“Should Beloit College and other liberal arts colleges teach personal finance?”

 Warren Palmer, Professor of Economics 

Colleges have traditionally done little to help their students prepare themselves for the major financial decisions they will face in the decade following graduation. This is a curious omission since colleges want their graduates to lead successful lives (and, in turn, donate back to the college).  What has been a curious omission may become a serious oversight as colleges come under increasing pressure from critics of their high costs and from low-cost, on-line competitors. Labor-intensive liberal arts colleges must make the case that the value added in their personalized education justifies the high price tag and that their graduates can flourish in an increasingly complex world of personal finance. This presentation considers the case for incorporating some form of financial education into a Beloit College education. I spent my sabbatical semester last spring preparing a new course, The Life and Financial Planning Workshop, that I will teach next semester. The talk will present the results of a survey conducted last semester of graduating seniors that gauged their self-perceived level of financial knowledge, gathered information about their current financial practices, assessed their degree of concern about financial decisions, and finally asked them to answer some basic financial questions used by researchers surveying the financial literacy of various groups.

Hot buffet lunch will be available for $3.00 beginning at noon.  To ensure an accurate count, please RSVP to vpaa@beloit.edu by Friday, October 5.

This event is open to Beloit College faculty and staff only.