News of increasing student debt is not hard to come by, regardless of program. As the federal government stagnates on its moves to address the $1 trillion load of student loan debt carried by current and former college students, individual universities have taken it upon themselves to address student financial literacy instead. In addition to formal financial literacy courses, several institutions have designed unique programs aimed to address how their students manage their money and particularly their student loans.
[For information about recent higher education legislation proposals, read Snowballing Student Loan Debt Leads to Dramatic Higher Reauthorization Proposals]
Both of these law institutions utilize a unique approach to teach students important financial literacy and life skills while addressing their own situations in a more direct manner. By trying to reach critical populations and make lasting impressions, each program offers a different researched educational approach to financial literacy. Here is a rundown of these innovative law schools and their alternative approach to financial literacy programs and how they work:
Yale Law School
Beginning in 2011, the Financial Aid Director at Yale Law School (YLS) began offering basic financial workshops on hot-button topics such as money management and savings, retirement planning, and even how to dress well without spending a lot of money. The debt accumulated by typical YLS students prompted this more direct approach to financial literacy since many highly intelligent law students still failed to understand how their student loans worked. In addition to workshops, the Office of Financial Aid offers one-to-one counseling advice to students, including those who hope to go into lower-paying law careers, such as public service. They want these students to fully understand the burden of their debt as well as the realities of federal loan forgiveness programs that may not be available in a few years as lacking basic personal finance skills and student loan knowledge may sabotage students’ career goals. ("Law School Pushes Student Financial Literacy" - Yale Daily News)
Fordham University School of Law
Taking a different approach to the topic of financial literacy and drawing it into the greater sphere of business practice, the Fordham University School of Law is also debuting a new Financial Literacy course this fall. Mandatory for all incoming first-year students, the six-hour course entitled Quantitative Methods for Lawyers will teach students basic financial concepts as well as address large-scale financial issues such as markets, cost-benefits analyses, ethics, and the time-value of money.
The course is designed to analyze events leading up to a tort case and expectations that follow while utilizing quantitative reasoning skills as it is a critical component for success. While each hour of the course will be taught by a different member of the Law School’s faculty, the hope is that through learning these skills early on in their career, young lawyers will have a better handle on how to manage financial issues at every stage within the legal system of the United States.
