Why Personal Finance Matters by Courtney

Why Personal Finance Matters by Courtney - August 2015 Scholarship Essay

I believe that Personal Finance is one of the most important subjects we could add to the high school curriculum. Though it may be part of the American high school curriculum in some parts of the country, the subject of Personal Finance was not a required subject at my high school. Now that my generation has moved on to college and graduate school, many of us living on our own for the first time, I am beyond thankful that my mother is an accountant! I have seen time and time again how young people like me do not understand the first thing about student loans, purchasing a car, mortgages, credit cards, and even something as simple as writing a check.

High school students (and even college students) are not typically taught how to effectively manage their money and debt. They do not understand student loans and interest rates, and I believe this is very, very dangerous as many students will take out at least one loan to help finance their undergraduate studies. Some students will get into deep debt, and part of that is due to ignorance. No one is teaching the masses of students how to plan financially for college and how to manage a budget while in college. I remember taking out my student loans, both federal government loans and private loans. Even though I had a parent who understood finances very well, I still would have greatly benefited from a Personal Finance course in high school, because I was completely lost when it came to taking out student loans. Upon graduation, I was a little shocked to see just how much debt I had accumulated and how much the monthly payments would be. Going on to graduate school was my goal, but not if I had to take on more debt. Managing a budget and hefty student loans is a confusing world for students, and I believe that making Personal Finance a requirement could help prevent some of the financial frustrations that face our younger generations today.

Student debt is not likely to dissipate any time in the near future, so I would hope that students younger than me, and my future children, could receive quality education about finances and use that education to better prepare themselves not only for college but for living on their own afterwards. Without some sort of financial education, how are young people supposed to get out of debt? Live effectively on a budget? Raise their own families? Not everyone has access to someone who understands how to manage debt and money, and it will only get worse with time as the uneducated generations teach bad habits and pass on poor decisions to the generations after them. Making Personal Finance a requirement could help our future generations make better choices and plan more wisely for college and beyond.