Behavioral economics and its concept of nudges are rapidly influencing the design of community-based financial education programs. This article addresses why nudges can be useful tools for effective financial education, explains the different types of nudges introduced by behavioral economics research, presents evidence of their effectiveness from…

A nonprofit community development financial institution and Extension collaborated to conduct a demonstration project to evaluate efficacy of Grameen peer-group microfinance methodology in addressing barriers faced by low-income women entrepreneurs in a small metro area. Program performance metrics achieved by 284 culturally diverse, low-income…

University of Idaho Extension educators have developed a library of 10 game-based personal finance programs, collectively known as the Northwest Youth Financial Education project, and have made these programs freely available for Extension educators to use. The purpose of this article is to share highlights from an associated train-the-trainer…

We investigated the effectiveness of an Extension-led training for human services providers on Your Money, Your Goals: A Financial Empowerment Toolkit, a resource developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Results from pretests, posttests, and focus group research indicate that participants significantly increased confidence in their…

Farm succession and estate planning pose difficult challenges for farmers. Idaho farmers generally do not have a business succession plan or an estate plan. Due to the complexities of farm management, University of Idaho Extension personnel partnered with the Idaho Barley Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency to…

Using a stratified random sample and real-time virtual focus group sessions, we evaluated the regional administrative model, addressing personnel supervision, program direction, financial management, and administrative leadership. We concluded that the regional administrative model remains a highly charged topic, there is no common understanding…

Program evaluation often suffers due to time constraints, imperfect instruments, incomplete data, and the need to report standardized metrics. This article about the evaluation process for the Wi$eUp financial education program showcases the difficulties inherent in evaluation and suggests best practices for assessing program effectiveness. We…

Using webinar delivery for Extension financial education programs allows educators to reach a broader range of clientele. It can, however, be difficult to gauge participants' learning of concepts in an online environment. Evaluations of two webinar series, one in Montana and the other in South Dakota, sought to determine the effectiveness of using…

This article discusses a financial training program used by Deere and Company for almost 10 years. The objective is to describe the program and to discuss a pre-test/post-test methodology to test the effectiveness of a program for possible duplication by Extension. Results show that participants significantly improved from the pre-test to the…

This article describes the development and evaluation of an online health and personal finance behavior change challenge that can be adapted for other Extension subject matter areas. The Small Steps to Health and Wealth™ Challenge is a behaviorally focused activity in which registered users self-report health and financial behaviors and receive…

Dollar Works 2 is a comprehensive personal financial education program to help individuals and families strengthen their skills, better manage their personal finances, and make sound decisions about money. This article chronicles the evolution of a curriculum to enhance and modify materials to improve learning and meet the needs of multiple…

The long-term impact of a Latino financial literacy program was evaluated with a sample of relatively recent immigrant populations in southern Minnesota. Telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants 6 months post program completion. Results indicate that improvements in knowledge and skills were retained and that these…

This article describes the community organizing role of an Extension educator and a research faculty to enable young children in a resource-limited community to start savings accounts and to save regularly through a school-based savings effort. The study explored whether children from low-income communities are capable of saving money regularly…

The Farm Financial Analysis Training (FFAT) course covers fundamental skills and concepts in liquidity, profitability, solvency, and efficiency. The research reported here identifies and measures the impacts of FFAT on participants including: 1) perceived gains in knowledge, 2) changes in management behavior, 3) changes in specific farm assets and…

Based on Oklahoma's experience with a money management program, three principles of successful program for limited-resource families are understanding the audience, expanding education through volunteers, and networking with community agencies. (SK)