To finish my Capstone Project on Student’s Financial Proficiency and Why Small Savings Matter I created a presentation to show a summary of my results as well as provide a walk-through of the prototype app PocketStudent that I designed as a resource for college students. The app provides a combined budgeting resource that is run through an organization at the university so students can receive relevant information about saving money during their years on campus. Creating this research project has been a great experience for my sophomore year in STEM EE Scholars and I hope you enjoy my presentation.
Capstone Project Presentation
To finish my Capstone Project on Student’s Financial Proficiency and Why Small Savings Matter I created a presentation to show a summary of my results as well as provide a walk-through of the prototype app PocketStudent that I designed as a resource for college students. The app provides a combined budgeting resource that is run through an organization at the university so students can receive relevant information about saving money during their years on campus. Creating this research project has been a great experience for my sophomore year in STEM EE Scholars and I hope you enjoy my presentation.
Capstone Conclusion
After observing the answers from the survey, it was clear to see that paying for college is on everyone’s mind. Low financial proficiency has a large effect on a student’s loan repayment in their future years, and those missed payments will have a negative effect on credit scores and abilities to take out new loans later in life. This low proficiency is due to the missing financial education in high school curriculum. Although these resources were not available to the students surveyed, their data shows their interest in learning more. While it will take a while before the Student Debt Crisis is eradicated, currently we can help these students minimize the stress of debt. Learning more about student loans and saving money will help parents and students make smarter decisions while applying for aid and those decisions should continue throughout college. PocketStudent combines multiple aspects of budgeting that can help people manage money better. By connecting to the designated university and interacting with posts consistently, college students can gain more knowledge about ways they can save. Having information compiled into one area will make it easier to find the resources universities have available to help them financially. By making small decisions based on applying for more scholarships, shopping smart, and using discounts, paying for education can get easier.
Designing the app PocketStudent was one of the best parts of my project. I spent multiple days designing each page and working with a website that would bring it to life. I’m so proud with how it came out and I can’t wait to share it with my Scholars class. Working on this research project has been rewarding and I’m very impressed with the outcome. Making smart financial decisions has always been a goal of mine and I hope others can join in too.
Marketing Interview
This April I was accepted into the Kohl’s Sophomore Career Expo to participate in a convention at Kohl’s Corporate in Wisconsin for the weekend. I was more than excited to explore the campus, learn more about positions at the company, and meet with everyone, however due to COVID-19 the program was moved to online. Kohl’s has been very helpful with the transition, and the company was able to set participants up with a mentor who works in a field they’re interested in. My mentor is Amanda, who has worked with Kohl’s for five years and is currently working with the Brand Strategy and Positioning team. I’m so thankful for how helpful she’s been and while getting to know her better I was able to ask a few questions about the journey to her current position.
- Briefly explain the path you took to get to where you are in your position. – When I first applied into the business school at the university I attended, I wasn’t quite sure which route within the business world I wanted to take. The more I learned about the impacts of marketing strategy and truly understanding your customer target, the more interested I became in a career in Marketing. I tried a few different routes through the consulting world and then through retail, which ultimately led me to my internship at Kohl’s in a marketing strategy role with an offer to come back full time the following year. I have been at Kohl’s since I graduated in 2015 and held various marketing roles, with my most recent role being on our Brand Strategy and Positioning team.
- Were there any classes or experiences in college that helped you prepare for the job field? – One of my college classes involved a semester-long project where a team of students and I consulted for a non-profit in the area. We really had to start with square 1 to understand the company, it’s customers, it’s issues and goals, then create a plan for how the company could accelerate growth for the future. It was a great way to practice collaborating with peers on a common goal as well as use data and insights to create a strategy to grow the company, which is at a very high level the basis of my current job.
- What was the hardest/easiest adjustment when starting at a large company like Kohl’s? – Kohl’s is a big company, but having time to adjust to that as an intern made it much easier for the full time transition. Working in such a big company has provided me with opportunities to change jobs internally to grow in my career but still remain in the comforts of the same company. There are definitely difficulties that come with a big company, but I feel the benefits outweigh the disadvantages when starting your career right out of college.
