“You’re not thrown to the wolves”: How College Peer Financial Mentors are Trained and Professionally Developed

Abstract: As institutions of higher education continue to adjust their student services offerings, many have established financial wellness programs to educate undergraduate and graduate students about managing their money and personal finances. Peer financial mentoring models have emerged within financial wellness programs, where college students educate their peers on a wide range of topics including budgeting, understanding credit, navigating student loans, and more. However, no studies have examined how these peer financial mentors (PFMs) are trained and professionally developed. As a result, this study engaged in interviews with 54 PFMs across seven different institutions of higher education to explore their training experiences within the peer financial wellness mentoring program. Findings suggest that PFMs benefitted from three main strands of training: 1) supervisor-facilitated training, 2) informal and/or self-directed training, and 3) professional socialization. However, PFMs overwhelmingly asserted that supervisor-facilitated training that included Gradual Release of Responsibility tenets were most beneficial for their development. Implications for research policy and practice are addressed.