iGrad has launched a customized, interactive online and mobile financial wellness platform for San Francisco State University’s more than 23,000 students.
iGrad’s platform for SF State students includes comprehensive customized and interactive information on everything from building and maintaining good credit, budgeting and money management to student loan/debt management and loan calculators.
Research shows that student financial literacy programs can decrease financial stress, improve academic performance and teach students how to manage their finances for a lifetime.
With declining enrollment and degree-achievement rates across the nation, bolstering student financial literacy is a priority for many colleges and universities. Since the start of the pandemic, college enrollment has declined 5.1 percent, with “unprecedented” declines among students from low-income or high-poverty high schools, according to a new report[1] by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics[2] shows that, even pre-pandemic, the degree achievement rate for all students nationally was only about 62 percent.
“Now more than ever, college students are facing tremendous financial challenges impacting enrollment, retention and the level of student loan debt, which is already the second-largest category of debt in the country,” said iGrad Vice President of Business Development Donna Miller.
iGrad is currently used by more than 600 public and private colleges and universities of all sizes, including San Jose State University, UC Berkeley, New York University and Davidson College.
Based on artificial intelligence and proprietary algorithms, iGrad personalizes financial information for each student’s situation and needs. It also offers:
-Tools, quizzes, videos, articles and a library of multimedia content.
-A student loan tracking tool which aggregates student loan balances and estimates monthly payments, helping to prepare students for these payments after graduation.
Because it adapts to each ’s specific circumstances, it can even provide interactive educational content on retirement and mortgages to those who need it.