- What were the deciding factors that led you to choose Kohl’s as the company you wanted to work for? – The Kohl’s corporate office is in my hometown so that was definitely a consideration for me, but after just 10 weeks as an intern at Kohl’s I saw how much the company valued each associate and their development. I don’t think this is something you get at all billion dollar companies, and I feel fortunate to work in an environment that supports families, work-life balance, and all associates at every level of the company.
- What’s the best piece of advice you received in college before entering into the job search? – One of the best pieces of advice I heard in college while I was hunting for jobs is that “it’s ok not to know exactly what you want to do as a career.” Some of my college friends had such clear career paths: attend medical school then become a doctor, take my CPA exam and become an accountant at a Big 4 firm, etc. I felt like I needed to decide exactly what I wanted to do within marketing for the rest of my life and what company I wanted to work at forever. I’ve learned after switching jobs at Kohl’s numerous times within just 5 years that the most important thing is to start your career at a company that shares your values because in whatever role you take, you want to feel good about where you work and their mission.
Year in Review 2020
Autumn 2019 started out with a change in career goals for me. I switched over to the Fisher College of Business for a marketing specialization and explored an entirely different atmosphere to what I was used to in the STEM world. After spending the first couple months adjusting to the big change and planning out my schedule for the next two years, I knew I also had to push my resume to mirror someone in a business field. So, I started planning for my future experiences. I had a goal of securing an internship for the upcoming summer, and joining business related clubs to introduce myself to my classmates. I ended up interviewing for an on-campus job in October which even helped my cause as it was for a position in Telecounseling. Every shift I practiced my speaking skills as I talked to prospective students and informed them about life on campus and what was offered in their desired program. I was very nervous during the first couple of weeks because it was a little out of my comfort zone, however I was also excited because I knew how much I could grow from it, and I really enjoyed my coworkers. I also got to enjoy my last semester working on the STEM LC. After multiple events and meetings, our group finished 2019 with a list of achievements and memories, and welcomed in the new class of scholars to add to our family. Academically, I had a great start to my enrollment into the business school as I received Deans List for the semester and was accepted into the Marketing specialization in late October.
During that first semester, when I wasn’t changing my major or joining new clubs, I was also having an amazing sophomore year. The semester started off working with the OWL program again, but this time as an OWL-C. We had a successful move-in day, and I met so many amazing people. Weekends were filled with another great football season and trips downtown with friends. After trips to the Ohio Theatre, I added Dear Evan Hansen, Les Misearbles, and Anastasia to my Broadway show list, and even took a trip down to Playhouse Square in Cleveland during winter break for Mean Girls. I ended the year signing off on the big decision to rent a house with my friends for next semester, and counted down the last seconds before the next decade.
As 2020 began, I crossed off my goal for the summer. I accepted a position with Cedar Point as a Marketing Guest Services and Special Events Intern for their 150th season. Thanks to my involvement with the STEP program, I planned to use this internship as my transformational experience and worked with my STEP advisor to plan out my proposal. I continued to develop my skillset for the corporate environment by applying to different leadership experiences and events hosted by companies I was passionate about. I was accepted to be a part of the Kohl’s Sophomore Career Expo in Wisconsin during April before the semester took a turn.
My 20th Birthday approached before Spring Break, along with a heavy midterm season. After finishing my last hours studying in Thompson, and heading home for break, I never would’ve thought that it would be the last time seeing that library for the semester. If these last few weeks of my sophomore year have taught me anything, it’s appreciation. Appreciation for government officials taking precautions quickly, appreciation for professors who understand the mental toll of this unprecedented time, and appreciation for healthcare workers as they work nonstop to help those affected. But mostly I’ve appreciated this time with family, as my mother didn’t believe she would get time with both of her daughters home after my sister graduated this spring. Although I am thankful for the smooth transition I experienced during moving back home for the semester, I felt the true weight of this situation after my grandmother passed away and our large family couldn’t attend the funeral due to social distancing guidelines.
Eventually my sophomore year ended, and I submitted my last final. Looking back at my year so far and seeing the changes and the growth, I can say despite the challenges I’m proud of what I have achieved. I’m hopeful of the inevitable changes to come during these next months and know that we will get through this.
Capstone Update 2
The search for academic sources pointed to an article called “Financial literacy and student debt” by Nikolaos Artavanis and Soumya Karra. It provided key claims of how their research proved that students with high financial proficiency had an easier time repaying their student loans and budgeting for the future. The studies even proved how low literacy leads to smaller starting salaries across majors. This chain of less financial knowledge leads to greater shocks in loan repayment, and when starting income is low, these students can struggle with loan repayment after graduation.
