Students who want to learn how to plan their finances, avoid loan debt and obtain funding can find information at a campus fair on Tuesday.
Multiple campus partners plan to set up informational booths in Bruin Plaza from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for Financial Literacy Day Fair, a free event organized by the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s Financial Supports Commission.
Financial literacy is having an understanding of basic financial processes and concepts used in day-to-day life, said Lauren Rogers, USAC financial supports commissioner.
Rogers said she thinks access to tools and resources for financial literacy is important to students today since the majority of students at University of California schools receive some form of financial aid to help fund their education.
The fair is the first in a series of events that make up the Financial Supports Commission’s year-long Financial Literacy Campaign.
“We want students to know what it means to manage your own money because there’s so many people who don’t know,” said Melanie Goldfiner, a third-year economics and political science student and the Financial Supports Commission chief of staff.
The fair is meant to help students make more informed financial decisions, such as choosing between living in dorms or living in apartments, or searching for scholarships, Goldfiner said.
The Financial Supports Commission is working with multiple other campus partners on the fair, including the Financial Aid Office, the Economic Crisis Response Team, the Internal Vice President’s Office, the Career Center, the Graduate Student Resource Center, Partnership UCLA and the University Credit Union.
The office is also collaborating with Graduate Division Fellowships and Financial Services, Moneythink, Student Loan Services and Collection, the Scholarship Resource Center, the Bruin Resource Center, the Undergraduate Journal of Economics, Making Money Work, Ascend at UCLA, Student Legal Services, Delta Sigma Pi and the Undergraduate Investment Society.
The Financial Supports Commission plans to hold workshops to further educate students about financial matters later in the school year, Rogers said.