Business students teach peers about financial literacy 

Matthew Zimpelman instructs students participating in the Burst the Bubble course. [/caption]Three senior accounting majors instructed the Winter Term Burst the Bubble course “Financial Literacy for College Students – For the Present and Future,” which was sponsored by Beta Alpha Psi, an international honor organization for financial information students. The instructors, who are also BAP executives, Richard Segal, Matthew Zimpelman and Kevin Smeaton, facilitated three interactive sessions for the course.

The program served as a crash-course for understanding the implications of income taxes, investing in the short and long term, determining personal budgets, paying back student loans, and the dangers of credit cards and credit scores for students looking to be financially literate.

The sessions were each an hour long and had a different financial theme. The first session focused on self-budgeting and included information on credit scores and credit cards. The second session centered on implications of taxes, and talked about sales taxes, income taxes and mortgages. The final session was about investing in both long- and short-term stocks.

Approximately 30 students participated in the course. About half of the participants were business majors and the other half consisted of a variety of majors including psychology and communications.

“The course was an overall great experience for both the class participants and the facilitators,” Zimpelman said. “Creating lesson plans, presenting to the class, and answering participants’ questions allowed Kevin, Richard, and I to not only help facilitate the learning of the students, but also better understand the course material ourselves.”

The idea for the course stemmed from presentations that Segal, Zimpelman, Smeaton and other BAP members presented to local high school students during the fall 2014 semester. As part of BAP’s 2014 national goal of financial literacy, BAP members taught high school students about financial literacy and the importance of a college education. The student instructors also noted Patty Cox, assistant professor of accounting, and Art Cassill, Wesley R. Elingburg Professor of Accounting, were helpful in preparing the course and providing guidance.

The student instructors said they hope BAP members continue offering this course in future Winter Terms to continue to help students better understand the ins-and-outs of personal financing.