Financial Education is at the core of the Texas Credit Union Foundation's mission, "Empowering people to improve their financial well being."

Enabling young people and adults to manage their resources and plan for a secure financial future is the driver behind this mission.  Basic personal financial understanding and skill literally improves lives!

The Texas Credit Union Foundation has developed several programs and partnerships to implement our mission.

NEFE High School Financial Planning Program

The National Endowment for Financial Education's High School Financial Planning Program is a free comprehensive high school level financial education curriculum.  This curriculum has been approved by the Texas Education Agency for use in Texas high schools to meet mandated financial education requirements.

TCUF provides free "train the trainer" workshops to credit union staff, community volunteers, teachers and parents.  These workshops give hands-on guidance for implementing this curriculum in a classroom or community program.  Annual donations to the Foundation provide the funding for this program.

Financial Education Grants and Sponsorships

The Texas Credit Union Foundation provides grants and scholarships for programs that promote or implement financial education in schools, community based organizations, and through credit unions.  These include Texas Council on Economic Education, Newspapers in Education, Junior Achievement programs, Family Career and Community Leaders of America, RAISE Texas, BizKid$, CCCS of Greater Dallas, and Texas Jump$tart Coalition.

Texas Jump$tart Coalition

As part of its commitment to leading the financial education movement in Texas, TCUF has partnered with the Texas Jump$tart Coalition and occupies a seat on the board of directors.  The Texas Jump$tart Coalition's advocacy efforts resulted in the passage of landmark legislation that requires financial education for Texas high school students.  Texas Jump$tart also offers a comprehensive clearinghouse of financial education material and information on its website.  Texas is one of only 18 states that requires financial education in the schools.  Texas credit unions have partnered with TCUF and Jump$tart to make these efforts successful.

Awards

The Texas Credit Union Foundation created the FOCUS Awards to honor the credit union, chapter, Foundation FOCUS Network member, individual, and organization who best exemplify the credit union philosophy of "people helping people" through financial education.