Center For Financial Literacy Offers Biblically Based Financial Training

Liberty University’s Center for Financial Literacy (CFL) provides personal financial training with a biblical worldview to students, faculty and the community and allows students the opportunity to be peer financial coaches. 

In an effort to intentionally integrate personal finance concepts across all degree programs, the CFL was established through the School of Business in 2018 with the help of Scott Hicks, current provost and former dean of the School of Business; along with Ron Blue, chief executive officer of the Ron Blue Foundation; and Dr. Stacie Rhodes, executive director of the CFL. According to Rhodes, a realization of the lack of education about personal finance led to the creation of the CFL. 

“We started the center to start combating the issue on an academic level rather than just waiting for people to get themselves in a situation down the road and realize ‘hey, I need help,’” Rhodes said. 

According to Dave Brat, dean of the School of Business, the existence of the CFL is important because financial literacy is not being taught adequately in k-12 education, and is also not sufficiently addressed by culture, creating a general lack of financial awareness. 

“With the student loan crisis and the emphasis we put as Christians on how to manage our lives and money and calling, it’s just natural that we would want to pay attention to financial literacy,” Brat said. 

A large aspect of the CFL’s financial training opportunities is one-on-one peer financial coaching sessions. The CFL started out the academic year with 10 financial coaches and has eight returning this semester. These coaches conducted over 150 coaching sessions just last semester. According to Rhodes, the financial coaches assist students as they create a personalized financial plan and view the sessions as a discipleship route. 

“Our goal is to have a client, a student, paired with a coach who then walks life together,” Rhodes said. “It’s not just a one and done.”

According to Brat, the opportunity for students to be financial advisors is beneficial to their future careers. 

“It’s great that they get to start developing their skills before they may choose to go out into that profession,” Brat said. 

To Rhodes, being a financial coach for other students is an incredible opportunity that students will not find anywhere else. 

“I have found that our coaches absolutely love it,” Rhodes said. 

The curriculum of the financial planning offered at the CFL is grounded in biblical truth. According to Rhodes, the biblical foundation is integrated through the Ron Blue 4-H tool which guides the conversations that coaches have with their clients. 

“I think it’s essential to round out this incredible academic experience with the application of something so pivotal, which is money management, from a biblical worldview,” Rhodes said. 

Considering the fact that there are over 2,300 verses in the Bible about money and finances, Rhodes said that biblically based financial training is important because Christians cannot ignore what God says in the bible about money.

“I just think money is too pivotal and too important of a heart issue for us to not address for every student,” Rhodes said. 

The CFL also educates students on financial literacy through academic integration where Rhodes coordinates with the different schools on campus to ensure that financial literacy is integrated into at least two core classes for every student. Non-academic events and workshops are another way that the CFL provides financial education.

The CFL also oversees the T-3 student club where students discuss personal finance and financial literacy topics. The final way that the CFL makes financial education available to the Liberty community is through courses such as a free-zero-credit-hour financial literacy course and an eight-to-ten-hour work course open to the public. 

“I really do think that if students don’t take advantage, they’re just missing an incredible opportunity to get something that people pay for in the real world, for absolutely free at the university,” Rhodes said. 

The CFL is available to both students and the surrounding community. Rhodes said that she wants to try and reach the community and collaborate with other organizations. 

“We hope to take our student ambassadors and also look externally – not just keep it in the family but also push out to the community and try to provide this awareness,” Rhodes said. 

Mia Nelson is the Asst. News Editor.