Liberty University’s Center for Financial Literacy (CFL) offers a space where students can learn about practical financial topics using devotionals and prayer, guiding students on how to pay off debt, budget and file taxes, all while opening the door to understanding finances through a spiritual lens.
According to CFL’s mission statement, its goal is to help in “igniting generational change” by reducing financial stress and reshaping financial habits and beliefs. The center is making a difference in the national financial illiteracy crisis through spiritual formation.
CFL coaches address clients’ beliefs about money before their behaviors. According to Stacie Rhodes, executive director of the CFL, there is an estimated 4,000 to 8,000 student touchpoints, (engagements with the CFL) per year and over 1,000 projected client meetings this year. The CFL uses a mix of discipleship and practical training to help clients better manage their finances.
Rhodes emphasized that America is struggling to educate students about financial literacy.
“We have an illiteracy problem in America,” Rhodes said. “You have students graduating with a four-year degree and not knowing the basics of filing taxes or what to do with their student debt.”
Rhodes helped launch the CFL in 2018. At the time, Liberty had limited classes teaching real-world financial skills. Now, many degrees have integrated applied financial skills courses. In addition, the CFL hosts workshops, classroom visits and free one-on-one financial coaching.
For many students, meeting with a financial advisor is daunting, but the CFL uses peer-to-peer coaching in hopes of eliminating barriers for students seeking help.
“We’re not better than the clients we’re sitting across from,” said Caleb Armstrong, a CFL peer financial coach. “We are just peers.”
Armstrong explained that students feel safer talking with other students, which levels the playing field and allows coaches to build trust with clients.
Rhodes said the peer model is beneficial to coaches, too. Many are financial planning majors and peer coaching allow for hands-on experience with real clients.
“Peer-to-peer coaching … It’s not just a one-hit wonder,” Rhodes said. “It’s heart change. It’s a behavior change. It’s a belief change.”
Rhodes also discussed that coaches are trained to know that behavior follows belief. Before money habits can change, a student must first address what they believe about money. Many clients come in with emotional roots to their money struggles, such as shame, fear or comparison.
The CFL is working to overcome these barriers by increasing awareness about their free coaching. Classroom presentations have been the biggest driver for sign-ups as well as word-of-mouth from peer coaches.
Liberty’s CFL is now listed in the top 15 schools for financial literacy across the nation. The team consists of 47 coaches that put on an average of 75 presentations a year, with a 60% return rate on client meetings.
“We exist to have conversations that could radically change your perspective of God and your impact on the Kingdom of God,” Rhodes said.
The CFL is located in the School of Business 1600. For more information about the CFL, visit http://www.liberty.edu/cfl.
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