New Online Resource Offers Relevant Information

Unity College Educating Students on Personal Finance With Help from the National Endowment for Financial Education

Greenwood Village, Colorado / Unity, Maine – August, 2008 — Students at Unity College are getting a leg up on a strong financial future. The environmental college in Unity, Maine, is working with CashCourse, an online resource from the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®), helping Unity students to be proactive when it comes to their financial education.

Unity College was among the first to offer CashCourse, an unbiased and noncommercial financial education solution for students. Since the CashCourse pilot launch in fall 2007, 146 schools across the country have signed up to use CashCourse.

With the new academic year now underway at Unity College, new and returning students will face immediate challenges and choices concerning their finances.

Living away from the guidance of their parents during college is often a time when many students make unwise financial decisions due to lack of knowledge. They are confronted with easy access to credit cards, and spending decisions that go far beyond tuition, housing and food, including items such as spring break travel, and a variety of temptations. Students also need financial tools for their transition to adulthood, including saving, investing, taxes and evaluating the financial aspects of job offers. Increasing concern over this issue has lead to the joint effort between NEFE, Unity College and other institutions of higher learning to fill in the missing gaps of financial knowledge that many college students have.

“CashCourse offers a reliable resource to help young adults develop financial know-how,” said Ted Beck, president and CEO of the Colorado-based National Endowment for Financial Education. “Through attention to the needs of today’s college students, this program will help young adults gain the financial savvy necessary for the real world.”

CashCourse offers unbiased content with no advertising and no connections to commercial entities. Unity College students access the site from the college’s financial aid website.

“Providing 24/7 access to financial assistance will be an indispensable tool,” said Dean for Enrollment Management Alisa Gray. “Cash course has great potential to effect positive change in how our students think about and manage their finances.”

“Based on our research, there are no other free, unaffiliated sites as comprehensive as ours,” explained Amy Bleakney Hartenstine, project manager for CashCourse. “It’s one of a kind.”

For more information on CashCourse, visit www.cashcourse.org. NEFE is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to helping all Americans acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to take control of their financial destiny.

To learn more about NEFE, visit www.nefe.org.

Unity College is a small private college in rural Maine that provides dedicated, engaged students with a liberal arts education which emphasizes the environment and natural resources. Unity College graduates are prepared to be environmental stewards, effective leaders, and responsible citizens through active learning experiences within a supportive community.