MSU and Michigan Credit Union League, or MCUL, are teaming up this fall to train educators to teach prospective college students saving, credit and money managing.

Like Gipson, many students learn spending and saving habits from their parents, MCUL spokeswoman Mary Davis said.

“We know what happens when students go to college – they get on campus, apply for credit and end up graduating with this huge personal burden,” Davis said.

With free training sessions across the state, the program targets 11th- and 12th-grade teachers who can apply what they learn to teach students in the classroom.

Gipson has student loans and lives off the money he makes at his campus job, he said. He also earns a stipend from a program that encourages minority, low-income and first-generation college students to pursue graduate school.

“People from different backgrounds than me may not know how to spend money well because they were catered to by their parents,” he said. “I learned how to manage my money because I would want something and my mom would say ‘I’m not paying for that.’”

MSU and MCUL’s program will utilize a revamped, seven-unit curriculum from the National Endowment for Financial Education. The curriculum includes check writing, identity theft and updates on the units: financial planning, credit, money safety, budgeting, insurance, investing and career planning.

Updates to the curriculum have made the program’s information more meaningful and available to students, said Erica Tobe, MSU extensions program leader.

Information from the program is available on the Internet.

“Just because it says ‘high school’ doesn’t mean it’s restrictive – college students can benefit from this as well,” Tobe said.

Tobe served on the national revision team that updated the curriculum. She said the changes will improve the program for teachers.

More high school seniors are graduating with a very poor knowledge in personal finance, Davis said.

Michigan high school seniors performed poorly, she said, on a 30-question, multiple-choice survey – averaging 49 percent.

The Michigan Jumpstart Coalition, a group advocating financial skills for youth, conducted the survey. It found that Michigan students also did slightly worse than the national average.

The survey omitted high school students who don’t plan on pursuing education after high school. According to the group, that omission may have led the study to understate students’ lack in financial skills.

Gipson said he manages his money well – the last time he spent a lot of money was during the Christmas season. Students who don’t spend as wisely may benefit from the new program, he said.

“It might help students with lowering the amounts they have to take out with loans,” he said. “I think you can always manage your spending better.”