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.

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.