Professionals in Student Aid Take Wellness Seriously
Last week I attended and presented at the national conference of the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) in New York City. When I first heard that they were soliciting proposals for sessions on "What Works... Best Practices in Economic Education" I thought, what better place could there be to present on ASAs Wellness activities. I had my doubts last February, when I submitted the session proposal, that it would be accepted. But they did accept it and off I went to NYC.
I guess, being somewhat insulated in my financial aid world, that I did not realize there were so many educators in the US who are dedicated to teaching financial literacy. There were well over 500 in attendance, representing grades K through 12 as well as higher education. The conference was co-sponsored by the National Association of Economic Educators (NAEE) and the Global Association of Teachers of Economics (GATE).
Being a national conference, the number of concurrent sessions bewildered me as to which speakers to attend. But overall, the program left me with the impression that there is a significant body of knowledge devoted to helping kids learn basic fundamentals of finance. Our challenge is great with a recurring theme that for every five grade school children, four will never be able to manage a household budget. Three out of five will not know how to save for retirement and two out of five won't learn to balance a checkbook.
The keynote speaker, Alan Krueger, NCEE Chief Economist and the Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Princeton University, is a specialist in "behavioral economics". Many of his comments led me to believe that he would approve of our Wellness activities in attempting to get students to alter their behaviors in the repayment of their student loans.
My session went well enough. I thought that just being accepted into the program was an accomplishment for ASA, and I did not have high expectation for a large attendance when my concurrent was scheduled from 3:30 - 4:30 on a Friday afternoon in New York City!
For more information about the National Council on Economic Education visit their web site.
Best, Duane
Posted by Duane Quinn on October 23, 2006 at 04:39 PM EST
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Blog Author
Mike Ryan
Vice President of Borrower Services
Biography
Michael T. Ryan is Vice President of Borrower Services for American Student Assistance, a position he has held since joining ASA in February, 2003. Mr. Ryan heads ASA’s Borrower Services Division, which is responsible for all aspects of the management and delivery of service to borrowers in ASA’s education loan portfolio, including all default prevention and recovery efforts.
In his 20-plus year career in higher education financing, Mr. Ryan has held key management positions at the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), and Key Education Resources (formerly Knight Tuition Payment Plans). As MEFA’s Associate Director for Programs and Operations, Mr. Ryan facilitated MEFA’s entry as a Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) provider. He also played an instrumental role in the introduction of the U. Fund, (MEFA’s Section 529 College Investing Plan), managed MEFA’s U. Plan (Prepaid Tuition Program), and was responsible for the operation of MEFA’s loan programs.
While at Knight and Key, Mr. Ryan held progressively responsible management positions, from Account Manager to Senior Vice President.
Mr. Ryan is a graduate of Merrimack College.
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