TXST, partners strive for student financial literacy through college

By Christian Martinez News Contributor

For many students, managing money can be difficult when they have monthly payments on things like student loans, bills and living costs. Every month, the University College hosts several financial literacy events on credit awareness, money management and budgeting, as well as provides advice on personal finance management.

Terrance McClain, associate director of Success Coaching, said students should know the importance of practicing good financial literacy.

"For the overall population, a lot of students don't know about [credit]" McClain said. "A lot of our events that we do we try to incorporate the basic things like credit score, how to develop a good one, and things to look out for."

McClain urges students to use the resources at their disposal and seek help if needed.

"There is a lot of students that have the knowledge, but the majority needs help," McClain said. "We cover main things like credit, budgeting and student loan repayment. We want to help students, that's our main goal, we know how hard it can be."

The University College plans to continue its financial literacy events to lead up to April which has been deemed Financial Literacy Month by the U.S. Senate. The month highlights the importance of financial literacy and tips to become financially smart.

Texas State and its partnership with Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union will celebrate on April 11 with events that incorporate fun activities with expanding personal finance knowledge for students.

Students can use other resources provided by the university before April.

A LendingTree survey from March 2020 explains that more than one out of every five students take out extra student loans to pay for spring break. Texas State's spring break begins on March 12 and runs through March 19. The University College will host a spring break budgeting event on March 7 to teach students about money management and being financially responsible during the break.

According to a U.S. News survey, as of Sept. 2022, 46% of college students who own credit cards have accumulated some sort of credit card debt. On average, students in the U.S. have more than $3,000 worth of credit card debt.

Credit is used for many things in life such as buying a home, car or other major appliances. The process is like gaining trust. The better a person’s credit is, the more companies and banks will trust someone to use their money.

Pondra Zigler, an accounting sophomore, said that she does not believe many students know about credit cards and financial literacy.

“I know a lot of my friends don’t have credit built up yet so I’m sure that’s common,” Zigler said. “I think can be a good thing to some extent because if they aren’t educated properly on credit, they could destroy theirs.”

Credit can also determine how much one will spend on a major purchase, someone with good credit will pay significantly less to a company versus someone with bad credit. Bad credit can cause serious financial hardships like fewer loan options, high interest rates and can even affect job opportunities.

According to the Government Accountability Office, "the disadvantages of credit cards can outweigh the advantages” if students do not know money management and financial literacy when it comes to building a credit score with a credit card.

Zigler said her advice to students who lack financial literacy or need to start credit is to make sure their finances are in order.

“I would advise students that don’t have credit already to do a lot of research

By Nichaela Shaheen News Editor

On Feb. 20, Student Government election polls opened online, allowing Bobcats to vote for their future student body president, vice president and senators that will be their voice for the 2023-2024 school year. According to President Kelly Damphousse, Student Government is an essential organization to the university.

"What's so important about the student body, student government association or student government work is that they are the representative voice of the student to the administration," Damphousse said. "They can tell me things that I don't know about and I can explain things to them and they can pass that down."

When a new president is elected, Damphousse said the transition happens quickly with meetings to allow for a flow of ideas to be exchanged.

"It starts at the very beginning, even before the inauguration, as soon as the election is over, the first thing I'll do is I'll invite the new president, and if she or he has their cabinet put together, invite them to meet with me and say, 'what do you guys want to do?'"Damphousse said.

Those running for positions like president and vice president must run on a platform, which acts as a campaign agenda.

Kiersten Florence, current vice president and management junior, who is running unopposed for president is using transportation and parking as well as increased student support as her main platforms.

These entail having pay to park garages at a lower fee for students to increase promotions and access to new and existing resources for mental and physical health.

Olivia Brechot, current chief of staff, understands the work that goes into these platforms well, as her job requires her to help with seeing the initiatives through.

"I'm kind of a liaison. I go to the Senate meetings every week, and I do the minutes for that. I kind of serve as the clerk there," Brechot said.

Kathryn Weiser, assistant dean of students and co-adviser of Student Government, said being elected officer comes with many benefits.

before they start,” Zigler said. “They don’t want to hurt themselves by going into debt in the long run.”

Kats Jimenez, a history senior, said that students should be careful with credit card companies since their advertisements can be misleading.

"They take advantage of some students' lack of knowledge to offer cards that would ruin their life down the road," Jimenez said. "Just because you have money on your card doesn’t mean it’s a great idea to spend on everything and anything that you like."

Her advice for students like her is to ask for help and use resources appropriately.

"Take the time to research these credit card companies, it’s better to be safe than sorry," Jimenez said. "Don’t hesitate to ask around too, and attending a financial literacy session may help with not feeling alone."

McClain said students should use other resources outside of Texas State to understand financial literacy.

"Utilize free opportunities that you have. Go read books in a library, go watch YouTube videos, go to TikTok," McClain said. There are multiple ways for you to learn about the information, and something is better than nothing."

For more information about the University College and it upcoming events, visit its website.

"It helps them to become ready for their careers because it's a learning laboratory of applying all sorts of leadership skills from communication skills," Weiser said. "Learning to communicate with different audiences in different ways in order to get the best result, managing your time, which includes organization goal setting, all the things you need to have as a professional."

Brechot, who served as campaign manager to the current president and vice president, Malik Johnson and Keirsten Florence, said being able to interact with the student body and various organizations is what keeps her serving.

"We got to go talk with a lot of different groups and see what their needs were and the student body as a whole kind of figure out what they wanted us to do. That was pretty inspiring getting to see what the students are working on and what they want us to work on what's important," Brechot said.

Brechot believes the more students are involved, the more work can get done and voting for their next leader is a crucial step in this process.

"The more people that we have working on initiatives writing legislation, the more that the administration will listen to us and listen to our ideas," Brechot said.

After Damphousse meets with the new leaders, there are joint meetings between the past leaders and new leaders to ensure everyone grasps their new roles.

"When we were transitioning, we have a joint meeting. So the student body president, current and future will have a meeting together kind of figure things out, talk about how to get stuff done," Brechot said. "So the Senate, they'll have a transitional meeting where the presidents will come in together and teach them how to do things if they don't already know how to."

Damphousse said Student Government acts as a connector and encourages those to voice and participate in this organization.

"It's a great opportunity for students to have a voice at the university in an organized way," Damphousse said.

Election polls close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23. All enrolled students are eligible to vote at https://studentgovernment.dos. txst.edu/branches/judiciary/electionboard/student-governmentelection-voting.html.