ernment Management, the Federal Workforce, and 
the District of Columbia, of the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
Senate that ‘‘In 2006, we reported that the [Finan-
cial Literacy and Education] Commission’s National 
Strategy for Financial Literacy was a useful first 
step in focusing attention on financial literacy but 
largely was descriptive rather than strategic. . . . 
However, to date the Commission has not incor-
porated the other elements we recommended. . . . 
For the most part, these revisions have consisted of 
newly developed ‘calls to action’ and have not rep-
resented a fundamental shift in approach that incor-
porates specific recommendations on roles, funding, 
and activities.’’. 
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO FUND THE ESTABLISHMENT 
OF CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE IN FINANCIAL 
LITERACY EDUCATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury, 
acting through the Assistant Secretary for Financial Insti-
tutions and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial 
Education and in consultation with the Secretary of Edu-
cation and the Financial Literacy and Education Commis-
sion established under the Financial Literacy and Edu-
cation Improvement Act, may make competitive grants to 
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and enter into contracts with eligible institutions to estab-
lish centers of excellence to support research, development 
and planning, implementation, and evaluation of effective 
programs in financial literacy education for young adults 
and families ages 15–24 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 adults ages 15–24 which can be in-
corporated into educational settings through existing 
academic content areas. 
(2) Targeting programs based on a set of edu-
cational expectations, pre- and post-education as-
sessment tools, effective training programs for edu-
cators, and materials that appropriately serve var-
ious segments of young adult and family popu-
lations, particularly minority and disadvantaged in-
dividuals. 
(3) Aligning financial literacy education pro-
grams to a set of core competencies and concepts, 
including goal setting; planning; budgeting; man-
aging money or transactions; tools and structures; 
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behaviors; consequences; saving, both long- and 
short-term; managing debt and earning. 
(4) Designing instructional materials using evi-
dence-based content for young families and related 
outreach activities to address unique life situations 
and financial pitfalls such as bankruptcy, fore-
closure, credit card misuse, and predatory lending. 
(5) Developing and supporting the delivery of 
professional development programs in financial lit-
eracy education that are research-based, on-going 
and collaborative to assure competence and account-
ability in the delivery system, including recognition 
of achievement and competence within existing sys-
tems for educators and instructors. 
(6) Improving access to financial literacy edu-
cation programs for young adults and families by 
collaborating with financial institutions to dissemi-
nate information and awareness of the importance of 
financial literacy education. 
(7) 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 in 
partnership with non-profit associations. 
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(8) Conducting on-going research and evalua-
tion to assure learning of defined skills and knowl-
edge, and retention of learning. 
(9) Developing research-based assessment and 
accountability of the appropriate applications of 
learning over short and long terms. 
(c) PRIORITY
FOR CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.—The 
Secretary shall give a priority to applications that— 
(1) provide clear definitions of financial literacy 
and financially literate to clarify educational out-
comes; 
(2) establish parameters for identifying the 
types of programs that most effectively reach young 
adults and families in unique life situations, specifi-
cally individuals in ages 15–24 years old; 
(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. 
(d) APPLICATION AND EVALUATION STANDARDS AND 
PROCEDURES, DISTRIBUTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary 
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shall, by regulation and order, establish application and 
evaluation standards and procedures, distribution criteria, 
and such other forms, standards, definitions, and proce-
dures as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 
(e) MINIMUM
AND MAXIMUM AMOUNT
OF ANY 
GRANT.—No grant under this section may be for an 
amount less than $2,000,000 or more than $5,000,000. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act the fol-
lowing definitions shall apply: 
(1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘eligi-
ble institution’’ means any partnership consisting of 
an institution of higher education and any of the fol-
lowing which meets such requirements for eligibility 
as the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary 
of Education may jointly prescribe by regulation: 
(A) One or more local educational agen-
cies. 
(B) A nonprofit agency, organization, or 
association. 
(C) A community-based organization. 
(D) A financial institution. 
(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 101 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 
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(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Treasury, unless the context 
specifically refers to the Secretary of Education. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary $55,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 
2014 for carrying out this Act. 
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 
In addition to regulations prescribed under section 
3(d), the Secretary may prescribe such regulations as may 
be necessary to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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