The Student Financial Services Office has many tools available for students to manage their debt.——

-Gabrielle Self, supervisor of the Student Financial Services Office, said the Debt Management Program educates students on the financial literacy of borrowing, budgeting and spending.——

-“It is the university?s responsibility not only to educate (students) academically, but also on various life issues and financial literacy is one of them,” Self said.——

-The Debt Management Program, which is offered through the Student Financial Services Office, was initiated in Aug. 2001.”In today?s world, the average student debt is about $15,000 to $20,000 when they leave a four-year college,” Self said.——

-Aware of the level of debt students can get into, Self and the office?s financial advisors developed the program to spread the word of debt management and prevention.——

-The number of workshops, its content and where the workshop is held vary depending upon each group?s or individual?s needs, Elena Larson, a financial advisor for the Student Financial Services Office, said.——

-Each workshop has a general presentation on budgeting and borrowing, with tips ranging from wise spending to the consequences of credit card and loan default.——

-A workshop can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.”We have done them in a half hour,” Larson said. “Hours are probably a little bit better because we can have more interaction.”From the workshop, a student receives a folder containing additional materials such as a budget sheet, a credit card brochure on credit issues and numbers in order to contact the Student Financial Services Office.——

-They try to keep the program fun with the object of keeping students interested, said Self. ——

-“Elena came up with the title for our last orientation workshops called SCREAM 4: The Empty Wallet and that generated a lot of interest,” Self said. “Students wanted to know what it was all about.”——

-Interest with the Debt Management Program is growing. The 11 workshops held in June had a total attendance of 527 students. ——

-Sacramento State graduate Grant Anderson said he attended the program at the end of the Spring 2002 semester with his fraternity.”I think it was beneficial especially for freshmen or anyone without money going through situations,” Anderson said. “They explained the differences between subsidized loans and unsubsidized loans, and how loans work,” he said.——

-Anderson said he would recommend the Debt Management Program to anyone because it emphasizes credit card debt and ways to save money.——

-For more information on the Debt Management Program or to make an appointment visit the Student Financial Services Office in Lassen Hall room 1003 or call (916) 278-6190.