Monarch Millionaire Program To Expose ODU Students to Financial Literacy Concepts
A program to expose Old Dominion University students to financial literacy concepts has been awarded a $3,500 grant from Higher One, a higher education-focused financial services company.
The grant will support the Monarch Millionaire program, which will be open to all students looking to learn about personal finance topics such as budgeting, banking, credit cards and life after college. ODU was chosen from more than 50 applicants to receive the grant from Higher One.
The Monarch Millionaire program was proposed by the Monarch Project of ODU's Office of Finance, which partnered with the College of Business and Public Administration, Aramark, Follett Campus Book Stores, Global Spectrum, the ODU Credit Union and Old Dominion University's Office of Housing and Residence Life.
The initiative is aimed at helping address the looming student debt crisis in this country. Nationally, current and former students have accumulated an estimated $1 trillion in debt, with Virginia students averaging more than $23,000 in debt at graduation.
Monarch Millionaire will involve five-week sessions open to all ODU students, and be led by student instructors who have been trained in personal finance topics. Students can choose from four different days and times for the sessions, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7 p.m., and Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. or 7 p.m., starting the week of Sept. 11. The five-week programs will be followed by a graduation ceremony the week of Oct. 25 featuring a guest speaker.
The goal of Monarch Millionaire is to improve ODU students' financial literacy with a balanced mix of fun and informative lessons, discussions and practice work. The classes are currently scheduled to take place on campus, but there are plans to expand the program via ODU Distance Learning if there is sufficient demand.
Students looking to reserve a seat in the program can email their name, UIN, phone number and t-shirt size to monarchmillionaire@odu.edu.
With the help of its sponsors, Monarch Millionaire will offer free drinks, snacks and prizes during each class. Every participant will receive a Monarch Millionaire t-shirt, and attendees will be eligible for prize giveaways, including an iPad.
Monarch Millionaire representatives will be present during ODU Preview and Week of Welcome, and can be contacted through the initiative's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MonarchMillionaire.
Higher One Holdings Inc. is focused on helping college business offices manage operations and providing enhanced service to students. Higher One provides its services to approximately 6.2 million students at public and private higher education institutions nationwide. More information about the company can be found at www.HigherOne.com.