financial Empowerment Summit will also be able to get some real-life lessons, should they choose to play the “Life After UC: The Game.” For media photo opportunities, higher participation in the game is expected from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., April 9, in the TUC Atrium. The game takes students through a typical month after graduation, so it includes a major and typical salary, what gets taken out for taxes, health care and student loans, and factors costs such as housing, food and transportation.

Many of the units participating in the UC Financial Empowerment Summit are members of the UC Financial Literacy Coalition.

UC Financial Empowerment Summit Participants

Student Financial Aid

– Representatives will assist students in understanding financial aid terminology and understanding financial aid rewards.

Bursar/Student Accounts Office

– Representatives will have advice for students on understanding their bill and avoiding collections, as well as tuition payment plans and Perkins Loan servicing.

One Stop Student Services

– Representatives will highlight the advantages of federal loans versus private loans and show students how they can monitor their student debt.

UCan Manage It-Financial Literacy

– UCan Manage it is a resource dedicated to assisting University of Cincinnati students and parents with money management. Summit representatives will have pointers on public loan forgiveness and loan consolidation. Twitter:

@UCanManageIt

UC Wellness Center

– Peer financial coaches will have advice on budgeting for students.

Carl H. Lindner College of Business

– A peer financial group will have advice on how to live like a student.

PNC Bank

– Representatives will inform visitors about banking, investing, building credit and preventing identity theft.

Sallie Mae

– Representatives will have pointers on building relationships with loan servicers.

Great Lakes Higher Education

– Representatives will have pointers on building relationships with loan servicers. They will also give a demonstration of “GradReady,” a new financial literacy product that is coming to UC’s

UCan Manage It Web page.