Activities focus on improving money management skills of college students.

(April 2, 2008) NSLP will celebrate National Financial Literacy Month in April with a series of events geared to enhance the money management skills of college students and raise public awareness about the importance of a sound financial education for young adults.

"Clearly there is a need for personal financial education when study results show 76 percent of college students wish they had more help preparing for their financial futures," says NSLP President Randy Heesacker. "By helping students learn how to manage their finances and make sound financial decisions, we're providing them with knowledge they can use to develop a plan to manages finances throughout their lifetimes."

NSLP's Financial Literacy Month activities are open to both college students and campus professionals.

• Nebraska Financial Literacy Week March 31-April 4 NSLP and the Nebraska Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators are teaming up to provide college students at eight campuses across Nebraska with vital information and tools they need to make sound financial decisions. Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman declared it Nebraska Financial Literacy Week, and NSLP's expert accredited financial counselors will deliver financial education seminars on a variety of topics such as budgeting, wise use of credit cards, credit history and money management.

• Learning Links Free webcasts - "Financial Success for Your Students--How the Financial Aid Professional Fits into the Picture" and "Identifying and Helping Financially Distressed Students" - will help financial aid administrators learn how to help their students become more financially savvy. The webcasts are offered concurrently on April 29 and 30. Information about the webcasts is available in the "Workshops & Webcasts" section of NSLP's website at www.nslp.org.

• Benjamin Franklin Award NSLP will announce the winner of the 2008 Benjamin Franklin Award. The award will recognize the efforts of a school that offers high-quality financial literacy programs for their students. The award criteria requires the school's program to be creative, helpful for students, effective and sustainable.

• National Financial Literacy Day NSLP will participate with the Jump$tart Coalition, Junior Achievement, the National Council on Economic Education and the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs on April 28 to showcase our financial literacy programs and services for members of Congress at "National Financial Literacy Day" on Capitol Hill. The event is designed to build support for financial literacy education.

  In addition to the month-long activities during April, NSLP offers comprehensive, on-campus financial literacy education seminars throughout the year to its schools. Twenty-seven different seminars cover a broad range of personal money management topics such as budgeting, managing credit, frugal living on a college budget, wise use of credit cards, tax matters and many more. These seminars also include a variety of student loan education topics to help students understand and repay their education loans. Schools can choose the seminars that best fit the needs of their students.

  Last year, NSLP's financial literacy experts conducted over 200 seminars on campuses throughout the country. In April, in addition to ten "Nebraska Financial Literacy Week" seminars, NSLP will also be conducting seminars in New York, Illinois, Virginia and Maryland.

  Students, parents, financial aid professionals, and consumers can also use NSLP's Financial Literacy Online (www.nslpflonline.org), a free, self-paced program which offers six, basic personal finance courses that may be completed at their convenience. Course topics include budgeting, credit, credit history, identity theft, financing education and contracts.

  Earlier this year, NSLP published "Developing a Financial Literacy Program for Your Students," a helpful guide that schools can use to set up a comprehensive program on their campus. The guide explains the key elements of a good program, offers tips for getting students to attend and outlines effective ways to measure success. The guide is available online in the "Default Prevention and Financial Literacy" section of NSLP's website.

  NSLP's financial literacy services are designed and delivered by NSLP's team of accredited financial counselors, who have over 50 years of combined experience counseling individuals and families.

  For more information about NSLP, visit www.nslp.org.

  Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, the National Student Loan Program (www.nslp.org) is a private, nonprofit corporation with over 20 years of experience as a student loan guaranty agency. NSLP works with lenders and post-secondary schools across the nation to help students gain access to low-cost student loans. With annual loan guarantees of over $2.6 billion, NSLP is one of the nation's major guaranty agencies and continues to serve as the designated guaranty agency for Nebraska.

  Posted 04/03/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Posting of press releases is done as a service to Members and does not imply endorsement or support by NASFAA. NASFAA does not review this information for content or accuracy.