
Alexandra Zidel
First Generation College Students & Financial Literacy: The Impact of Social Connections
Authors
Alexandra Zidel
Mentor
Dr. Larry Forthun
College
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Abstract
Social connection and relational ties are considered to be essential avenues of information transfer and knowledge building. Through face-to-face interaction much information is spread through social networks. This theory is anticipated to hold true for all types of information, predicting that the likelihood of knowledge on any topic is greater with increased social connectedness. We explored the significance of social ties for first generation college students in regard to how much financial literacy knowledge they had, as determined by their scores on a financial literacy quiz. Through various independent sample t- tests with many different social connectedness variables, we found that only parents and university-sponsored Financial Literacy Program had statistically significant impacts on the level of an individual’s financial literacy. We found that those that consulted their parents as a resource were significantly more likely to score higher in comparison to those who did not. Similarly, those who participated in the financial literacy program scored higher.
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