TCF Financial Corporation (TCF) yesterday was honored with its second, consecutive Innovation in Financial Education Award presented by Nasdaq and EverFi. The award, presented during National Financial Literacy Month, recognizes TCF’s significant efforts to improve the financial capability of Americans through its TCF Financial Scholars Program for teens and TCF Financial Learning Center for adults. TCF was one of thirty-five institutions honored with this distinction at a ceremony hosted on Wednesday, April 6 at Nasdaq Marketsite in New York City.
Honorees were selected based on criteria that included the scale and reach of their financial education initiatives, the duration of their commitment, and unique team member volunteering activities that supplement their programs.
“Helping students and adults develop a foundation of financial understanding and capability is absolutely critical,” said EverFi founder and CEO Tom Davidson. “TCF is tackling this issue head on and taking positive steps to prepare millions of individuals with the critical financial management skills needed to move our country forward.”
“We’re honored to be recognized two consecutive years for our efforts to improve financial education in our communities,” said Michael Jones, executive vice president of consumer banking at TCF Financial Corporation. “Through financial education, we’re empowering consumers to make more informed decisions about their money. We know financially literate teens and adults make smarter financial decisions for themselves, their families and their communities today and in the future.”
TCF is committed to providing teens and adults with the skills and knowledge needed to successfully navigate the increasingly complex financial world we live in. TCF partnered with EverFi to bring the TCF Financial Scholars Program to high school students at no cost to schools or taxpayers, and the TCF Financial Learning Center is free online for adults. TCF has reached more than 100,000 consumers and 90,000 students at 700 high schools in three years.
While more states are implementing standards in personal finance, only 17 states require high school students to take a course in personal finance, according to the Council for Economic Education (CEE). TCF partners with EverFi to implement the TCF Financial Scholars Program in a co-curricular basis, providing students with the opportunity to develop healthy financial attitudes and behaviors in a classroom setting. Data collected from nearly 30,000 students who completed the TCF Financial Scholars Program thus far during the 2015-2016 academic year revealed that students’ financial understanding increased by an average of 77 percent after interacting with the curriculum.
Administered by teachers in a classroom setting, the web-based course offers more than six hours of programming on a variety of financial topics including credit scores, insurance, credit cards, student loans, mortgages, taxes, stocks, savings, 401k plans, and other critical concepts that map to national financial literacy standards. The platform uniquely tracks the progress and performance of every student.
The TCF Financial Learning Center is a free, online financial education program that helps adults manage their money more effectively, make decisions that strengthen their financial future, and gain confidence in their financial knowledge. The program includes nine courses: credit scores and reports, financing higher education, identity protection, insurance and taxes, mobile payments, mortgages, overdraft, payment types and credit cards, and savings and investments.