More than half of Gen Z kids want to become online influencers, according to a recent Morning Consult poll, and for Financial Literacy Month in April, Intuit wants to make sure they know how to budget, save, and manage the money they earn from all those TikTok brand deals one day.
Intuit is hoping to empower the first generation of financially savvy students with Intuit for Education, a free program for students and educators launched this month.
A survey of 2,000 high school students commissioned by the financial technology platform found that 85% want to learn about financial topics in school. Among those who do learn about finances in school, 95% found it helpful. However, few students receive financial education in school.
To bridge that gap, Intuit last week announced the Intuit Hour of Finance Challenge to encourage all schools to spend one hour on financial education during Financial Literacy Month.
Intuit for Education provides high school teachers and students with free personal and entrepreneurial finance courses. The courses include interactive lessons and simulations powered by Intuit products — TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma and Mailchimp.
With more than 150 hours of customizable curriculum, Intuit for Education offers easy-to-use resources for educators to teach essential skills like budgeting, saving, managing credit, and understanding basic finances. Teachers can also make use of free live and on-demand professional development content including webinars and podcasts.
Schools that sign up to participate in the first-ever Intuit Hour of Finance Challenge will receive plug-and-play lesson plans based on the Intuit for Education curriculum. Also included is Intuit Prosperity Quest, an interactive online game that makes learning critical financial concepts such as taxes, credit, and investment fun and relevant for students.
“Without personal finance knowledge, students struggle to make informed financial decisions, jeopardizing their long-term financial success after graduating,” Dave Zasada, vice president of Education and Corporate Responsibility at Intuit, said in a statement. “We know that financial education works. Our survey shows that 95% of students who receive financial curriculum at school find it helpful. As an organization that has been powering prosperity globally for 40 years, Intuit recognizes our unique opportunity and set a goal to help 50 million students become more financially literate, capable, and confident by 2030.”
As part of the Intuit Hour of Finance Challenge, schools can compete to win a celebration worth up to $25,000, $50,000, or $100,000, depending on the size of the school.
Schools interested in signing up for the challenge can visit intuit.com/houroffinance.
TMX contributed to this story.
