Campus Connection

A La Crosse organization and a UW-La Crosse program teamed up this spring to help students financially plan for college. UW-L’s financial literacy program, It Make$ Cents!, worked with the community organization, La Crosse Promise Future Centers, to offer two workshops with the goal of providing students and their parents valuable information focused on making college affordable. La Crosse Promise Future Centers is a La Crosse organization dedicated to connecting students and parents with resources to pursue post secondary education. It Make$ Cents! is a financial literacy program at UW-L, which was recently awarded the 2012 Wisconsin Financial Literacy Award. About 30 parents and students from four high schools attended the first workshop in April, "Paying For College: Covering Tuition Costs.” The presenters discussed the importance of scholarships and grants and emphasized these forms of aid are free money. They also mentioned federal work-study or obtaining employment while in college as great ways to earn money to put toward tuition and fees. Finally, the presenters discussed FAFSA, various types of loans and award letters. At the second workshop, "Money Matters: Budgeting For Your Future," May 1, student mentors from the It Make$ Cents program talked about how to create a budget and stick to it. They introduced websites, including Mint.com, which is a budgeting website, and NSLDS.ed.gov, which is a central database for student loans. After the presentations, financial aid counselors and La Crosse Promise Future Centers advisers were available to field questions.