The League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates (LSCU & Affiliates) is celebrating Financial Literacy Month and National Credit Union Youth Month, both holidays occurring in April. Financial Literacy Month is a nationwide celebration with the goal to improve the financial literacy education among youths and adults. National Credit Union Youth Month is a celebration where credit unions help teach and encourage kids to develop good financial habits.  

The Southeastern Credit Union Foundation (SECUF) announced the new Empowerment Through Financial Education program. This program offers informational resources and templates for credit unions to share with their members such as how to budget while in college, understanding credit reports and credit scores, and how to utilize mobile banking. These free materials are available for download here.

Another way the SECUF is celebrating is by offering the new and improved Books Make Cent$ program. This initiative is an interactive way to introduce students to credit unions and basic financial concepts, while building relationships with schools and community partners.

The Books Make Cent$ program provides book recommendations and associated lesson plans for preschool, elementary, and middle school levels. In addition to providing these financial-related books, we will also include lesson plans, found here, to pair with each book, making this an optimal student engagement opportunity.

The Enrich Credit Union Employee Financial Wellness program, also offered by the SECUF, is another way for credit union employees to take charge of their financial wellbeing. The Program was created in 2020 to support credit unions by providing financial educational resources to employees in hopes that these resources would implement positive, financial change.

These resources help employees create better financial plans for their future, which in turn, fosters a healthier work environment. This tool is made available to all LSCU & Affiliates members and is provided at no cost at all to affiliated credit unions. For more information on this program, click here.

In Alabama, increasing financial education opportunities continues to be of high priority to LSCU and the state legislature. The 'Making $ense' Coalition, brought forth by Representative Andy Whitt, will help Alabamians learn about the importance of financial education and how they can create a financial education plan for Alabama. This plan is anticipated to take place at the beginning of the 2023 session.

LSCU was also excited to be a part of Florida's student financial literacy bill recently signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. This bill requires high school students to take a half-credit personal finance course before graduation. The state financial literacy class will include topics such as opening and managing a bank account, balancing a checkbook, and completing a loan application. For more information on this new law, click here.

After hearing about the financial literacy bill passing in Florida, Georgia legislators came together to finalize a bill requiring a half-course credit financial literacy high school graduation course to be completed in either 11th or 12th grade. This new graduation requirement will be implemented in the 2024-2025 school year to provide adequate time for curriculum development and implementation.