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State Mandated Financial Education and the Credit Behavior of Young Adults

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Listed:
  • Alexandra Brown
  • J. Michael Collins
  • Maximilian D. Schmeiser
  • Carly Urban

Abstract

In the U.S., a number of states have mandated personal finance classes in public school curricula to address perceived deficiencies in financial decision-making competency. Despite the growth of financial and economic education provided in public schools, little is known about the effect of these programs on the credit behaviors of young adults. Using a panel of credit report data, we examine young adults in three states where personal financial education mandates were implemented in 2007: Georgia, Idaho, and Texas. We compare the credit scores and delinquency rates of young adults in each of these states pre- and post-implementation of the education to those of students in a synthetic control state and then bordering states without financial education. We find that young people who are in school after the implementation of a financial education requirement have higher relative credit scores and lower relative delinquency rates than those in control states.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandra Brown & J. Michael Collins & Maximilian D. Schmeiser & Carly Urban, 2014. "State Mandated Financial Education and the Credit Behavior of Young Adults," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2014-68, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2014-68
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    Cited by:

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    2. John Y. Campbell, 2016. "Restoring Rational Choice: The Challenge of Consumer Financial Regulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 1-30, May.
    3. Matthias Sutter & Michael Weyland & Anna Untertrifaller & Manuel Froitzheim, 2020. "Financial literacy, risk and time preferences - Results from a randomized educational intervention," Working Papers 2020-27, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    4. Marco Di Maggio & Ankit Kalda & Vincent Yao, 2019. "Second Chance: Life without Student Debt," NBER Working Papers 25810, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Stoddard, Christiana & Urban, Carly & Schmeiser, Maximilian, 2017. "Can targeted information affect academic performance and borrowing behavior for college students? Evidence from administrative data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 95-109.
    6. Bover, Olympia & Hospido, Laura & Villanueva, Ernesto, 2018. "The Impact of High School Financial Education on Financial Knowledge and Choices: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 11265, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Frisancho, Veronica, 2020. "The impact of financial education for youth," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Sandro Ambuehl & B. Douglas Bernheim & Fulya Ersoy & Donna Harris, 2018. "Peer Advice on Financial Decisions: A case of the blind leading the blind?," NBER Working Papers 25034, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Anderson, D. Mark & Rees, Daniel I., 2015. "Per se drugged driving laws and traffic fatalities," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 122-134.
    10. Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl & Peter Grajzl & A. Joseph Guse & Richard M. Todd & Michael Williams, 2018. "Neighborhood Racial Characteristics, Credit History, and Bankcard Credit in Indian Country," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 60(3), pages 410-441, September.
    11. Khanh Duy Pham & Vu Linh Toan Le, 2023. "Nexus between Financial Education, Literacy, and Financial Behavior: Insights from Vietnamese Young Generations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-21, October.
    12. Maximilian D. Schmeiser & Christiana Stoddard & Carly Urban, 2015. "Does Salient Financial Information Affect Academic Performance and Borrowing Behavior among College Students?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-75, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    13. Jing Jian Xiao & Nilton Porto & Irene McIvor Mason, 2020. "Financial capability of student loan holders who are college students, graduates, or dropouts," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1383-1401, December.
    14. William B. Walstad & Michael Watts, 2015. "Perspectives on Economics in the School Curriculum: Coursework, Content, and Research," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 324-339, July.
    15. Chen, Jia & Jiang, Jiajun & Liu, Yu-jane, 2018. "Financial literacy and gender difference in loan performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 307-320.

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    Keywords

    Financial literacy; financial education; credit scores; delinquency;
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