Nebraska Pushes Financial Literacy Agenda

On the heels of growing awareness of the importance of financial literacy among high school students nationwide, Nebraska is seeking to take the lead in boosting financial education among students using a web-based financial literacy program.  Citing a study showing that nearly 85 percent of college undergraduates indicated that they would have liked to have received greater financial-related education in high school, Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg announced that Nebraska will support greater levels of financial literacy programming.

Stenberg cited two primary goals of Nebraska in promoting greater use of an online financial education program developed by education technology company EverFi.  First and foremost, he said, is to increase the number of high school students in the state who become literate on financial matters. Nebraska seeks to accomplish this objective by making available to all school districts in the state, at no cost to those districts, the EverFi financial education program.  The second objective is to increase awareness among Nebraska residents of the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust, commonly referred to as NEST, which is 529 state-sponsored college savings program in Nebraska. NEST currently has roughly 58,000 Nebraska accounts and the state is actively looking to drive that number higher.

To further help grow levels of financial literacy statewide, NEST is paying $50,000 per year for five years to underwrite the EverFi program for school districts, resulting in a no-fee implementation strategy for school districts. This move by Nebraska to support financial literacy is consistent with the overall national focus in the U.S. in increasing the incidence of financially literacy individuals and families, which fast-growing trend also is consistent with the national financial education programs in other countries as well.  The next several months and years should see many other states and nations similarly underwriting financial literacy programs, resulting in a continued rise in rates of financial literacy in communities throughout the world.