The Financial Literacy Center (FLC) is an up and coming financial outreach program at UW-Whitewater that aims to educate students about how to manage their personal finances. They provide many unique services to students for no charge.

Some of these services include one-on-one financial coaching. The sessions are completely confidential and requests for an appointment can be made online. There are other resources they have available to provide to students that are accessible online.

The FLC even has student peer financial educators available that gives students who are interested in going into finance the chance to learn hands on how to help someone with their financial affairs.

“It’s good practice to get to sit down one-on-one with someone and talk about what is considered a sensitive subject that people sometimes do not necessarily want to talk about but need to. It’s a way for me to practice what I’ll be doing in the future.” said Josh Devinger, a student peer financial educator.

These financial educators also give presentations to classes and various student organizations, as well as go to on-campus events, such as the Wellness Fair. Any class or student organization can request a presentation and any student can learn some helpful tips by listening to one.

These mentors are prepared to answer questions and are able to dive into each students’ personal financial condition and  provide whatever resources may be beneficial.

“Sometimes students have really complex situations and it might look all nice on the outside, but on the inside, they have problems at home or with finances,” said Jake Knox, a student peer financial educator.

Because every student is different, the FLC offers various different coaching sessions for whatever aspect of their finances a student could want help with. Some of these topics include creating a budget, building credit, and just how to pay for their education in general. They also hold sessions about moving off campus and the financial challenges that come with that.

“It’s not just for those students who are low income. There are a lot of middle class and upper-class students here who really struggle with their credit or finances and don’t know what they should be doing correctly,” said Katie Patterson, the Financial Literacy Center coordinator.

Finances are difficult for anyone, but they are especially difficult for a college student, who may just be figuring out how to manage their money.

For more information about the resources available at the FLC or would like to set up an appointment, contact the Financial Literacy Center at (262)-472-4947 or [email protected]. Their offices are located at 112 Hyer Hall and their website is www.uww.edu/adminaffairs/finance/financial-literacy.