San Diego, Calif., February 24, 2023 – (PR.com) – iGrad has partnered with the University of North Georgia (UNG) to bring its customized, interactive online and mobile financial wellness platform for students to the public senior military Colleges provide nearly 20,000 students.
iGrad’s platform at UNG includes comprehensive customized and interactive information on everything from building and maintaining good credit, budgeting and money management to student loans/debt management and loan calculators.
The UNG is part of the Georgia university system and is referred to as the State Leadership Institution and The Military College of Georgia. The five locations are located in Dahlonega, Oakwood (Gainesville), Watkinsville (Oconee), Cumming and Blue Ridge.
UNG Student Money Management Center Director Erick Jones said the university’s overall goal in offering iGrads is to help students progress from financially literate to financially able students.
“iGrad provides us with a huge toolbox to meet the many needs of our diverse student body and allows us to teach not only the concepts of personal finance, but why it is important,” said Jones. “As with many multi-campus institutions, being in the right place at the right time is a challenge. iGrad’s online platform helps our Student Money Management Center maintain a consistent presence across all five campuses.”
Research shows that financial literacy programs can reduce financial stress, improve academic performance, and teach students how to manage their finances throughout life.
“Students can have a hard time opening up about their financial concerns,” Jones said. “They are unjustly ashamed that they don’t have the knowledge they think their peers have. iGrad’s Financial Wellness Checkup tool provides them with a platform to anonymously identify the areas where they have room for growth, and through these insights we are able to design programs that address the needs of our students enter.”
Strengthening students’ financial literacy is a priority for many colleges and universities. Since the pandemic began in 2020, college enrollment has fallen 5.1 percent, with “unprecedented” declines among students from low-income or high-poverty high schools, according to a recent report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that even before the pandemic, the graduation rate for all students nationwide was only about 62 percent.
“Students, colleges and universities face tremendous financial challenges that impact enrollment, graduation rates and student loan debt, which is already the second largest debt category in the country,” said Todd Woodlee, iGrad’s vice president of business development . “UNG has made financial education for students a priority and we are excited to be an important part of their effort.”
iGrad is currently used by more than 600 public and private colleges and universities of all sizes, including Wake Forest University, University of Northern Colorado, Emerson College and Cleveland State University.
Powered by artificial intelligence and proprietary algorithms, iGrad personalizes financial information for each student’s situation and needs. It also offers:
Tools, quizzes, videos, articles and a library of multimedia content.
A student loan tracking tool that aggregates student loan balances and estimates monthly payments to prepare students for those payments after graduation.
Because it adapts to each user’s specific circumstances, it can even provide interactive educational content about pensions and mortgages for those who need it.
About iGrad
iGrad is a San Diego-based financial technology company that provides artificial intelligence-powered financial wellness solutions to more than 2.7 million students at 600 colleges and universities, 20,000+ employers and 300+ financial institutions. iGrads Your Money Personality™ was recently recognized as the 2020 Excellence in Financial Literacy Education (EIFLE) Adults’ Education Program of the Year award by the Institute for Financial Literacy. iGrad is one of three 2020 honorees in the inaugural edition of Barron’s Celebrates: Financial Empowerment after being selected by a panel of judges for its contributions to improving the financial health and security of Americans. iGrad recently received the 2022 Eddy Award for Financial Wellness from Pensions & Investments for its Enrich platform. For more information about the iGrad platform, visit https://www.igradfinancialwellness.com. For more information about the Enrich platform for employers and financial institutions, visit http://www.enrich.org.
