A recent online Harris Interactive survey found that college students know the importance of good credit habits, but many fail to apply this knowledge. The Federal Reserve and National Bankruptcy Institute recently discovered the following facts:

• In 2000, credit card issuers mailed 3.54 billion solicitations to consumers--an average three credit card offers per month per household;
• More young people filed for bankruptcy than graduated from college in 2001;
• Sixty percent of American households carry over a portion of their credit card debt every month; the average balance is more than $4,000;
• More than 70% of college undergraduates have credit cards; most have multiple cards with an average total balance of $2,748, and 20% who carry balances have debts of more than $10,000; and
• Ninety-five percent of college graduate students have cards; each has an average of four cards with an average total balance of $4,776.

To address these issues, Drury SIFE has developed a number of initiatives directed at high school and college students over the past few years.

Drury SIFE recently launched an extension of our B-Cubed project in an effort to teach high school students the ins and outs of budgeting and investing. Through B³, The Board Game project, we hope to increase levels of financial literacy across the world.

B³ game was developed by Drury SIFE business and education majors and is currently being tested in classrooms around the Springfield area. We hope to launch this project world-wide within the coming months via our established YEA! and B-cubed classroom network.

If you think your students could benefit from this project, please send an e-mail to cbuchanan@drury.edu.

Related Links:
B-cubed (B³)
Lesson plans and activities for younger school-aged students.