There are 57 days until Tax Day, a date which holds varying levels of significance to different students.
To the sophomore who is working two jobs to pay for their tuition and groceries, finances are in the forefront of their mind. To the junior whose family is fortunate enough to pay for their full tuition up front, their biggest financial concern may be splitting the tip at Thai Time.
Yet, no matter where you lie on the spectrum of financial responsibility, as a student, you are likely on the path to financial independence. After college, many graduates will feel the full force of repaying loans, filing taxes, paying insurance and the other fiscal joys that come with adulthood. Despite the attention needed to start preparing for this impeding leap, students tend to treat financial planning as an afterthought.
BU students come from an array of backgrounds and operate on different levels of financial independence throughout their college careers. Some are glued to their online bank portal, tracking every dollar and saving into a long-term retirement account, while others avoid opening it like it contains an active wasp’s nest.
Most of us lie somewhere in between, with good intentions about our financial futures but without full awareness of the financial options available to us. After all, who has time to think about building credit, investing in the market and growing a savings account when we are meant to juggle a full academic course load?
Our school is rich with opportunity to prepare students in their academic disciplines. General education requirements require us to learn outside our major, and even prepare us to lead healthy, active lives. However, there is no such requirement when it comes to financial planning — an aspect of life that every student will face. Such a program would undoubtedly benefit BU graduates, enabling them to avoid potentially long-term financial mistakes.
It’s heartening to see that the University has taken steps to provide financial planning services in partnership with Visions Federal Credit Union through the Fleishman Center. For the motivated student, this is an accessible way to start preparing for the future.
However, if the University is to make teaching fiscal responsibility a priority, we suggest it does more. A mandatory financial lecture or seminar as part of general education requirements would act as a smart investment in BU students. The course would not have to be intensive, but rather meant to inform students of their options in navigating finances and connect them with resources to do so. A weekly one-credit class would do the trick.
It doesn’t make sense that financial planning is not a part of our country’s secondary schooling or higher education curricula. As students face increasing economic uncertainty, BU has the opportunity to adapt accordingly.