iGrad has partnered with South Texas College (STC) in McAllen, Tex. to provide a customized, interactive online and mobile financial wellness platform to first-generation Hispanic students.
STC, a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and Minority Serving Institution (MSI) with five campuses and approximately 30,000 students, received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education under the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (DHSI) Program. STC has a student body that is about 94 percent Hispanic and 70 percent of its students are the first in their family to attend college.
STC Director of Career & Employer Services Celinda E. Salinas said that the primary goals of implementing iGrad are increasing student financial literacy and reducing debt.
“We value iGrad as a top-ranking and user-friendly tool to facilitate student financial wellness,” she said. “iGrad will guide them toward becoming fiscally responsible, which will alleviate stress and anxiety, reduce the dropout rate and increase the graduation rate.”
Research shows that financial literacy programs can decrease financial stress, improve academic performance and teach students how to manage their finances for a lifetime.
“College students are facing more financial challenges than ever before,” said iGrad Vice President of Business Development Donna Miller. “Students of color are especially impacted. We are thrilled to be a part of South Texas College’s commitment to student financial wellness.”
iGrad’s platform at STC includes comprehensive customized and interactive information on everything from building and maintaining good credit, budgeting and money management to student loan/debt management and loan calculators.
iGrad is currently used by more than 600 public and private colleges and universities of all sizes, including Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, University of the Incarnate Word (San Antonio), Arizona State University and Florida International University.
Based on artificial intelligence and proprietary algorithms, iGrad personalizes financial information for each student’s situation and needs. It also offers tools, quizzes, videos, articles and a library of multimedia content. Included in the iGrad platform is a student loan tracking tool which aggregates student loan balances and estimates monthly payments, helping to prepare students for these payments after graduation. It adapts to each user’s specific circumstances, even providing interactive educational content on retirement and mortgages to those who need it.
About iGrad
iGrad is a San Diego-based financial technology company that offers artificial intelligence-powered financial wellness solutions to more than 600 colleges and universities, more than 20,000 employers and more than 300 financial institutions. iGrad’s Your Money Personality™ was recently recognized by the Institute for Financial Literacy with the 2020 Excellence in Financial Literacy Education (EIFLE) Adults’ Education Program of the Year award. iGrad is one of three 2020 honorees in the inaugural Barron’s Celebrates: Financial Empowerment, after being selected by a team of judges for its contributions to improving the financial health and security of Americans. iGrad also received the 2019 Eddy Award for Financial Wellness by Pensions & Investments for its Enrich platform. For more information about the iGrad platform, visit https://www.igradfinancialwellness.com. For more information about the Enrich platform for employers and financial institutions, visit http://www.enrich.org.
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