Undergraduate financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors: The impact of financial life skills course on college students

It is increasingly common for universities to offer financial education or life skills courses as electives. However, less is known about the potential impacts of these courses on factors beyond financial literacy, such as financial attitudes, financial stress, or financial well-being. Our study explores these topics using a unique sample of 370 undergraduate students, half of whom opted to enroll in and complete a financial life skills course and half of whom did not. We explore various aspects of student financial life, including well-being, stress, self-efficacy, knowledge, behavior, and socialization. Evidence from our study did not suggest that a single-credit financial life skills course has much impact on financial well-being or financial stress. There were notable impacts associated with financial socialization and financial self-efficacy that reinforce some earlier explorations of financial well-being.