Suncoast Credit Union sponsors web-based financial literacy program in local schools
TALLAHASSEE, FL (March 2, 2016) — Suncoast Credit Union announces a partnership with education technology com- pany EverFi, Inc. Based on EverFi’s previous success in reaching 1,187,406 students in one year, Suncoast is un- derwriting the cost of the online financial literacy program to reach local K-12 public schools in Collier, Hillsbor- ough, Lee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties. With the sponsorship, schools will be able to offer this interac- tive, web-based financial literacy program at no cost to students.
“We hope that with this program, students will begin to think about the importance of understanding money,” says Cindy Helton, Executive Director of the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation. “EverFi helps students achieve finan- cial literacy with programs that directly relate to the situation the student is facing at his or her age, giving them knowledge and ways of thinking that they will carry forward throughout their lives.”
Suncoast has committed to supporting 60 schools over the next three years in order to help students achieve a higher level of proficiency in money management. Since Suncoast began sponsoring this program in September 2015, 25 schools have already adopted the curriculum.
The web-based platform offers lessons focused on real world, age-appropriate applications, with one program tar- geted at fourth through sixth grades and another intended for ninth through twelfth grades. High school students not only learn about credit scores and savings, but also how to fill out a FAFSA application and 1040EZ, for ex- ample. Younger students learn the fundamentals of saving, budgeting and goal setting by evaluating the differ- ences between basic needs and wants.
Students without financial education are at a significant disadvantage in establishing stability. Only 39 percent of freshmen at four-year colleges keep a budget, and the majority can only answer one-third of basic financial ques- tions, according to a 2015 survey of 42,000 college students conducted by EverFi on behalf of Higher One.
About Suncoast Credit Union
Suncoast Credit Union is the largest credit union in the state of Florida, the 10th largest in the United States based on membership, and the 10th largest in the United States based on its $15 billion in assets. Chartered in 1934 as Hillsborough County Teachers Credit Union, Suncoast Credit Union currently operates 75 full-service branches and serves more than one million members in 40 counties across Florida. As a community credit union, anyone who lives, works, attends school, or worships in Suncoast Credit Union’s service area is eligible for membership. In 2021, Suncoast Credit Union’s field of membership was expanded to include public K-12 teachers, college educators, and educational support staff from all of Florida’s 67 counties. Suncoast is passionate about community support. Since its founding in 1990, the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation has raised and donated more than $36 million to organizations and initiatives that support the health, education, and emotional well-being of children in the communities that the credit union serves. For more information, visit suncoastcreditunion.com or follow us on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
About EverFi
EverFi, Inc. is the leading education technology company focused on teaching, assessing and certifying K-12 and college students in the critical skills they need for life. The company teams with major corporations and founda- tions to provide the programs at no cost to K-12 schools. Some of America’s leading CEOs and venture capital firms are EverFi investors including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Twitter founder Evan Williams, Re- think Education, New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) and Tomorrow Ventures (the investment arm of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt). Learn more at www.everfi.com.
