Improving financial education for US college students: A mixed-methods needs assessment

Many young adults lack the necessary skills to follow a sustainable budget, responsibly manage debt, and plan for future spending needs. Yet financial education interventions, although common, are often unsuccessful. Cognizant of today’s financial landscape, we conducted a six-study mixed-methods needs assessment framed around social cognitive theory and informed by data collected on young adults in the United States to explore young adults’ 1) financial literacy knowledge and skills gaps and 2) barriers to effective financial behavior. Our findings converged around two primary knowledge and skills gaps factors (income and debt management) comprising six subfactors (budgeting, long-term planning, investing, credit cards, student loans) and three behavioral barriers factors (cognitive, behavioral, and environmental) comprising seven subfactors (proactiveness, emotions, self-efficacy, priority, education funding source, social environment, the economy). Our findings provide insight into how to design future financial literacy interventions to increase today’s young adults’ financial knowledge and support improved financial decision-making.