Do the financial behaviours of college students vary by their state's financial education policies?

Abstract

This study assesses the effectiveness of state mandates regarding high school financial education in the United States. Data (N = 12,967) were collected from current college students aged 18 and over via a web survey from 15 college campuses from various regions across the United States. A stratified random sampling method was employed. Overall, this study shows that the financial behaviours of college students vary by high school state mandates on financial education, even when controlling for students' characteristics, financial knowledge, financial socialisation and financial dispositions. In the current study, a policy of "course required" was associated with financial behaviours in terms of regular saving, not "maxing out," and paying off credit card balances fully each month.