Mid-August in the US means ‘back to school’ for students of all ages.

For those starting their college journey, this can be a physical move of leaving home for the first time, living in a dorm or apartment, splitting monthly bills with roommates, and making your own meals. Such a tremendous amount of change to digest in a short amount of time. No matter how much preparation parents try to put in, young adults need to experience it all on their own — make mistakes and grow.

This is also the ideal time for financial literacy, which involves learning about budgeting, short & long-term savings, and personal credit management. Some new-to-college students may have never had a job or a bank account of their own. During their undergraduate years, both work and personal financial management are a must.

Soft ‘money management’ skills can help young adults reach financial independence sooner, too. Increasing college costs & student loan debt (currently at $1.7T) makes this goal already challenging. Poor decisions with spend, savings, or credit would this worse.

As more schools adopt EdTech (education + technology) in the classroom, financial literacy is also being included as part of the learning experience. Combining edtech with fintech companies focused on positive financial habits will lead to kids, teens, and young adults achieving personal financial goals (college, purchasing a car or home, retirement).

Here’s a deep dive on EdTech and how fintechs are supplementing classroom efforts to improve financial literacy across the US.

WHAT IS EDTECH?

Edtech introduces information and communication technology tools into the classroom as a way to create more engaging, customized learning experiences.

Modern classrooms no longer have 2-3 shared, desktop computers per class. One laptop or tablet per student is now the norm — these devices features interactive lessons and the ability to complete coursework digitally. During the pandemic (when students needed to ‘study from home’), school districts scrambled to deliver in-person education virtually. Edtech was the solution and remains a strong component of education’s future.

Education is in need of moving away from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Each student learns differently and interacts with student & teachers differently. EdTech makes it easier to identify learning styles upfront and build unique lesson plans that are inclusive of each student’s learning capabilities — from kindergarten to college.

BENEFITS of EDTECH FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

The influx of tech in the classroom broadens approaches to learning for all kids (regardless of age and background). EdTech leads to more collaboration amongst students and improvement in academic performance. Here’s what’s helping drive this impact across schools:

• Increased collaboration: This new collaboration is coming from cloud-enabled tools & tablets that come pre-loaded with online lessons and learning games — worked on in groups. Kids can also submit their homework online and set up chat groups to discuss assignments and projects. If help is needed from teachers, requests can be made at anytime through these tools.

• 24/7 learning: Devices and lesson plans being fully digital make learning available at all times. The same access in the classroom is now at home, so that parents can take an active role in what students learn on a daily basis. No need to be at a school computer.

• Utilizing the classroom for ‘hands-on’ works: The outdated concept of sitting in a classroom for an hour to listen to a lecture, then going home to complete an assignment is gone. EdTech enables students to absorb these lectures through video at home and come to school to work on assignments with peers. The material becomes more engaging and students take on a more active role in their studies.

• Personalized educational experiences: A student’s learning strengths, opportunities, and styles is taken into account each year. Custom learning plans may change as kids get older, which makes it critical to assess and flexibly adjust the student experience often. With increased digital engagement and submission of assignments, projects, and tests, teachers can analyze what’s working and point out specific areas where each student needs help.

• Gamified school activities: Combining school with today’s world of mobile & online games, students are able to engage further with learning in a fun way that they’re accustomed to. A gaming experience at school can get all kids participating and interacting at a higher-level than textbooks.

Besides students, teachers are also seeing the increased benefits from EdTech. More tools and support for faculty can help teachers reach more of their students and bring learning material to life. Here’s how teachers are taking advantage of better resources to become better educators:

• Automated grading: Artificial intelligence and machine learning have made their way to the classroom. Apps enhanced with AI & ML are measuring a student’s performance on assignments and delivering analysis to teachers. Less time grading work for an entire class leads to teachers that can focus on students that are struggling and improving future lesson plans.

• Classroom management: The increased level of connectivity helps teachers directly engage with students and their families without an in-person meeting or phone call. Classroom communication through digital channels also helps with reminders of upcoming activities and new instructions if an assignment is too challenging.

