PIE: Partnership For Innovation in Education

A Real Life Report Card?

Posted by P.I.E. | September 29, 2011

Jody Scharfenberger, Founder Campaign Data Apps

Parents readily teach their children about the perils of getting a bad report card, living on a budget, saving money, and being punctual. Rarely, do parents teach kids about Credit reports, FICO Scores, and Interest Rates. So what happens after graduation when these now adults have no idea they are being graded on a “Real Life Report Card” called a credit report?

Some parents teach their children to open savings accounts rather than get into credit card debt fearing that without parental oversight they may not be able to control their spending habits.  Some high school kids are encouraged by family members to get a job, open a checking account and are proactively taught to manage their money. Others end up with high interest rate credit cards without the ability to make the monthly minimum payments while in college.  The truth … even though the degree of financial education is disparate from one family to another, we are not teaching the next generation about the “Real Life Report Card” or Credit Score that will stay with them and affect their financial health throughout adulthood.

On college campuses nationwide, financial institutions encourage college students already strapped for cash to apply for credit cards with the promise of low monthly payments.  Credit card salespeople have been known to offer free gifts and even free money as incentives to sign up for high limit or even high interest rate credit cards.  Naïve students take the bait and end up in debt without the ability to pay.  The irony–many credit card companies later deny the former student, now graduate with a lucrative new job, any type of credit card citing no credit history or low FICO Score.

What if  the next generation were taught the importance of a Vantage or FICO Score at an early age? What if today’s youth graduated from high school knowing that their credit score is like a financial social security number that should be protected.  What if parents taught children that a FICO score follows a person throughout adulthood and determines their eligibility to rent or buy a home,  receive a job offer, or purchase a car.

Learning the fundamentals of how the “Real Life Report Card” is calculated is a valuable lesson for young adults.  Young adults need to understand that the determination of whether they are a good or bad credit candidate is based upon:

1. Whether they make debt payments on time,
2. The amount of money owed on outstanding debts,
3. The length of their credit history, and
4. How frequently they attempt to acquire new credit/debt.

Ultimately, young adults need to understand how to use credit to their advantage and the elements needed for good financial decision-making.

We have all seen those funny commercials showing the married guy living in his in-laws basement with his new wife, singing the blues about not checking his credit score fa-la-la. When we teach children about the “Real Life Report Card,” we send them down the path of financial literacy instead of married with children and living in our basements.

About the Author

In early 2011, Jody Scharfenberger started Campaign Data Apps to help candidates utilize social media to interact with voters and raise money.  She is a 15 year veteran of the Direct Marketing business, working for such companies as InfoUSA, Acxiom, and MarketsonDemand. In early 2001, she helped to lead the team that took the startup MarketsOnDemand into acquisition by Acxiom.  Jody has worked with such clients as Citibank, American Express, JCrew, and LensCrafters integrating email into their marketing platforms.

Mary Discusses “Career Readiness” during BusinessWise Interview

Posted by P.I.E. | September 13, 2011

“Listen to Mary discuss how teaching “career readiness” guides schools as they prepare kids for college, trade school and working life. From discussing the “dilution effect” of the college degree, to ways State Core Curriculum Standards are demanding the importance of teaching the 4 C’s (creativity, collaboration, critical thinking skills, and communication), Mary relates how quality schools are the key to regional economic development.

Mary also discusses the September 1st Forum that highlighted keynotes Dr. Jay Kayne (Entrepreneurship Chair, Farmer School of Business, Miami University) and Dr. John Box (Sr. VP of Junior Achievement USA). Each speaker discussed ways to teach entrepreneurship to kids, and how such a curriculum was pivotal to creating “engines of growth” in the United States. “

BusinessWise Interview with Crystal and Tom