Clinton School graduate Burt Hicks (’13) has written an article calling for increasing financial literacy education in America for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The article has since been republished by Arkansas Business.
Hicks, who studied finance at the University of Arkansas and has worked in investment banking, calls for incorporating financial education into K-12 schools in the country, among other measures:
Parents must make a commitment to improve the financial literacy of their children. It is often said that children learn what they live. Parents should make a conscious effort to engage in frequent, substantive conversations about financial issues with their children. These discussions are opportunities to provide children with tools that will pay dividends long after college.
Financial education must become an embedded part of K-12 education. Similar to math, science and reading, financial education must start early. However, even though financial decision-making is more complicated now than ever before, only 24 states require this type of instruction. And only four of those states require students to take a course devoted to personal finance in order to graduate. High school graduates represent a significant population of future financial decision-makers, and although their market presence is currently insignificant, it will inevitably grow in the coming years.
During the 2011-2012 academic year, Hicks was named one of only 12 Graduate Regional Social Impact Fellows with RSF Social Finance, a nonprofit financial services organization that works with social entrepreneurs.
Responses