Another academic source I found contains major statistics about the student debt crisis. The article, “Crushing Debt or Savvy Strategy? Financial Literacy and Student Perceptions of their Student Loan Debt” by Gail Markle, shows how the outstanding debt reached $1.31 trillion in 2016. The article covers how family and student decision making about college contributes early on to future ability to maintain debt. However, it also covers how students these days have to balance academic and financial needs, and the steps they are taking to achieve this.
The main discussions taken from these articles are how important education about student loans are to students entering college. Those willing to learn and take charge of their finances will be better prepared for life after graduation. The last articles to gather will be about ways students can practice budgeting and healthy money habits in college.
Lastly, after the time spent researching, I wanted to create something to end the project that could benefit students as they save to pay off their debt. The tool will help students manage their money and use their resources to their advantage. It started with the design of an app that targeted 4 main categories. Scholarships, shopping smart, financial advice, and student discounts. The app is different than other financial tools because this is specific for colleges. The app could operate out of each university that wants to use the service. When the app is linked to a university, a board at the college or a student organization could oversee submissions that help the users find deals, scholarships, and locations for discounts. Each account can be connected to the user’s student ID and can even create a specific QR code the student can show for discounts if their ID is at home, but their phone isn’t. The profile page also contains the option to turn on tuition alerts which will remind you when tuition/fees are due, which is helpful in preventing the students from getting fees for late payment.
I always felt as if scholarships were abundant, but hard to find. Schools had their own merit or need-based scholarships, and even the Special Scholarship application, however I would still see a small amount of acceptances back from the applications. The hardest part was trying to find more scholarships that I could apply for outside of the university. Additionally, I believe that students do not apply for a high number of scholarships because they don’t know where to look. The scholarship design of the app has two sections: one based on the university and one specific to the user. The university section will provide scholarships given by different departments in the university that you can apply for, this way they are in one place and easy to find. The next section is specific to the user. You can add tags including your location, (to find local scholarships), your interests, writing prompt requirements and even your major to find scholarships given by larger corporations in your major of interest. Each listing will provide the due date and submission type for the application, along with a link to visit the page. By being connected to the school, the students can find all their resources for scholarships at their fingertips, without having to do a deep search online.
The next section is collaborative with the University and works as an announcement page for financial information from colleges, student organizations, and programs at the university. Each account can be searched for and followed to appear on the user’s home screen. This is a hub for shoutouts about sales for students, events with free food, job applications, blog posts for budgeting, student discounts and more. The great perk of being in college is all the chances we get to save money. However, we learn about them either through a long list of emails, websites we don’t check, university-made apps, GroupMe, and posters on campus. None of the information is ever centralized in an easy way to ensure we never miss a deal. Each organization on campus that wants to make an account would oversee making updates to their page.
Another tab is dedicated for gathering all the ads from local grocery stores and compiles them so users can create a shopping list. It works the same way as the announcement tab, where you can follow the ads of your favorite shops. Instead of looking online at different grocery stores, reading newspaper ads, or going in blind, the user can create their own shopping list to take with them of the weekly deals in the area to save on food each week.
The last tab is a location-based student discount finder. It can work for general student IDs or specifically for school ID (BuckID) merchants. The map asks you to input your location and then the map will place location markers where you can find a discount. Clicking on a marker will give the name, address, and discount available at each location.
The best part about the app is that its interactive with each university. This way the discounts the students can access are all useful and they can have a hub where all information collects about ways to help them financially on campus. The prototype design will be easy to use, but contain a lot of useful aspects that could really make a difference to how students spend.
