The Center for Financial Literacy at Listerhill will join forces with the university to create a new management class, labeled MG 310. The purpose of the course is to educate students on many of the financial basics, including how to budget, said Heather Brown, director of the Center for Financial Literacy. 

“It is a three-credit-hour hybrid class,” Brown said. “Homework and exams are online, and I lecture one day a week. 

“There’s a group project aimed at teaching students how to find an apartment in their budget, how to figure take-home pay after deductions, how to invest in the mock corporation’s 401k, what happens to their debts and income once they marry, etc.” 

The class also deals with student concerns like borrowing responsibly, saving money, retirement, investing, buying a home and buying a car, Brown said.

The Office of Institutional Research, Planning & Assessment (OIRPA) did a survey last year to show students’ general knowledge. The survey found that students were significantly lacking in financial literacy.

The benefits gained from this partnership are not all one-sided. Listerhill is also receiving a share of benefits, Brown said. 

She said these benefits by explaining that they hopefully establish relationships with UNA’s students, possibly leaving them with future clients who show concern for their own well-being through their interest in college and learning. 

UNA’s motive is very clear: It is a helpful class for students who do not know how to handle their finances, and it leaves students with yet another option in what they can learn, Brown said. 

Brown said she is aware that high schools do not teach these financial musts, even though many high school students will need this information in the very near future.

Maggie Bruner, a freshman, said she thinks the class is a good idea.

“I think that’s stuff we need to know, and it’s a good thing that there’s going to be people who can show us how to do that,” she said.

Edwin Huertas, a sophomore, also agrees.

“Sounds like something good for students as clueless as I once was,” he said. “People need these kinds of life skills and nobody tells us.”