UA to Host Alabama Personal Finance Challenge

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.  — The University of Alabama College of Human Environmental Sciences department of consumer sciences will host the Alabama High School Personal Finance Challenge April 15.

Sponsored by the Alabama Council on Economic Education, the challenge tests high school students on their knowledge of income and money management, spending and credit, and saving and investing.

“Among the hundreds of thousands of students in Alabama’s schools, there is a grand and promising cadre of very important people who will lead Alabama to sustainable economic prosperity in the 21st century,” said Johnnie Aycock, executive director of the Alabama Council on Economic Education. “They will all play a critical role in our local, state, national and global economies, and each of them will contribute in some way to our state’s well-being.

“However, national research suggests that over half of our young people do not understand the economy, nor do they know how to save and invest, much less how to manage a checking account or handle credit cards,” he said. “Teaching financial literacy at an early age prepares these young people for success in a fast-paced, global economy. ACEE has a vision of every student graduating from Alabama’s schools with superior financial literacy and the knowledge, understanding and skills to make successful economic decisions.”

In all, 396 teams composed of 1,583 students from 21 schools took part in a preliminary online competition. Only 26 teams were invited to the Alabama state championship. Those teams come from the following schools: Brookwood High, Hoover High, Eufaula High, Oak Mountain High, Pelham High, Calera High, Hatton High, Minor High, Priceville High, Robert E. Lee High and Spain Park High.

The competition will start at 9:30 a.m., and it will be at UA’s Child Development Research Center.

In the month leading up to the statewide competition, the four-member student teams were required to complete an online 30-question, rapid fire exam. The top online high school teams were invited to the state championship where teams complete three rounds of written tests. Test topics include earning income, protecting and insuring, spending, credit, saving and investing.

The two teams with the highest scores will then compete for the state championship in a fast-paced “Quiz Bowl” round. The winning team receives an expense-paid trip to compete in the National High School Personal Finance Challenge, which will be held May 2 in St. Louis. Prizes at the national competition include $1,000 per student for first place, $500 per student for second and an Amazon Kindle per student for third.

This is the second year UA has hosted the state competition. It makes sense for the competition to be hosted by the consumer sciences department because the two share the same goal — educating Alabamians to effectively use and choose financial resources, set financial goals and realize dreams for a better tomorrow, said Jan Brakefield, an assistant professor in CHES’s consumer sciences department and a certified financial planner.

“It is important to challenge high school students to learn how to apply financial literacy skills before they begin life as adults with families of their own,” Brakefield said. “They are more likely to retain and use money management knowledge if they have trained diligently to compete against other students.”

In addition to the Alabama Council on Economic Education and UA, additional funding and support comes from Wells Fargo and the Council for Economic Education. The competition is endorsed by Young Boozer, state treasurer of Alabama. Boozer will attend the event and present the awards.