teenaged children of those respondents say their par-
ents have talked to them about credit cards. 
(11) Seventy-six percent of parents surveyed 
said their high school student does not have a budg-
et. 
(12) Seventy-five percent of 16 to 18-year-olds 
say learning more about budgeting and money man-
agement is one of their top priorities. Researchers 
document a ‘‘snowball effect’’ that such early efforts 
exponentially increase the likelihood that students 
will pursue more financial education as time goes on. 
(13) High school and college students who are 
exposed to cumulative financial education show an 
increase in financial knowledge, which in turn drives 
increasingly responsible behavior as they become 
young adults. 
(14) Sixty percent of parents identify their 
teens as ‘‘quick spenders’’, and most acknowledge 
they could do a better job of teaching and preparing 
kids for the financial challenges of adulthood, includ-
ing budgeting, saving, and investing. 
(15) Ninety-three percent of teens surveyed in 
a 2012 report say they are not involved in paying 
household bills or managing the household budget. 
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Forty-six percent admit to not knowing how to cre-
ate a budget. 
(16) The majority (52 percent) of young adults 
between the ages of 23–28 consider ‘‘making better 
choices about managing money’’ the single most im-
portant issue for individual Americans to act on 
today. 
(17) According to the Government Account-
ability Office, giving Americans the information they 
need to make effective financial decisions can be key 
to their well-being and to the country’s economic 
health. The recent financial crisis, when many bor-
rowers failed to fully understand the risks associated 
with certain financial products, underscored the need 
to improve individuals’ financial literacy and em-
power all Americans to make informed financial de-
cisions. This is especially true for young people as 
they are earning their first paychecks, securing stu-
dent aid, and establishing their financial independ-
ence. Therefore, focusing economic education and fi-
nancial literacy efforts and best practices for young 
people between the ages of 8–24 is of utmost impor-
tance. 
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SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR FUNDING THE ESTABLISH-
MENT OF CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN FI-
NANCIAL LITERACY EDUCATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of 
Consumer Financial Protection, in consultation with the 
Financial Literacy and Education Commission established 
under the Financial Literacy and Education Improvement 
Act, may make competitive grants to and enter into agree-
ments with eligible institutions to establish centers of ex-
cellence to support research, development and planning, 
implementation, and evaluation of effective programs in 
financial literacy education for young people and families 
ages 8 through 24 years old. 
(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Activities authorized 
to be funded by grants made under subsection (a) shall 
include the following: 
(1) Developing and implementing comprehen-
sive research based financial literacy education pro-
grams for young people— 
(A) based on a set of core competencies 
and concepts established by the Director, in-
cluding goal setting, planning, budgeting, man-
aging money or transactions, tools and struc-
tures, behaviors, consequences, both long- and 
short-term savings, managing debt and earn-
ings; and 
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(B) which can be incorporated into edu-
cational settings through existing academic con-
tent areas, including materials that appro-
priately serve various segments of at-risk popu-
lations, particularly minority and disadvantaged 
individuals. 
(2) Designing instructional materials using evi-
dence-based content for young families and con-
ducting related outreach activities to address unique 
life situations and financial pitfalls, including bank-
ruptcy, foreclosure, credit card misuse, and preda-
tory lending. 
(3) Developing and supporting the delivery of 
professional development programs in financial lit-
eracy education to assure competence and account-
ability in the delivery system. 
(4) Improving access to, and dissemination of, 
financial literacy information for young people and 
families. 
(5) Reducing student loan default rates by de-
veloping programs to help individuals better under-
stand how to manage educational debt through sus-
tained educational programs for college students. 
(6) Conducting ongoing research and evaluation 
of financial literacy education programs to assure 
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learning of defined skills and knowledge, and reten-
tion of learning. 
(7) Developing research-based assessment and 
accountability of the appropriate applications of 
learning over short and long terms to measure effec-
tiveness of authorized activities. 
(c) PRIORITY
FOR CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.—The 
Director shall give a priority to applications that— 
(1) provide clear definitions of ‘‘financial lit-
eracy’’ and ‘‘financially literate’’ to clarify edu-
cational outcomes; 
(2) establish parameters for identifying the 
types of programs that most effectively reach young 
people and families in unique life situations and fi-
nancial pitfalls, including bankruptcy, foreclosure, 
credit card misuse, and predatory lending; 
(3) include content that is appropriate to age 
and socioeconomic levels; 
(4) develop programs based on educational 
standards, definitions, and research; 
(5) include individual goals of financial inde-
pendence and stability; and 
(6) establish professional development and de-
livery systems using evidence-based practices. 
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