Discover grant fosters financial education at Buffalo Grove High School

Discover Financial Services in Riverwoods has awarded Buffalo Grove High School a $16,430 grant to cover the cost of enhancing financial education in the high school's curriculum.

The grant is part of Discover's Pathway to Financial Success program, a five-year commitment to bring financial education curriculum into public high schools across the country. Schools receiving grants must agree to pre- and post-test students on the curriculum to measure success.

This grant will reach 300 students in Buffalo Grove High School providing technology to learn financial education and brings the total financial education investment Discover has made in Illinois to nearly $1.9 million reaching 45 schools across the state and Chicago Public Schools.

"This generous grant gives us the means to equip our Business Innovation Lab with a classroom set of laptops," said Jeff Bott, division head of Career and Technical Education. "It allows the students the opportunity to work on their financial education curriculum and simulation software in a highly productive, collaborative 'think-tank' environment. It will further provide a seamless time for instruction by eliminating the previous transition times between classroom and computer lab."

Many schools that have received Discover grants have seen a significant jump in scores on financial literacy tests.

Statistics show that a majority of Americans lack the knowledge to make good financial decisions. However, there is promising research out of the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin that indicates a direct tie between personal finance classes in high school and higher credit scores as young adults.

To learn more about the program, please visit Pathwaytofinancialsuccess.org.