Rowdy Cents was launched on May 1, 2009 to raise the financial literacy awareness of UTSA students.

These financial statistics and insights propelled us forward with launching and maintaining an online financial literacy awareness program. [Most of the links on this web page will take the viewer off site.]

$19,237 in student loan debt was the average amount incurred by the 2007 graduating UTSA seniors. This was a 14% increase over the average in 2006. (Project on Student Debt)

Two-thirds of all financial aid awarded in the 07-08 academic year to UTSA students was in loans. (As reported by the Office of Financial Aid and Enrollment Services)

Fifth-year seniors graduating from UTSA in 2009 reported delaying their graduation due to working too many hours. (As reported by the Graduation Initiative Office)

$4000, a 44% increase since 2004, is the average amount of credit card debt that college seniors have upon graduation. A recent poll of college students reveals that the average undergraduate has just over $3000 in credit debt and the debt increases with years in college.

Young adults 18-25 is the fastest growing group filing bankruptcies as of the 2009 launch of Rowdy Cents web site.

Has the college financial landscape changed any? Debt is on the rise, as are tuition and fees across the nation. This and other factors still confirm the need for financial literacy awareness.

64% of UTSA seniors graduated in 2009 with student loan debt, a decrease of 5% over the 2008 class. The average student loan debt of this graduating class was $23,152, an increase of 11% over 2008 ($20, 815) and 20% over 2007 ($19,237).

The Project on Student Debt reports that the 2010 college seniors across the USA graduated with an average of $25,250 in student loan debt, a 6.25% increase over the 2009 class. In Texas, 56% of the graduating 2010 seniors of public, 4-year institutions averaged $20,919 in student loan debt, a 10% increase over 2009 class.

(Data sources from Project on Student Debt and CollegeInSight.)

2010 graduates who were fifth and sixth-year seniors reported to the Graduation Initiative Office that working too many hours and financial difficulties with affording tuition and fees delayed their progress to a more-timely graduation. This remains consistent with 2009 and 2008 graduates surveyed by the GI Office.

A 2010 survey report conducted by Gallup, How America Pays for College, revealed that credit cards remain as one of the funding sources for college. There was a 1% increase in the number of families (parent) utilizing credit cards for education expenses in 2010 over 2009. whereas the percentage of students utilizing credit cards for paying remained the same as in 2009.

The findings of a survey by US PIRG Foundation confirms that students are using credit cards and are incurring late payment fees, high balances and delinquencies. Source: The Campus Credit Card Trap Report

Financing higher education is on the minds of freshmen as reported by the Higher Education Research Institute's (HERI) "College Application Numbers Rise: Financial Concerns Influence College Choice".

---

We welcome student, faculty, and staff input to the site. Please use the email envelope on the left side bar to send suggestions and comments or contact the Graduation Initiative office at 210-458-4687.

Rowdy Cents focuses on increasing students’ personal finance literacy awareness so they will be better money and time managers. The site offers relevant information about personal finance basics, time management strategies, and the concept that "time is money" when considering the costs associated with the length of time to earn a degree.

This site is a project of the UTSA Graduation Initiative. The site was designed by a talented UTSA student. It was developed by a Graduation Initiative Senior Retention & Graduation Analyst, who is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor through a division of The Institute for Financial Literacy. Along with her 20-year career in higher education, the analyst has nine years in a banking career. 

Neither the site nor its representatives offer investment and insurance advice. Additionally, the web links referenced throughout the site are for student/user convenience and neither constitute an approval of nor an endorsement by UTSA and its representatives.  

Some data updated 2/10/2012 and 4/24/2012