Financial Literacy for an Underserved Market: A Service-Learning Project for the Introductory Finance Course

Interest in service-learning as an experiential learning method has been increasing in colleges and universities, including business education. Yet, service-learning applications are relatively uncommon in the finance curriculum. Two increasingly important themes on the national level - financial literacy and ethnic diversity - may change that, however. These two themes can converge in a service- learning application for an introductory finance course - financial literacy project for English as a Second Language (ESL) students. This group represents recent immigrants and a typically underserved market. This project provides students in the introductory finance course an opportunity to learn financial education through varying methods, including individual research, peer interaction, and mentoring activities in the local community. This project also helps immigrants in the local community to learn about and actively participate in their financial education and to improve their English language and communication skills. (author)