Today, only half of U.S. states require financial literacy courses in high schools. Truist is helping bridge the gap with Truist Life, Money, and Choices™, a comprehensive financial education program offered free of charge in high schools, colleges, and community organizations.

The program is a scenario-based simulation designed to engage young adults in an exploration of different financial strategies and the impact of their choices.

The new program launched at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School in North Carolina in April 2024. Sharon Manning, a career development counselor in North Carolina’s Wake County Public School System, appreciates the value of this hands-on approach. “Students come in with one set of priorities—like having the nicest car—and shift to their needs,” she says. “They understand that it’s okay to splurge if you have a clear reason and know where you’re going to cut back.”

How Truist Life, Money, and Choices™ works:

• Interactive simulation stations: The program features up to 12 learning stations, each representing a critical aspect of personal finance—budgeting, saving, investing, paying for housing, choosing transportation, healthcare costs and coverage, and more. “These stations allow students to actively engage with financial concepts,” Manning says. “They’re able to see firsthand how each decision impacts their overall financial well-being.”
• Participant profiles: Each student receives a profile that includes information about their job, income, education, and family. “These profiles are realistic and relatable,” Manning says. “Students can view themselves as a police officer, bank teller, or construction worker and help connect the simulation to their real lives. The program also helps build career awareness.”
• Making financial decisions: Using their profiles, students work alongside Truist facilitators to manage expenses, pick where to live, figure out how they’ll get to and from work or other places with their transportation choices, and determine how they’ll stay healthy. Along the way, students encounter scenarios called Life Happens, in which they address unexpected expenses like cracked phone screens.
• Debrief: At the end of the experience, participants gather to debrief on key learnings and provide feedback on the simulation. The debrief is accompanied by an overview of budgeting principles they can apply to their own financial decision making. Truist facilitators will also help students connect to additional resources and tools such as Truist Money & Mindset, so they can continue building skills.

Manning cited the involvement of Truist teammate volunteers as a key component of the program’s success. “Students tend to listen to professionals from the industry,” she says. “Truist teammates bring expertise that really engages the students. The volunteers understood their assignment because they work in banking and finance every day.”

Interested in bringing the Truist Life, Money, and Choices™ program to your high school, college, or community organization?

Please contact CRAinitiatives@truist.com