CUNY SPS Highlights Money Management Offerings during National Financial Literacy Month

April is National Financial Literacy Month, a nationwide campaign designated by Congress in 2004 to raise awareness about the importance of financial literacy and to teach citizens how to establish and maintain healthy financial habits. In recognition of this observance, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) is pleased to host a series of financial literacy webinars and to showcase an important financial literacy training program offered by the School.

“Financial planning and budgeting are essential skills that nearly all of us can stand to develop more, and National Financial Literacy Month offers a chance to remind us about the importance of money management and to take the time to build our own financial muscle,” said Jennifer Grace Lee, associate dean of enrollment management and student services at CUNY SPS. “With that in mind, CUNY SPS has designed a two-part financial webinar series that will help students plan out and meet their short- and long-term financial goals. It’s a great opportunity to learn how to use your money wisely and I encourage all to attend.” 

Throughout April, the offices of Financial Aid, Bursar, and Scholarships will collaborate to offer a series of financial literacy webinars. These webinars will feature presentations and conversations on savings, budgeting, getting out of debt, and debt management options.

On April 21, the financial literacy series will launch with the Personal Finance Essentials webinar. Key topics covered will include an introduction to budgeting, savings and planning for the future, bank account options, credit and debt, as well as strategies for managing debt. 

On April 28, the offices will host the follow-up webinar Building a Budget, which will expand upon important money management topics discussed during the first event. Attendees will hear more about budgeting tools and methods, get familiarized with some important terms to know, and learn how to identify their own budget trends. At both sessions, attendees will also receive financial tips, resources, and tools, and join a Q&A session with the presenters. 

All CUNY SPS students, faculty, staff, and alumni are invited to take part. For more information or to register, visit the Financial Literacy Month Events page.  

National Financial Literacy Month also offers the opportunity for CUNY SPS to spotlight its Financial Independence Now (DHS FIN) program, a financial literacy training course developed as part of the School’s partnership with NYC’s Department of Homeless Services. This program is one of many workforce development opportunities offered through the Office of Professional Education and Workplace Learning (PEWL), a division of CUNY SPS that administers certificate programs and courses and creates customized workplace learning programs to help people advance their careers and help organizations improve their effectiveness. 

In 2016, New York City Mayor de Blasio conducted a 90-day review of homeless shelters and determined that New Yorkers in shelters needed to strengthen their financial literacy skills. Based on these findings, the NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) began working with PEWL in 2018 to develop an adult financial literacy learning program for both shelter case managers and directors.

PEWL engaged Change Machine (formerly The Financial Clinic), a national nonprofit that could provide direct knowledge of and hands-on experience with financial coaching since they staff several of city’s financial empowerment centers across the five boroughs. Together, they developed DHS FIN a two-day course to train DHS shelter case managers on how to provide basic financial coaching to shelter clients, as well as a one-day course for shelter directors and program administrators on how to lead implementation of financial coaching strategies within their shelters. 

Through these DHS FIN courses, the shelter case managers and directors learn best ways to help their clients create a savings plan, pull credit reports, figure out credit scores, and make a plan for debt management and set goals, using a body of coursework that past attendees have found immensely effective.

“This program is enormously helpful and gave me so many new tools to work with,” said Latoya Moore, housing specialist at CAMBA's Flagstone Family Residence. “Having this training allows us to help clients with a financial action plan and find out their goals. If they don’t have financial security, they can’t keep their housing. It’s great to be able to help them with this.”

Since the program’s launch in 2018, PEWL and DHS had delivered financial literacy classes to 401 staff members at the CUNY SPS campus, with plans to continue offering the DHS FIN course to additional staff from approximately 150 shelters in the next three years. 

Like other programs, DHS FIN had to pivot online following the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020. With support from Change Machine, PEWL and DHS were able to quickly convert the two DHS FIN classroom-based courses for shelter leader and case managers into blended online learning courses, with a goal of delivering them in an engaging way so it would still be informative and interactive for the hundreds of DHS staff enrolled in them.

About the CUNY School of Professional Studies

For over 15 years, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) has been leading online education in New York. Notable for offering the most online bachelor’s and master’s degree options at the City University of New York, and for serving transfer students as the University system’s only undergraduate all-transfer college, CUNY SPS meets the needs of adults who wish to finish a bachelor’s degree, progress from an associate’s degree, earn a master’s degree or certificate in a specialized field, and advance in the workplace or change careers.

The School’s growth has been remarkable, with twenty-four degrees launched since 2006. Enrollment has risen by more than 30% in the last four years to over 4,000 students in the credit-bearing programs.  Thousands more are enrolled in non-degree and grant-funded workplace learning programs. In addition, the School has an active alumni network and has established the CUNY SPS Foundation, which offers multiple scholarship opportunities to current students.

CUNY SPS has consistently been named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the country’s top online institutions. This year, the School was ranked in the top 2% in the nation on the publisher’s list of the 2021 Best Online Bachelor’s Degree Programs.

Press Contact
Andrea Fagon
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andrea.fagon@cuny.edu