• Paperless classrooms: For parents with children in school now, there’s a noticeably reduced amount of physical paper going back and forth between school and home. For teachers, this means less photocopying of assignments, making sure students receive handouts with instructions, and collection of completed work to be graded. Permission slips to field trips and emergency contact cards are the main documents that still need to be sent home.

• Analysis by student cohorts: Better connectivity and online assessments lead to quality data that teachers can evaluate at a macro-level. Was there an overall increase in academic performance for a particular subject? Was there an assignment that most students struggled with? Multiple, real-time data points are now available for teachers (and school districts) to diagnose what’s going well or needs improvement in the classroom.

the missing piece for edtech: FINANCIAL LITERACY

What if the same the enhanced approach in the classroom included financial education?

Better financial habits is still missing in most schools as an established part of the curriculum. One class session from a guest speaker may cover the topic in elementary schools today, but middle & highschool students don’t exposure to these materials. College-bound students lack an understanding of how to budget, save for large expenses, build & manage credit, and set aside funds for retirement.

During these formative teen years, kids must learn about finance from parents who may have their own financial struggles. Banks offer kids banking products with parent supervision on transaction, but no education towards building strong money habits and financial health.

FinTech (financial technology) apps have stepped in to fill some of this gap by providing tools and insights, but these are for young adults (in college or recently graduated) that are on their own with checking, savings, loans, and credit card data to analyze.

FINTECH firms with an EDTECH presence for college+

The lack of financial readiness from college students and recent graduates is shocking.

Many aren’t involved in tuition financing decisions that impact the amount of student loan debt that they’ll carry. Many don’t know what percentage of their paycheck should be for bills, housing, savings, and discretionary expenses. These young adults don’t have financial goals in mind upon graduating — their main priority is full-time employment.

It comes down to financial education which engages Gen Z as independent adults — taking ownership of their personal finances and making the connection to long-term goals. Being debt-free, owning a home before the age of 30, raising a family, retiring before the age of 40, etc. can be aspirations that this generation makes progress towards as the age of 20.

Luckily, there are fintech companies (with products focused on financial education) helping college students with:

• Budgeting and college expense tracking (ex. Intuit Mint): gaining practice earlier in life with proper budgeting would help avoid money mismanagement later in life. Until discussions about finances become easier in families, fintech platforms will be the starting point for many young adults looking to be better with money;

• Getting started with investment through micro-investing (ex. Acorns): most adult agree in wishing they had started investing at young age — even in small amounts. The compounding of interest does pay off in the long-term and Gen Z has numerous options for small-dollar investing in stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets;

• Accessing loans, grants, and scholarships (ex. Scholly, Inc.): school counselors, college prep teams, and financial aid offices are unable to relay all the applicable financing options available. Responding to the student loan crisis, more fintech companies are making sure that college-bound teens and recent graduates are aware of what’s available AND what fits their needs the best;

• Refinancing student loan debt (ex. SoFi): Within 6 months of receiving their degree, many graduates must start repaying their student loans. Deferring monthly payments can result in accrued interest that increases total balances owed. Not all refinancing options are beneficial to grads either. Fintechs are helping loan customers make comparisons and better choices that fit what they can afford to pay.

NEED FOR IN-PERSON connections and continuous support

Support from fintech companies in expanding financial literacy will continue to be crucial in the next decade.

However, face-to-face teaching and in-person sessions are needed to ensure personal financial plans are being followed. If a young adult goes off track one month with spending, there needs to be a human resource that can help them reset quickly.

Local community organizations (especially those serving underbanked families) and other groups need to maintain an active presence. Some of this can be seen with city & county initiatives (such as K2C — savings for college that starts at kindergarten) and local scholarships.

EdTech in the classroom and financial literacy resources from fintechs reaching neighborhoods & school districts would make for a winning combination, especially with younger generations starting school after 2030.

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