Financially Empowering Students – State Farm support Financial Literacy Workshops for College Students

Tampa, FL. June 25, 2024: One goal of the USF Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education is to ensure that college-age students attain critical financial literacy skills that will promote sound financial decision as adults.

In 2023, with support from State Farm, the Stavros Center established the State Farm Financial Literacy Workshop Series for the College Student. These workshops provided financial literacy training to select groups of University of South Florida (USF) students that would benefit from learning financial money management skills.
State Farm has been a supporter of the Stavros Center, part of the USF College of Education, since 2010 and shares the Center’s passion for teaching financial literacy skills to the community. The Stavros Center is proud to announce that State Farm is extending that support by providing a new $20,000 grant to allow the Center to continue to provide financial literacy workshops in 2024. To date, State Farm has provided more than $270,000 in financial support to the Stavros Center.

The workshop series has evolved over the past year and covers key elements of financial literacy such as income, taxes, budgeting, renting verses buying, savings, credit, and investing. “The exciting thing this year is that every workshop is different because we tailor the workshops to meet the needs of the group it is serving,” said Peter Trakas, Ed.D., director of the Stavros Center.

One aspect that hasn’t changed is the use of Give-Get, an interactive financial literacy game that can be played on a smartphone. Trakas explains, “Gaming is a perfect tool to utilize with college-age students. The competitive nature of Give-Get has made it extremely popular for students to play against each other. This allows the students to practice the concepts that they are learning about in a simulated environment.”

“State Farm believes that financial literacy education is critical to building stronger and more resilient communities” said Jose Soto, State Farm Corporate Responsibility Analyst. “State Farm is proud to support USF Stavros Center dedicated work in financially educating and empowering students and educators in our community,”

The Stavros Center and State Farm understand the value of financial literacy for students; it promotes informed financial choices later in life, which is especially critical for students from families who lack these skills. “The data show us that students with higher financial literacy are less likely to accumulate significant credit card interest or fees, and are more likely to spend within their means, set aside emergency funds and plan for retirement,” said Trakas.

“State Farm’s continued support will strengthen and help to perpetuate the Center’s mission of financial literacy education. We appreciate State Farm’s commitment to our students and look forward to continuing our mutually beneficial partnership with them this year.”