It’s Financial Literacy Month! Five Ways to Improve Your Financial Habits

By Ryan Laspina and Dr. Patricia Campbell
Ryan Laspina is a Red Flags and External Reviews Senior Specialist at APUS.
Dr. Campbell is the Assistant Provost at APU.

Did you know that April is Financial Literacy Month? The U.S. Senate declared April to be Financial Literacy Month in early 2004 to encourage Americans to develop and maintain healthy financial habits.

Here at the university, we strive to provide transparency and tools to help our students make informed financial decisions. Our dedicated Federal Student Aid (FSA) staff is trained in helping students borrow responsibly.

We offer an extensive Financial Consumer Information page that provides students with essential financial information and resources. We also publish weekly articles with tips on many different facets of financial literacy. Here are some additional resources to aid you in your quest to become financially literate:

• The university offers Financial Aid TV for students who are visual learners. This resource has videos that cover a variety of different financial topics, including “Saving and Borrowing Money” and “Tips on Saving Money.” These short videos are a quick and efficient way to gain more financial knowledge.
• Our free Net Price Calculator (NPC) is readily available to all students and prospective students.
• One of the best external resources for our students (and students at any other university) is the Federal Student Aid website, maintained by the Department of Education. It offers a wealth of information on responsible borrowing, eligibility for aid and repayment options.
• Another nifty external resource is YouCanDealWithIt.com. This website provides tips and information on student aid, effective money management and responsible credit card usage. It is easy to navigate and easy to read.
• Scholarships are the best way to pay for school. StudentScholarships.org is a great search engine to find scholarships for which you are eligible.

There is a wealth of financial literacy information on the Web, so having a few go-to websites is always a good idea. All of the resources listed above are excellent tools that you should utilize.

Even if you are not attending college, it is still important to be financially literate. Most decisions in your life call upon your financial literacy skills, so it is absolutely necessary that you have a firm understanding of financial literacy!

About the Contributors

Ryan Laspina is a Red Flags and External Reviews Senior Specialist at American Public University System. He is a current MBA student at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. Ryan studied business and English as an undergraduate. His specialties include writing, editing, and financial planning and management.

Dr. Patricia Campbell has numerous publications in academic journals, including the Journal of Political Science Education, International Feminist Journal of Politics, African Studies Quarterly, Politics and Policy, and Africa Today. Her co-authored textbook on Global Studies was published in 2010 (Wiley-Blackwell). She has been active serving on various committees of the American Political Science Association (APSA), and she was elected to the APSA’s Committee on Teaching and Learning.