ORIGINAL PAPER Financial Education With College Students: Comparing Peer-Led and Traditional Classroom Instruction Trent W. Maurer • Sun-A Lee Published online: 4 August 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract This project compared the learning gains from teaching financial literacy skills to undergraduate students through two methods: traditional classroom instruction and peer financial counseling. Students at a southeastern uni- versity received instruction through either a semester-long course on family economics (N = 78) or a one-hour peer- led session (N = 149). Students in the peer sessions received instruction on either budgeting (n = 94) or credit (n = 55). Students in the course received extended instruction on budgeting, credit, and other topics. Com- parisons of posttest learning revealed similar gains between the two methods on shared content and on planned finan- cial behaviors. Results suggest additional investigation to explore peer financial counseling for teaching financial literacy skills may be warranted. Keywords Financial education Á Peer financial counseling The average American college student enters college without having ever been solely responsible for their own personal finances (Kezar 2010; Nellie Mae 2002), carries a credit card debt of over $3,000 (Chu 2009), and graduates owing more than $23,000 in student loans (Student Loans 2006). Further, the average college student scores only slightly above 60% correct on tests of basic financial literacy (JumpStart 2008), and data from high school students suggests that students who have credit cards are less financially literate that students who do not have credit cards (Scott 2010). Additionally, college students report problems using and managing credit effec- tively (Joo et al. 2003) and either fail to budget or fail to stick to a budget, leaving them ‘‘vulnerable to financial crisis’’ (Henry et al. 2001, p. 246). For example, Indiana University has reported that student attrition is more due to students’ credit card debt than due to academic difficulties (Holub 2002). Additionally, students with lower levels of personal financial knowledge are more likely to engage in risky credit card behaviors (Robb 2011) and less likely to budget and save appropriately (Gutter and Copur 2011). Studies show that individuals with financial difficulties have lower quality of psychological well-being (Dew 2008; Norvilits and Santa Maria 2002; Roberts and Jones 2001). Further, the current national and international economic outlook is grim. National unemployment hovers around 10% (‘‘Unemployment Rises’’ 2010). Credit markets have tightened both nationally and internationally (Credit Crisis 2010). Considering this global economic situation, young adults’ effective financial behaviors may be critical for psychological well-being possibly more than ever before. Many campus leaders and administrators have expressed concern over students’ lack of financial literacy and their problematic financial behaviors (Kezar 2009; Supiano 2008, 2009). To address this situation, colleges and uni- versities have increasingly begun incorporating financial education into the college experience (Supiano 2010). Even though there is controversy regarding the effectiveness of financial education (McCormick 2009), generally, it has been found that participation in college level personal finance classes is related to better financial knowledge Portions of this data were previously presented at the 2010 SoTL Commons Conference, Statesboro, Georgia. T. W. Maurer (&) Á S.-A. Lee Department of Hospitality, Tourism, & Family and Consumer Sciences, Georgia Southern University, P.O. Box 8021, Statesboro, GA 30460, Georgia e-mail: tmaurer@georgiasouthern.edu S.-A. Lee e-mail: sunalee@georgiasouthern.edu 123 J Fam Econ Iss (2011) 32:680–689 DOI 10.1007/s10834-011-9266-z