Teens sharpen personal finance skills with the help of interactive software

Students at five public high schools are getting a handle on the basics of personal finance with a short computer-based course designed to prepare them as they move into adulthood.

Hawaii’s public schools don’t require financial literacy, leaving that topic up to individual schools. So First Hawaiian Bank is trying to fill the gap with a course it dubs MyMoney that uses interactive software developed by EverFi, an educational technology company.

“It’s probably honestly the most useful and practical subject I learned about in high school,” said Caleb Jones, who took MyMoney as a senior at Kailua High School last year and is now studying mechanical engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “It taught me a lot of money management skills.”

The bank launched MyMoney as a pilot program in the fall of 2015 and has extended it through the 2020-21 academic year, after seeing strong results. It is looking to reach more students.

This school year, 1,338 students on three islands are taking the course, up from 615 in the first year. They include 350 freshmen at Waianae High and 650 students in 9th to 12th grade at Waipahu High School. The others are at Kailua High, Hilo High and Waimea High on Kauai.

The bank selects schools where at least half the student body qualifies for subsidized lunch based on family income.

MyMoney involves six to eight hours of instruction and students work through the video lessons and exercises at their own pace, with guidance as needed from their teachers. The course aligns with national financial literacy standards.

It covers a wide range of money matters including savings and compound interest; debit and credit cards; banks, credit unions and payday lenders; credit scores; paying for college; renting vs. owning; taxes and insurance; consumer fraud; and investing.

Jones says taking the course already helped him with a couple of decisions. After leaning toward attending Seattle University, he opted instead to go to UH on a scholarship and avoid going into debt for his college education.

Seattle U had also offered him a scholarship but not enough to cover its higher costs. He also put the savings from his job last summer into certificates of deposit to earn more interest.

The 2020 Survey of the States by the Council for Economic Education shows that 24 states require high schools to offer a personal finance course and 21 states require students to take it as a stand-alone class or integrated into another subject. Hawaii does neither, although seniors are required to complete a Personal Transition Plan to map their future after graduation.

Courses in math and economics also may incorporate aspects of personal finance.

Tricia Fujikawa Lee, a senior vice president at First Hawaiian Bank and Community Reinvestment Act officer, said the bank wants to reach youngsters as they start looking toward college or getting a job.

“We’re aware that Hawaii does not mandate that financial education be taught to every student,” she said. “But coming from the bank’s side, seeing how our customers are managing their finances, qualifying or not qualifying for loans, how they default or not, we do recognize the need for financial education.”

She added, “Just basic financial education can help with higher credit scores or help customers manage their accounts better.”

Students scores on the various topics went up by 96% overall between the start and the end of the modules in the 2018-19 academic year, according to an impact report from EverFI. For example, Hawaii students had an average score of 41% on “financing higher education” before completing that module, but 84% in the post-course assessment.

Dawn Fraser, college and career counselor at Kailua High School, said students like working at their own pace with the short videos, and teachers like the fact that the course doesn’t put another burden on them.

“It helps students look at the bigger picture of what it means to be financially responsible,” Fraser said. “Just because I can write the check doesn’t mean there are enough funds. And there are consequences to that.”

“We have students thinking a little bit more now about how much do I really want to spend at prom,” she said, adding that some kids spend $500 on a gown. “We were talking about if you had to charge it, this is how much you would pay, this is the interest rate, and how long would it take to pay that off?”

Credit unions in Hawaii offer Financial Reality Fairs at local high schools in the hope of giving students a lively taste of real-life finances.

First Hawaiian Bank has budgeted a little over $100,000 for the six years of the MyMoney program. By the end of this school year, it expects to have reached more than 5,600 students altogether.

Schools interested in participating may send an email with MyMoney in the subject line to customer feedback@fhb.com.