Curriculum
A variety of grade-level curriculum is presented during academy sessions throughout the year.
Subjects include: budgeting, saving, investing, college funding, entrepreneurship, and financial goal setting. Students learn basic fundamentals of financial principles through hands-on activities and digital engagement.

Professional Engagement
Students are exposed to a variety of financial professionals, from small business owners to investment portfolio managers. They discuss education and career pathways as well as benefits of planning for their futures. Students are presented with practical strategies on building wealth and achieving financial goals.

Life Application
Students in the 10th and 11th grade participate in annual trips to New York and Washington, D.C. to apply what they have learned in the academy sessions and gain exposure into the world of finance. The week-long trips, dubbed the “Follow the Money Tours”, include workshops, panel discussions, behind the scenes tours, government office visits, college campus tours and much more. Previous trips included visits to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, Goldman Sachs banking headquarters, the U.S. Capitol, the New York Stock
Exchange, Ellevest and Compass Realty headquarters, Howard University and The New School campus.

Workshops
In addition, UNL has also created the Money Spark Day series used to engage students around the country. It is presented by UNL college level students who are pursuing degrees in finance. During the 1-day event, students rotate through each hands-on workshop learning basic financial fundamentals including: Budgeting for Real Life, College Funding, How to Use Credit, and Ways to Save. This program allows students outside our current service areas to gain the skills needed to build strong financial futures.

Parent Resources
UNL offers several opportunities for parents in our communities to attend a variety of workshops focused on breaking the cycle of poverty and creating college funding plans.