Recent efforts include a House bill in Texas that would require personal financial education for high school students, and a program partnership between the American Institute of CPAs and the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau.

"I applaud these efforts," said Susan Knox, a CPA, financial planner and author of Financial Basics: A Money-Management Guide for Students (Ohio State Press). "Financial literacy efforts are more important than ever. Young people are faced with a plethora of financial decisions: higher limits on amounts of student loans, credit cards, a wide array of banking services. These are complex issues and a student needs to be grounded in the basics before dealing with more sophisticated financial matters."

Knox said she learned how tough it is for students through her own son. Even with Knox's financial expertise, her son went to college without some basic skills, such as balancing a bank account. He did okay through college, but had to declare bankruptcy by the time he turned 30 because of overwhelming credit card debt.

Through her work with colleges and universities, Knox said she sees schools taking the problem seriously. "I am happy to report that they are concerned for their students' financial activities and many are trying to educate their students by giving short courses, setting up Web sites with information, and providing written materials."
 
For instance, Ohio State University hands out Financial Basics to entering freshman during summer orientation when the parents are present and suggest they read it together over the summer.

Knox said students should apply basic principles when heading to college:

• Open your mail and pay your bills on time.
• Have just one credit card and pay it off every month.
• Don't borrow more money on student loans than you absolutely have to.
• Know the difference between a need and a want.
• Have the courage to say "I can't afford it."

Knox also contributed some actions for accountants in furthering financial literacy:

• Create a one-hour program on basic financial information and present it to high school students and their parents.
• Encourage clients who are parents to teach their children about money, such as a note in a newsletter to clients every few months with ideas.
• Be active politically at local, state, and national levels promoting efforts on financial literacy.
• Recommend Financial Basics to your clients or better yet, send them a copy.

Financial Basics: A Money-Management Guide for Students is available online at the Ohio State Press Web site.