I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 300 
To establish a grant program in the Department of the Treasury to fund 
the establishment of centers of excellence to support research, develop-
ment and planning, implementation, and evaluation of effective programs 
in financial literacy education for young adults and families ages 15– 
24 years old, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 18, 2011 
Mr. CARSON of Indiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish a grant program in the Department of the 
Treasury to fund the establishment of centers of excel-
lence 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, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Young Adults Finan-
cial Literacy Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress find as follows: 
(1) Eighty percent of parents believe schools 
are teaching money management and budgeting, 
while over 70 percent of teachers are not teaching 
financial literacy. 
(2) Most adults feel that their financial literacy 
skills are inadequate, yet they do not rely on anyone 
else to handle their finances; they feel it is impor-
tant to know more but have received no financial 
education. 
(3) It is necessary to respond immediately to 
the pressing needs of individuals faced with the loss 
of their financial stability, however increased atten-
tion must also be paid to financial literacy education 
reform and long-term solutions to prevent future 
personal financial disasters. 
(4) There is an urgent need to respond to the 
economic crisis with research-based financial literacy 
education programs to reach individuals at all ages 
and socioeconomic levels, particularly those facing 
unique and challenging financial situations, such as 
high school graduates entering the workforce, soon- 
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to-be and recent college graduates, young families, 
and the unique needs of military personnel and their 
families. 
(5) More than 70 percent of parents say they 
have spoken with their teens about credit and using 
credit cards wisely, while less than 44 percent of the 
teenaged children of those respondents say their par-
ents have talked to them about credit cards. 
(6) Seventy-six percent of parents surveyed said 
their high school student does not have a budget. 
(7) The average credit card debt among grad-
uate students who carry cards is $7,831 per student, 
an increase of 59 percent over 1998’s average debt 
of $4,925. 
(8) Young adults between 20 and 24 represent 
the fastest growing segment of bankruptcy filings; in 
fact, more people filed for bankruptcy in 2004 than 
graduated from college. 
(9) Credit card debt among young adults be-
tween the ages of 25 and 34 has increased 55 per-
cent, while credit card debt among the youngest 
adults, between 18 and 24, has skyrocketed 104 per-
cent since 1982. 
(10) In April of 2009, the Comptroller General 
testified to the Subcommittee on Oversight of Gov-
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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 2012 through 
2016 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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