How can the University of Georgia enhance its support for student financial literacy?
Project Overview
For my marketing research course, I worked with a group to:
- Identify a decision problem and propose meaningful research problems
- Design a research strategy to solve the problem
- Evaluate data using appropriate statistical analyses
- Propose a marketing solution based on our research
Our Client: The University of Georgia
Topic: Financial Literacy among UGA Students
Purpose
To provide the University of Georgia with a valid understanding of how their students feel post-graduation regarding multiple areas of financial confidence, and whether or not the University needs to be doing more to help students prepare. In addition, understanding which groups of students feel more or less prepared for financial decision making can help the University of Georgia to analyze where there may need to be more focus.
About the Research
We created a Qualtrics online survey to reach a sample of the population of students at the University of Georgia. We sent this survey to a wide network of students, using groups of our peers to create a large network of potential respondents. We received 48 usable responses.
Summary
- Our decision problem states, “Do UGA students feel like they have been prepared to make financial decisions post-graduation?”
- We conducted both exploratory and descriptive research to gather information on the financial readiness of students post-graduation.
- When analyzing the histograms from descriptive statistics, the data shows, specifically in the areas of tax, insurance, loans, and 401K, respondents are majorly lacking confidence. In all six areas of emphasis, the mean number of survey respondents did not exceed “somewhat confident.”
- Whether or not students have used Career Center resources has no major impactful effects on students’ confidence levels in the six areas of emphasis.
- Regardless of the college a student is in, the respondents showed a lack of confidence in post-graduation financial readiness.
- Of the students who took the Finance 3000 course, 100% of the students still would like for UGA to provide more financial resources.
Big Takeaway: the data showed students do not feel prepared for financial obligations post-graduation.
Recommendations
Based off our research, we created a list of recommendations for the University of Georgia to improve financial literacy among students.
- The University of Georgia needs to expand their financial readiness educational resources.
- Our team recommends the University of Georgia provides financial readiness modules that students will be required to complete before graduation.
- The modules will cover the six financial categories discussed in our survey: taxes, budgeting, credit, insurance, loans, and 401k.
- These modules will be performed on a student’s own time, fully online, so that UGA does not have to hire professors to teach these courses or worry about providing classroom space.
For more information about our research and results, check out our report below!