NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Urban League of Middle Tennessee is equipping college students with essential financial management skills through their new Path to Purpose program, helping them navigate the challenges of independence.
According to WalletHub, seven in 10 college students feel overwhelmed by their financial responsibilities, reflecting the broader financial stress many Americans experience.
“When you go off to college, you’re all on your own — no parents looking over you,” said Tyler Brown, a University of Tennessee sophomore participating in the program.
The program focuses on a lot — like practical budgeting skills — including a challenge where students had to prepare meals for two days with just $20.
“We created these meals. We bought pasta, chicken, Alfredo sauce, and garlic bread and everything else. We spent $19.75 and that meal lasted us two days, even three if you meal prepped it a little better,” said Nate Morton, a sophomore at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Brown admitted that budgeting has been a challenge for him.
“I’m really bad at budgeting,” he said. “I ran over 24 cents, but you know that’s OK.”
The transition to college independence requires more than just academic preparation.
“Mom’s not there to wake you up anymore. Be responsible, set phone alarms, you’re responsible for yourself and I feel like that’s a hard transition,” Brown said.
The Path to Purpose program brings in experienced mentors to guide these young men.
“We’re brought in mentors, CEOs, and people that can teach us all about life and things we need to go forward as men,” Morton said.
The Urban League hopes these early financial literacy lessons will help participants avoid becoming part of troubling financial stress statistics.
“For the most part, I think I’ll kind of stay true to who I am and keep the values I’ve learned from here with budgeting,” Brown said.
The Urban League of Middle Tennessee recently launched its first-ever Girls Leadership Academy.
Learn more about their programs, here.
This story was reported on-air by Aaron Cantrell and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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