April is designated as 'Financial Literacy Month' in the United States. First advocated by the Jumpstart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, Financial Literacy Month promotes the establishment and maintenance of healthy financial habits.

This year, NASFAA will be highlighting financial literacy throughout the month in a series of articles identifying no-cost resources that you can use to help students learn the basics of banking, budgeting, credit cards, renting and housing, credit scores and ratings, and debt management. These include interactive tools like calculators, self paced online tutorials, and gadgets that can be downloaded or posted to desktops and social networking profiles. NASFAA encourages you to publicize the resources to students and, where appropriate, to other student services offices or faculty. NASFAA also encourages you to share any effective practices you've used to increase student financial literacy by sending an email to news@nasfaa.org.

Each week in April, our Financial Literacy series will focus on a different topic; this week highlights basic personal finance education.

Basics of Personal Finance

• CashCourse - Customizable Web Module

  CashCourse provides a free, customizable Web site to any public or private nonprofit college or university in the U.S. CashCourse provides financial education resources for your students with no maintenance, including unbiased content with no advertising and no connections to commercial entities. The financial aid sections of the course were reviewed and/or contributed by NASFAA. Colleges and universities can brand the module with their logos and decide independently where to place it in their Web sites. Any college department can initiate CashCourse, including financial aid offices.

• Financial Literacy: On The Money! - Television Broadcast

  This episode of the PBS show, In the Mix, was funded by the Merrill Lynch Foundation. The program will be re-broadcast on PBS affiliates across the country during the week of April 4 - 11, 2009. The show's Web site offers extras such as a credit card payment calculator, video clips of the show, and a search function to find local stations and broadcast times in your area.

• Making Your Paychecks Count - Booklet

  The National Urban League and National Endowment for Financial Education partnered to produce this booklet covering the basics of handling paychecks, including what deductions to expect for taxes, and discusses the true cost of services like payday loans, car title loans, check cashing stores, rent-to-own, and pawn shops.

• Me, Save? - Online Interactive Tool

  Students can customize their spending habits and watch their savings opportunities rack up. This is part of the 'Feed The Pig' campaign, a campaign by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and The Advertising Council to encourage Americans age 25 to 34 to take control of their personal finances.

• Thirty Steps to Financial Wellness - Worksheets and Gadgets

  This site offers 30 steps - one step a day for the month - to take towards financial well being. The site offers downloadable worksheets and desktop gadgets. It is presented by Money Management International, a nonprofit credit counseling organization.

• Money Smart - Computer-Based Instruction

  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation offers a user-friendly online course containing ten modules of instruction. Money Smart can complement formal classes or enable people to study independently at their own pace.

• Mapping Your Financial Journey: Helping Adults Plan for College - Booklet

  Designed for adults considering college, this booklet from the National College Transition Network and the National Foundation for Financial Education explains some of the basic financial ideas and skills that benefit every adult. It includes attitudes about money, goal setting, worksheets and more.

Freebie of the Week

• File Your Income Tax Return for Free

  Free File is the fast, easy, and free way to prepare and e-file your federal taxes online. Anyone whose 2008 adjusted gross income is $56,000 or less can receive free federal income tax preparation and electronic filing.

Posted 04/01/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.