PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Across high school classrooms, there is a growing need for financial education, as experts say 75% of graduates are unprepared to manage their finances.
To give students the tools to navigate personal finances, Intuit and the Suh Family Foundation have partnered to bring workshops to students.
“Ultimately, the vast majority of high school students are going to cross that graduation stage not even knowing how to budget, save or manage credit,” said David Zasada, the vice president of corporate responsibility at Intuit.
Entrepreneur and Super Bowl Champion Ndamukong Suh told Everyday Northwest that the Intuit-Suh Family Foundation partnership began in Portland, Oregon — leading to summer workshops to empower students.
Across the US, Zasada said, 25% of students are required to take a personal finance course — noting that percentage is lower in low-income communities.
“There is a serious educational equity issue with school districts across the country,” Zasada explained. “School districts in lower-income zip codes simply don’t have access to the same programs as other school districts do and this is particularly true for a program like personal finance.”
Now, Suh explained, the partners hope to expand these workshops across the country after holding workshops in Los Angeles and Compton in early November. Suh said they hope to take these workshops to other cities from Portland, OR and Dallas, TX to Miami, FL.