Family Financial Literacy Course Embraces Working Parents, Children

There is an innovative new course being offered at CNM’s Montoya Campus through the School of Business & Information Technology that aims to educate parents and their children at the same time on financial literacy. It’s part of CNM’s strategic efforts to deliver multi-generational education opportunities to families, especially to underserved populations.

The course is being offered in English and Spanish.

CNM was awarded a grant funded by the The Aspen Institute’s Ascend program that will be used to advance a multigenerational approach to basic financial education in combination with homework support for children.

As part of the financial literacy class, the students who are parents can bring their children with them to Montoya Campus and they will be served a free dinner before each class. While students are in class, their children will receive outstanding tutoring and homework help from trained CNM tutors and students majoring in Teacher Education. When class is over, both the parents and their children will be assigned homework related to financial literacy to complete together.

This course also offers a pathway for working parents to take the first step toward a CNM associate degree or certificate to improve their family’s prospects for the future.

“A lot of working parents can’t come to class but with this grant we are able to offer services that allow parents to bring their kids with them,” said Kalynn Pirkl, associate dean of the School of Business & Information Technology.

The 12-week course will introduce students to the basics of money management and financial knowledge so they can make well-informed financial decisions that can greatly improve their lives. The course is interactive and will cover budgeting, managing money, borrowing money and planning for a healthy financial future.

“Everybody should take this class. Financial literacy is a life skill that everyone should learn,” Pirkl said.

The class meets one night a week and most of the course work is online.

To qualify for the Family Financial Literacy course, students must have children between the ages of 6 and 15 who will participate in the program as well.

Classes are scheduled to begin on Feb. 4 and run through April 28.