Castleton University’s Pathway to Graduation team has made financial literacy education accessible to all students through a partnership with iGrad.
iGrad encourages students to make effective personal finance decisions through a customized, interactive online and mobile financial wellness platform. iGrad provides personalized financial information for each student’s needs using a wide variety of resources, including courses, simulators, calculators, quizzes, videos, articles, and more. iGrad is currently used by more than 600 colleges and universities.
First-year students utilized the platform throughout the fall semester as part of the FACT plan pilot program. FACT stands for financial, academic, career transformation. The goal of the initial program was to support first-year students’ journeys to reach their goals.
Now, iGrad is available to all Castleton students – as well as faculty and staff.
Jessica Duncan, director of experiential learning and workplace readiness, said that Castleton implemented iGrad to ensure that all students have access to financial tools to help support their path to graduation. Castleton has a large population of underserved, low-income, and first-generation students. For many students, a lack of financial resources can be a barrier to continuing their education. iGrad can help support these students in a variety of ways, including connecting them with scholarships.
“Students want to engage when they have a need,” she said. “We know that getting information in front of students before they have that need is critical.”
Research shows that financial literacy programs can decrease financial stress, improve academic performance, and teach students how to manage their finances for a lifetime.
iGrad topics students can engage with include the fundamentals of money management, building and maintaining good credit, budgeting, student loan/debt management, and more.
Castleton University's Pathway to Graduation is a five-year project designed to bolster student success and retention. The project is supported through a $2.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Title III Strengthening Institutions Program.