1. The Importance of Key Financial Concepts as Identified by Secondary Students Academy of Business Research Conference – September 13, 2011 Dr. Geana W. Mitchell – Dr. Christal C. Pritchett – Ms. Bonnie M. Banks – Ms. Michelle L. Watkins

2. The majority of individuals living in our society today do not understand these concepts The Economic Crisis The need for personal finance education cuts across all economic levels Understanding personal finance is critical to being a productive member of society Consider these statistics:  Total U.S. consumer debt is $2.3 trillion  Average credit card debt per household approximately $15,000  Average credit card holder has 3.5 credit cards  Average APR is 14.83%  Penalty fees paid in 2009 were approximately $20.5 billion

3. More Economic Crisis Over 800,000 U.S. consumers declared bankruptcy in 2007 Overdraft fees on bank accounts total over $17.5 billion annually 43% of U.S. households are in danger of running short of retirement funds The number of home foreclosures is the highest in U.S. history The mortgage delinquency rate is higher than it has been in two decades In 2007 Americans had saved on average a negative 1%

4. Too Much Debt!! Why is the United States facing the most uncertain future since the Great Depression ?

5. The ability to make appropriate decisions regarding money matters, including: What is Financial Literacy?  Saving money for the future  Using credit wisely  Managing financial risks well  Planning for retirement  Responding to every day financial decisions  Understanding the impact of government

6. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge that newly enrolled students in a financial literacy course possess at the beginning of the academic year.

7. RQ#1: Is there a significant relationship between the highest education level attained by the student’s parents and the student’s perceived importance of financial concepts? RQ#2: Is there a significant difference in the perceived importance of financial concepts among student demographic groups: (a) grade level; (b) location of school; (c) gender? Research Questions RQ#3: Is there a relationship between the perceived level of importance of selected areas in financial literacy and the overall perceived importance of financial literacy?

8. Research Design: Descriptive Instrumentation: The Financial Literacy Survey was used to collect data Population: 9 th – 12 th grade students attending seven schools in one school system Methodology

9. Data Analysis Utilizing a Pearson product-moment correlation design, a significant correlation was found between the overall level of perceived importance of financial literacy and the perceived importance of establishing a household budget, saving money in a savings account, paying bills on time, immediately recording transactions in a check register, and managing credit card debt. Two hundred forty-six students were surveyed Using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), a significant difference was found between perceived degree of importance and the high school attended and perceived degree of importance and gender. Also, the perceived importance of financial literacy in relation to the highest degree attained by the student’s mother was statistically significant. Overall, the school attended by the student and the gender of the student affected perception. Also, the higher the degree attained by the student’s mother, the greater the amount of knowledge the students possessed going into the course.

10. Conclusions & Recommendations

11. References Gregg, M. L. (2011, April). Teaching personal finance: our responsibility as business teachers. Business Education Forum, 65(4). Gruber, R. (2010). Cross cultural and international financial literacy and accounting. In Waldman & Everett (Eds) Cross-cultural and international business education. National Business Education Association, Reston, VA. Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. (2010, Summer) Schwab aims to promote financial literacy among young adults. Retrieved May 15, 2011, from: http://www.jumpstart.org/assets/files/Update_Newsletter/2010Aug_ J$_NLweb.pdf Luft, R. (2008). Economics and personal finance. Effective Methods of Teaching Business Education. In Rader, Bailey, & Kurth (Eds) National Business Education Association: Reston, VA. Valentine, G. P. & Sauer, K. M. & Sevastianova, D. P. (2010). The status of post-secondary personal finance courses. National Association of Business Teacher Educators (NABTE) Review(37). Williams, K. S. (2009, December). The three r’s plus one: The reality of new literacies required for success. Business Education Forum, 64(2). Woolsey, B. & Schultz, M. (2011). Credit card statistics, industry facts, and debt statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card- indusrty-facts-personal-debt-statistics

12. Questions