FINANCIAL UNDERSTANDING OF STUDENTS IN OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING INSTITUTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

To make judicious financial decisions, students must exhibit sound financial understanding, which is crucial in the decision-making process. This entails a systematic endeavour focused on cultivating positive financial habits and effective financial management practices. This study examined the financial understanding of students enrolled in a higher certificate program at the College of Economic and Management Sciences (CEMS) at the University of South Africa (UNISA), an open distance learning (ODL) institution in South Africa. This study employed a quantitative research approach, including online questionnaires for data collection. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the data. The findings revealed a moderate degree (58.2%) of financial conduct. This study uniquely contributes to the existing knowledge by elucidating the financial understanding of students. This study also included recommendations and proposals for subsequent research.