HARRISBURG, PA – Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor today recognized the first Monday of Financial Literacy Month with a ‘Money $mart Monday’ virtual information session aimed to help college students learn how to budget their money, save for graduation, and learn about their student loans.
“Understanding how to ‘Be Money $mart’ is crucial to Pennsylvania’s future financial success,” Auditor General Tim DeFoor said. “It is never too early to start thinking about how money works. Through these virtual information sessions, we hope to provide useful information for students who are entering college or getting ready to graduate, so they can continue their journey to financial independence.”
During the virtual information session, Auditor General DeFoor was joined by Carrie Kromer, Regional Manager from PSECU and Diona Brown, Higher Education Access Partner from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, or PHEAA.
This session is the first in a series of videos that will provide financial literacy information to Pennsylvanians of all ages. These videos will be shared each Monday in April on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and can be found on the department’s YouTube page.
DeFoor has spent the last two years promoting financial literacy across the state as part of his Be Money Smart initiative. Since initiative launched in 2021, DeFoor has:
- Visited all state and state related universities in Pennsylvania to talk about job and internship opportunities within the department and the importance of knowing how your money works;
- Met with students participating in the State YMCA of Pennsylvania Youth and Government program and visited several YMCAs across the state to talk about financial literacy;
- Worked with Junior Achievement to emphasize financial literacy messages to elementary school students;
- Partnered with local financial institutions to provide financial literacy resources to the public; and
- Partnered with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and Members 1st to coordinate a statewide financial literacy competition for high school students in Pennsylvania.
“When I became Auditor General, I quickly saw that basic accounting errors were happening with auditees because of a general lack of understanding of finances,” DeFoor said. “Through our Be Money Smart initiative, I have crisscrossed the state promoting financial literacy education because it is vital to Pennsylvania’s growth and understanding of how taxpayer dollars are spent.”
For more information on the Department of the Auditor General’s financial literacy efforts, visit www.PaAuditor.gov/BeMoneySmart
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