Advanced Money Management Instructor Guide

This Instructor Guide gives teachers, parents, and others an overview of Advanced Money Management, CFNC's series of online financial education courses for community college students.

The best way to understand the course is to experience it for yourself – simply click on the "Advanced Money Management" link from CFNC’s Financial Literacy Resources page to start a course.


About Advanced Money Management
Advanced Money Management is a series of four courses designed for the specific needs of community college students. Courses are customized for the following groups:

  • Financially Dependent New Students
  • Financial Independent New Students
  • Returning Students
  • Exiting Students

Please see "Curriculum Overview" below for a listing of all topics for each course.

Each course is designed to help prepare students for the financial challenges they will face as students or, in the case of the course for Exiting students, the challenges of student loan repayment.

Students who complete any Advanced Money Management course and attend college in North Carolina are also automatically entered to win one of two $500 Financial Literacy Scholarships. For more details and official rules on this scholarship program, please click here.

Advanced Money Management is designed and operated by Decision Partners, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.


Curriculum Overview
Advanced Money Management courses are unique in that they are not only customized for the needs of community college students, but each course administrator can customize each version of the course for students on their campus. Course administrators can also add optional topics as required for course completion or as electives, meaning the topics optional for students and are not reflected in their course grade. Course customization is handled by each school’s financial aid office.

In addition to multimedia presentations about important financial topics, topics may contain interactive exercises, personalized feedback, and / or quiz questions.

At the conclusion of the course, students are given a final grade based on their quiz participation.

Topics for New and Returning Students
Students starting or returning to college receive a comprehensive financial education curriculum designed to prevent common financial problems.

Topics are further customized based on each student’s financial aid status (dependent on parents or financially independent):

Introductory Module - A brief introduction to course goals and resources.

Financial Health - Concept of financial health, smart decision-making.

Budgeting Introduction - Why and how to budget. Media leads up to budget calculator.

Budgeting Follow Up - Post-budget calculator follow up and conclusion.

Choosing a Bank - Types of financial services accounts.

Checking and Savings Accounts - Checking and savings accounts strategies for minimizing fees.

Credit vs. Debit Card - Pros and cons of credit and debit cards. When to use each for maximum consumer protection.

Credit Reports and Scores - Pervasiveness of credit in our culture, including credit reports and scores.

Managing Accounts - Account management strategies for check and savings.

Students and Credit Cards - Special challenges of students and credit cards.

Building Credit - Understanding the decisions and behaviors that can lead to improved credit scores.

Identity Theft - Understanding ID theft and how to prevent it.

Financial Trouble - Spotting the warning signs of excessive debt.

What is Financial Aid? - The main types of aid: loans, grants and scholarships, work-study, and service programs.

Understanding Financial Need - How financial need is officially determined, including the "COA" and "EFC."

Types of Education Loans - A look at the types of student loans, including federal and private loans.

Choosing the Right Loan - Questions every student should be able to answer before taking on a student loan.

Borrowing Wisely - Making smart choices about student loans, including a description of the impact of loan capitalization.

Real World Calculator - Calculates after-college income scenarios.

Financial Goals - All short and long-term financial goals.

Personalized Feedback - Personalized feedback based on pre-course survey.


Topics for Exiting Students
Students within six months of graduation receive a shorter course experience that offers a new focus on debt management, particularly student loan management.

Introductory Module - A brief introduction to course goals and resources.

Budgeting Introduction - Why and how to budget. Media leads up to budget calculator.

Budgeting Follow Up - Post-budget calculator follow up and conclusion.

Financial Trouble - Spotting the warning signs of excessive debt.

Repaying College Debt - Common repayment plans are outlined, as well as instructions for finding your loans and the consequences of non-payment.

Financial Goals - All short and long-term financial goals.

Personalized Feedback - Personalized feedback based on pre-course survey.

Conclusion Module Course conclusion with a surprise video.

Course administrators can add additional topics as required by the needs of their students and the goals of their financial education program. Course administrators can choose from a library over 50 financial topics, from understanding insurance to getting married.


Course Tools
While the course curriculum is built around a multimedia content delivery model, the entire experience is organized by each participant's personalized "My Money" page. This page is customized by each student's interests and includes quick links to all content and exercises. For example, while taking the course, students are given the opportunity to "save" content sections of interest. These sections are then copied to their personalized page, where they link to more detailed textual information and exercises.

In addition, the My Money page also includes:

  • All interactive exercises from the course, plus several additional exercises.
  • A financial journal for short and long-term financial goals.
  • All course fact sheets and downloads.
  • A course progress graphical monitor.
  • Links to supplemental financial education content.

To use personalized resources such as the financial goals exercise and course notes/bookmarks, you will need to create your own course.


Course Completion Certificate
Students who complete the course can print a confirmation certificate which includes a secure, unique code. The completion certificate also includes each student's combined midterm and final exam grade. Please note that students may retake individual questions to raise their score.


Administrative Tools
School administrators whose CFNC accounts are associated with a secondary or post-secondary institution in North Carolina have the ability to view and export data on student participation - a great way to quantify your financial education outreach efforts. "Master" course administrators may also customize content for all four versions of Advanced Money Management.

An administrative guide is available for course administrators.


Recommended Lesson Plans
In addition to our course, we also recommend the lesson plans of the Council for Economic Education. For more information, please visit their web site at http://www.councilforeconed.org. The direct link to their free lesson plans is http://www.councilforeconed.org/resources/lessons.php.