Jackson Volenec — Reporter
Student Financial Literacy and Advising coordinator Lewis DeLuca held an open lecture in the Adanti Student Center on Thurs., Oct. 4 in order to educate students about how important it is to start managing finances early.
DeLuca’s goal is to prevent students from finding themselves in a financial crisis when they are trying to pay for their education, and provided several tips on how to make tuition more manageable.
“What usually happens is, a student will come to me already in financial crisis looking for help. Rarely will a student be proactive and come to me with a plan already in their head of what they’re going to do,” said DeLuca.
This is part of an ongoing campaign that Deluca said he has assigned himself to make sure that students are aware of how to make beneficial financial choices early on, so it will be easier to retire later. He discussed the importance of building a 401k as early as possible, as well as always keeping one’s credit score high.
DeLuca said it was important for students to apply for scholarships, pay student loans as early as possible, and strategize to use when trying to deal with loan interest.
All students, deLuca said should pay thier loans as early as possible to prevent larger payments later in life.
“I wish people were a lot more proactive, but I’m not naïve,” said DeLuca. “A lot of college students aren’t thinking about retirement, their future, their credit, things like that.”
DeLuca said schoolwork, jobs, family obligations and other facets of life usually take precedence over something that seems so distant in students’ futures.
“I don’t really think about my financial future that much, but I know it’s important that I should,” said English major Patrick Kearney, a sophomore.
DeLuca said he has been going to INQ classes giving freshmen the same presentation that he gave on Oct. 3.
“I invite myself to most INQ classes,” said DeLuca, “and I probably have between 30 or 40 of them that I visit. When I get there, I do these [lectures].”
DeLuca said going to the students’ classes was the most efficient way of reaching the widest number of people possible, as not many students are choosing to come to these lectures.
“This presentation is really important – doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman, sophomore, whatever,” said DeLuca. “This is important information that will help you later in life.”
DeLuca also said it was important to take advantage of available university student discounts. Applications and services such as the U-Pass, Spotify, and UNiDAYS were all options mentioned in his presentation.
“I pretty much use as many discounts as I can,” said Kearney. “I’ve been using the Spotify discount since last year, when I first came here.”
DeLuca said part of the reason why so many students find themselves in financial crisis is the lack of proper finance education throughout high school.
“Schools usually say that it’s the parents who need to teach their kids. Parents say that it’s the schools that need to teach the kids,” said DeLuca.
“What’s happening is no one is teaching them, but that’s okay; that’s what I’m here for.” “Students can create an appointment with me anytime they need to.”
