HESC Promotes Awareness During Financial Literacy Month

ALBANY, NY (04/16/2008)(readMedia)-- The New York State Higher Education Services Corp. (HESC) reminds students and families that April is financial literacy month. HESC is the state agency that helps people pay for college.

As students grapple with increased credit card debt, HESC recently created a series of free financial literacy curricula called the Financial Awareness and Consumer Training for Students (FACTS) program. It is designed to help college administrators, high school counselors, Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), and civic groups provide teens and young adults with a financial education to make informed personal finance decisions.

Presented in modules, customizable, and downloadable at any time, the FACTS program is a convenient and effective learning tool for students. Each module is targeted toward a different population of students and is accompanied by speaker's notes and handouts. Details about this free financial literacy curriculum can be found on the HESC Web site at: http://www.hesc.com/content.nsf/CA/1/Financial_Awareness_and_Consumer_Training_for_Students or contact Pam Jerome at HESC at 518-202-3521 or via e-mail at facts@hesc.org.

"Everyone hears about credit every day but no one really understands the full impact of their decisions," said a student recently completing the program at the Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego-Counties BOCES in Norwich, N.Y.

The statistics are startling. While 45 percent of teens know how to use a credit card, just 26 percent understand credit card interest and fees, according to a recent survey by Charles Schwab.

Yet, one in three high school seniors have a credit card and by the time they reach the senior year of college, 56 percent will be carrying four or more credit cards with an average debt of nearly $3,000. And, the number of 18 to 24 year-olds declaring bankruptcy has increased by 96 percent within the last ten years.

About HESC: HESC administers 25 student financial aid programs, making it the most comprehensive financial aid agency in the nation. The agency guarantees more than $4.5 billion student loans annually. During 2006-07, HESC awarded nearly $5.5 billion in aid to more than 700,000 students.

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