By Hector Gonzalez
Special to The Lookout

March 14, 2016 -- Santa Monica College has held its first financial literacy music concert, the latest effort of an ongoing SMC initiative launched by faculty members who grew concerned after learning that most of their student had no idea how to budget or save, a spokesperson said.

Goodling, a rock band dubbed by the Wall Street Journal as “the coolest financial advisor,” performed early this month at the college's Main Stage, an event arranged by Jenny Resnick, an accounting and personal finance teacher, said Grace Smith, spokesperson for SMC.

After listening to their students' talk about their own personal financial histories, Resnick along with Ming Lu, an associate professor of accounting, and Eleni Hioureas, vice president of SMC's English department, all wanted to understand why so many young people lacked the basic knowledge of how to manage their money.

Lu used a grant he received from the SMC Foundation to launch an initiative to integrate financial literacy into SMC's basic academic classes, partnering with Hioureas and Queyen Phung, a math professor.

Three semester into the project, SMC's English department's curriculum is now designed around financial literary, with course work aimed at getting students to think about their short- and long-term financial goals, said Smith.

Nationally, the debt on student loans amounts to $1.2 trillion. While 17 percent of students are behind in payments on in default on their loans, Lu and Hioureas that most of their students dressed in expensive clothing and footwear and carried the latest electronic gadgets.

Many students even spend their $5,000 federal Pell Grant money, meant for school and living expenses, on unnecessary luxury items.

Since 2013, California high school students are required to take a financial literacy course, and the California Community College Chancellor's Office in 2014 launched a financial literary campaign consisting of free online courses open to all community college students, said Smith

Resnick, inspired by these initiatives, contacted SMC's campus support groups and programs such as Black Collegians, the Veterans Resource Center and the Adelante Program, organizing workshops for students who might not ordinarily take her personal finance classes.

At the workshops, Resnick asks students to complete simple exercises calculating their savings over time. For example, by cutting back $16 a day on coffee or cigarettes, students could accumulate $1 million over 50 in compound interest, if properly invested, said Smith.

On March 3, Goodling performed to a full house at the SMC concert venue. Lead singer Goodling then used personal anecdotes and real-world examples to explain how students can manage their money to create long-term wealth.

Lu, meanwhile, has posted free financial literacy materials developed in collaboration with SMC math and English professors at www.smc.edu/businessCOE.

For more information, email resnick_jenny@smc.edu, or call 310-434-4895.