JPMorgan Chase & Co. has awarded a $100,000 grant to Westchester Community College to continue a pilot program that offers students financial coaching and education.
The grant will fund Money Smart Forum, offered by the Valhalla college”™s Center for Financial and Economic Education in the 2015-2016 academic year. Introduced on campus last year, the program allows students to work with a financial coach to improve their financial lives by incorporating practices such as budgeting, tracking expenses, saving money, building credit, and managing debt.
WCC officials said more than 300 students took the pilot course, which also includes workshops and career training sessions.
Suzanne Matthews, director of the Center for Financial and Economic Education, in the grant announcement said WCC “is one of the few institutions in the country to offer customized financial coaching to students, and this type of service is increasingly considered an important leading-edge practice in the financial education community. Feedback from last year overwhelmingly demonstrated that the program succeeded in helping participants to get control of their expenses, save on a regular basis, reduce debt, and build a framework for future financial security.”