Capstone Update 1
The survey was sent out to freshman students to grasp their knowledge of finances as they are entering into their college career. More than half of the students are planning on pursuing graduate school after their years at OSU, and considering that 70% of respondents didn’t partake in any financial wellness programs in high school, they might have a long road ahead of them before they learn how to manage their money. Most answered that they have a little knowledge in financial literacy, but what is the most alarming is the responses from those not able to use their resources. Less than 10% had scheduled a meeting with a financial coach at the university. This resource is free out of the University’s Student Wellness Center. Less than half take advantage of using their Student ID or BuckID cash when at off-campus locations, and 62.5% claim to track spending through their bank app at least, while around 30% claim to not track at all. When it comes to financial literacy, it is easy to blame the student for debt they gather while pursuing a degree. But, when we look at the help that is offered, it is not often easy to see. High schools do not have the curriculum or requirement to teach their students about spending before they enter one of their largest financial commitments in their life. If students are not given the chance to explore their options from the very beginning, who is to say they will look for those resources later in life. When surveyed, most students admitted to letting their parents fill out their FAFSA on their own, without getting involved. If schools can help students gain interest in budgeting and saving for college early in life, the students have a chance to grow and learn more during the entire process of living on their own.
Around 90% of those surveyed plan to start budgeting as a way to control their spending when they are in charge of rent and grocery expenses in the future, and almost all surveyors agree that financial proficiency is increasingly important when living on your own. Many accepted the idea to start training in high school to attain financial proficiency. Students are making their best effort to plan ahead with the information they have and save for the future, however, due to varying schedules in college, only 30% of those surveyed are currently working. As they are not to blame for busy schedules, and a little over half have monthly payments, student loans, and credit cards, they seem deserving of help as they further their education at university.
While the survey showed a lot about the student’s prospective of money on campus, it’s also important to learn the university’s statistics. Undergraduate tuition for in-state students reaches about $11084 while out-of-state hits $32061. Housing costs for freshman and sophomores adds on another $12708, creating a range for the underclassmen of $23792-$44769 for full expenses. As of 2020, 46% of Ohio State’s students received need-based financial aid in federal loans and work study. More data was collected about the average student loan debt of OSU students after graduation and how many earn money through scholarships. (https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/ohio-state-6883/paying)
Throughout the next couple months, I’ll find more information about the student debt crisis in journals and academic sources. I want to find links between student’s proficiency in handling financials and how quickly they can pay off their loans. This information can tie together how students need to be educated early on about these topics, and need to pay attention to budgeting as they move onto independent living. After researching, my goal is to create a financial tool that can aid students in making smart choices. So far it’s easy to see that while there are resources out there, we don’t always access them or find them at the right time. Whatever tool or path is the most promising, I hope to make a prototype for the end of my project to show the audience.
Planning
The main part of the research for this project will be compiled from a survey of students at the university, financial statistics from previous university students, and research on financial practices. Over the course of the project, the survey will be collected first.
Personal data will be collected from the surveyor first with questions regarding their year in school, gender, dining plan, and amount of BuckID cash and dining dollars in their account. The next questions include ones focused on their school account, financial proficiency, and opinion on the upcoming election:
- Did you know that the amounts roll over into the next semesters?
- Did you spread out your BuckID and dining dollar credit throughout the semester?
- Do you use BuckID cash on off-campus locations where its accepted or do you still use your own money?
- Do you plan to pursue Graduate/Professional school after graduation?
- Did you take any financial wellness/spending programs in high school that taught you about balancing your budget?
- Have you spoken with a financial wellness coach at the university?
- How do you keep track of your spending?
- Do you plan to create a budget once you have monthly rent and grocery expenses to take care of?
- Are you working this semester?
- Rate your proficiency in financial literacy: (Budgeting, tax planning, interest rates, etc.) 1-5
- Rate the importance of financial proficiency when living independently: 1-5
- How much do you take part in when it comes to figuring out your FAFSA and filling out your payment information for each semester?
- Select the options that you own: (They have been taken out in your own name, not your parents) (Leave blank if none apply)
- Select the payments that you make: (Leave blank if none apply)
- Do you believe students could benefit from a required financial class, dealing with loan repayment, interest rates, paying taxes, etc.?
- Would you say that a candidate’s policy on the Student Debt Crisis is a factor you look for when choosing your 2020 election candidate?
The survey’s information will be used to collect firsthand data on students currently in college. The data and spending of BuckID cash and dining dollars will help reflect the student’s spending habits in order to gain insight on their habits regarding paying back their debt in the future. The data can be converted into graphs using excel in order to display the data for the people to see.
The next part of the process includes researching and pulling data from online resources about the average financial aid students require for the university along with the costs of attending. The purpose of this is to see how much students are borrowing, and the average price students have to pay after graduation.
