UNIVERSITY PARK/HARRISBURG, Penn.–PSECU has committed $100,000 to support the Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center at Penn State. The funding is intended to help the center maintain and enhance its popular online self-study curriculum, which is designed to strengthen Penn State students’ financial capability.
“Students and recent graduates today face a wide range of financial challenges, from managing tuition and educational debt to renting an apartment and securing insurance,” said Sokolov-Miller Center Director Daad Adel Rizk. “So, it’s increasingly crucial that we provide them with solid financial management education. This gift from PSECU will have an enormous impact on our ability to provide the best, most up-to-date online learning tools on this subject.”
The Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center supports Penn State’s mission of access and affordability by giving students the tools and knowledge they need to responsibly manage their money and build sustainable financial practices in their personal lives. Housed in the Grange Building on the University Park campus, the center offers workshops, freshman seminars and webinars, as well as peer-to-peer mentoring and other in-person services.
Among the center’s most widely used resources is the online curriculum offered through its outreach program MoneyCounts: A Financial Literacy Series. The curriculum is a series of self-study modules that helps users develop a core understanding of financial concepts and opportunities, including credit cards, student loans, debt management, and retirement planning. Designed to accommodate modern users with busy schedules, the modules are the most heavily viewed portion of the center’s website. They are presented free of charge and are available to anyone with an Internet connection, adding another global dimension to the University’s education and outreach efforts, PSECU said.
PSECU’s gift has created a program endowment that will provide permanent support for the center. This funding will primarily be used to periodically update the self-study modules, allowing the curriculum to adapt to changes in technology requirements and in such factors as tax laws and student loan regulations. The endowment may also fund the creation of new modules in the future or their adaptation to new delivery modes as they become available.
“At PSECU, we’re committed to providing people – members and non-members alike - with opportunities for living better lives, and we believe that a strong understanding of money and how to manage it is key to making that happen,” said PSECU President George Rudolph. “Through our support of the Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center at Penn State, we hope to reach many young adults who can benefit from tools and resources aimed at helping them hone and build their financial savvy, and ultimately prepare them for future success. We thank the center for their collaboration and for the excellent work they do to serve Penn State’s students.”
Additionally, PSECU’s gift will advance "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hard-working students regardless of financial means; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation, and entrepreneurship.