COBE provides personal financial decision-making training for high school educators

Making the right personal finance decisions can be difficult for people of all ages. It can be extremely tough for young individuals just starting out, including high school and college graduates alike.

Recently, to address these challenges, the Commonwealth of Virginia began requiring all future high school graduates to have completed at least one standard of credit in economics and/or personal finance in order to graduate with a standard or advanced degree diploma.

In order to assist high school educators who are or will be expected to teach personal finance to high school students, Clarence Rose, a finance professor at Radford University and the director of the newly developed Center for Financial Education, began offering online financial education courses and workshops for high school educators. 

This summer, the first online course, “Introduction to the Financial Planning Process for Educators,” was introduced by Rose. “This introductory course addresses personal financial decision-making that high school students are going to be faced with right out of high school, during and after their college years and throughout their entire lifetimes,” the professor said.

This first continuing education course examines the financial planning process and personal financial statements, including personal financial ratio analysis and basic time value of money applications used in financial decisions.

"The course will give teachers hands-on tools, PowerPoint presentations and examples they can use in the classroom when teaching their high school students," Rose said.

Each of the sections can be completed in about one hour, Rose said, and there are separate downloadable PowerPoint presentations for each session. Review questions accompany each session, and participants receive a certificate upon completion.

The course can be finished at each individual's pace. “We expect the course to take about three to five weeks to finish, but we’re flexible with educators,” Rose said.

Teachers gain 20 contact hours and continuing education credits for completing the course.

To register for the class, individuals can contact Radford University’s Center for Financial Education at (540) 831-6595.