After collecting the surveys and data on financial need, the last part of research will focus on normal patterns in student’s financial health, and plans that students can take to plan in advance for repaying their debt after college and preparing for their future payments.
The first part of data collection will happen towards the end of the fall semester before winter break. This way, the data collected from students can represent spending during a whole semester. During winter break, the statistics from online resources about financial aid will be collected, and the first round of updates will be ready by February.
An Update to About Me
Hello! My name is Lauren Laws and I am now a Sophomore at The Ohio State University. Currently, I have turned a 180 on my future career, and applied to the Fisher College of Business at the beginning of this year. As of yesterday, I was accepted into my first choice Major specialization of Marketing and hope to add a minor at the beginning of next semester. I still come from Cortland Ohio, and still support my choice, from the previous post, to choose OSU to “force myself out of my comfort zone”, because currently I am the most uncomfortable I have ever been.
After spending the summer searching for a major that sparked my interest, I ended up narrowing my search down to multiple broad majors. Upon moving into college early as an OWL-C and hugging my parents goodbye, I looked to my mother and remembered that I had yet to make a decision. Not surprised at my indecisiveness, my mom assured me that I still had a week before classes started and time to make a decision on my own. Throughout the next week, as others relished in their free time, I used it to find a career path. During the week of listening to the directors of the OWL program and watching them organize and perfect welcome week, I realized that I wanted to do just that. I wanted to lead a creative team, I wanted to organize projects, I wanted to observe and learn how to make events run smoother, and I wanted to evaluate needs and then provide for my consumers. By the end of the week, I had chosen to switch to a Marketing and Communication specialization.
Before the first day of classes, I had applied to the Fisher College of Business, and although I wouldn’t know of my acceptance for a while, I knew I had some catching up to do. I changed my whole schedule and met multiple times with an advisor, I joined the Undergraduate Business Women’s Association, and typed up a resume for the Fisher Career Fair. Not only was it my first career fair experience, but my first time interacting with people already in my field. Although I knew my experience was lacking, I knew there was still something to gain from talking to some of my favorite companies and learning of their opportunities. It provided me with an “out-of-comfort-zone ” feeling and really pushed me to start taking more opportunities that I found.
Ready for Fisher Career Fair
Although I’ve tried to attach myself to the business world, I still find myself intertwined with my STEM activities. Currently, I still serve as secretary for the Women in Math and Science club, and am still involved in my STEM Scholars group and work on the Leadership Committee as the Large Scale Even Coordinator. No matter how hard I’m trying to catch up in the business field, I don’t plan on dropping my strong STEM background. I believe a well-rounded student can be interested in communication, finance, and business ideas while still knowing and learning about chemistry, mathematics and engineering. As I look to add a minor, I hope to find something that can combine my interests and benefit me by standing out to future companies looking for someone with a background that no one else has. STEM is what I know, and pretty soon I hope to gather the equivalent amount of information from my major in Marketing. This year has already contained many fresh starts and changes for me and although I’m uncomfortable now, I can’t wait to dive more into my Sophomore year and gain some comfort in my new field.
As always, Go Bucks!
Introduction to Capstone
The Sophomore year requirement of STEM EE Scholars revolves around the Capstone project which is a 40hr research project to be presented at the end of the year. Since the project should be based on your major, I ventured into the business side of research and chose a topic on Finance. My project focuses on the spending habits and financial knowledge of students living independently in college.
I chose this topic because currently, the student loan debt reaches up to 1.53 trillion dollars (Nitro College), and as most students aren’t lucky enough to have FAFSA bestow a glorious amount of money upon them, we all seem to be in the same boat. Also, in September the Student Debt Crisis will hit Capitol Hill in hopes to resolve small issues in the crisis (Forbes), however, the process takes time which is why it’s important to have a game plan.
Throughout my research, I hope to get a glimpse of student’s spending habits by watching their BuckID cash and dining dollar amount throughout the semesters. Comparing the trends of first years and second years along with aligning their spending with their household income should result in a good representation of how students manage their money. By comparing different age ranges I can see how students develop financial awareness overtime as they try to be more cautious towards spending when trying to pay off student debt. Keeping in mind that although most students are not financially independent from their parents yet, their lifestyle is.
Nitro College- https://www.nitrocollege.com/research/average-student-loan-debt
Forbes- https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/09/10/student-loans-consumers-crisis/#3ab04e52224d