University of North Texas was a participant in CashCourse's fall 2014 Reimbursement Program cycle. The applicant was based out of UNT's student money management center (SMMC), and they implemented a three stage campaign titled the CashCourse Tour de Money.
This programming was partially student led by a team of undergraduates. One undergraduate team member was Quanah Cruz, an SMMC peer student mentor and operations team member, who managed the Reimbursement Program application and documentation. UNT's programming success illustrates the power of student input on engagement. These student leaders recognize the importance of money management skills to their college peers.
'Financial literacy is important to college students because, for many, it is their first time on their own.' Cruz says. 'A lot of college students take out loans and don’t realize the full extent of responsibilities that comes with having a loan.'
The CashCourse Tour de Money Program targeted a different student group within each phase. The campaign consisted of three stages in which students completed different activities, competing to be the winner. After completing the required activities, winners of each stage were selected by drawing for a CashCourse-sponsored gift card.
The first stage required students to create a CashCourse account and attend at least one workshop during the University's First Flight week, the school’s orientation for new students. The SMMC partnered with the offices of residence life and orientation and transition (OTP) to customize these approaches. They hosted informational tables in residence halls where they educated students about CashCourse and provided laptops for students to create an account.
Cruz explains, 'When it came to tabling, it was key to have CashCourse pulled up so that students could access it in that moment.'
Stage two engaged students by directing them to complete online CashCourse-related quizzes and then post financial tips on how to save money to SMMC's Facebook page. This stage targeted distance learners as all of the activities were easily accessible online.
Stage three was open to all students. This stage consisted of a virtual CashCourse scavenger hunt in which students were asked specific questions and had to find the answers on the CashCourse website.
These differentiated strategies made for a very successful outreach. Overall, UNT’s Tour de Money had more than 1,400 students participate.
March 2015