The Appalachian College Association (ACA) has partnered with the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) to improve financial education quality, access, and impact for students attending ACA member institutions. NEFE will provide almost $1.5 million to support ACA’s implementation of financial education programs and services tailored to the unique needs of the ACA's 77,000 students.
"ACA member institutions share a commitment to providing opportunities for higher education to people for whom higher education has not always been available," says Beth Rushing, ACA President. "Our colleges recognize that financial education is an essential part of a holistic education. This support from NEFE will boost our colleges’ ongoing work to prepare students for the careers and lives they will create after graduation."
Seven ACA institutions have been selected to participate in the initial phase of this partnership: Alderson Broaddus University, Berea College, Emory & Henry College, Ferrum College, Mars Hill University, Maryville College, and Union College. Planners on each campus will shape financial education programs to best fit the students they serve as well as their existing curricular and co-curricular programs. The benefits of this partnership will extend beyond these seven institutions as the program generates new curriculum, instructional resources, and research findings on best practices in financial education.
"We are excited to launch this new partnership with the ACA and the seven participating colleges and universities," says Billy Hensley, Ph.D., President and CEO of NEFE. "This partnership creates a research-to-practice laboratory and provides a space to investigate various applications of financial education programming to inform best practices in financial education delivery."
