CEFE in the News
Adam Wright and Kelli Burton: Financial Education Study
KGMI’s Jason Upton speaks to Dr. Adam Wright and Kelli Burton from WWU’s Center for Economic and Financial Education about their findings from a new study investigating the most efficient ways to educate middle and high school students on financial literacy.
CBE’s Center for Economic and Financial Education studying the best way to teach financial ed
"Western’s Center for Economic & Financial Education is leading the state’s first major study to find the most effective way to teach financial education in high school. Financial education will probably become a high school graduation requirement within the next few years, and the State Legislature recently appropriated $200,000 for the CBE center to evaluate the different ways to teach students the basics of personal finance, said Adam Wright, director of the Center for Economics & Financial Education. “What we want to know is, what are the best practices for teaching it,” Wright said, director of CBE's Center for Economics and Financial Education.
Incorporating financial education into an existing course, such as mathematics or civics, might be more feasible for schools than creating a whole new class, Wright said, particularly if a new state requirement comes without additional funding. “But what are the learning trade-offs when you embed this content with another subject?” he said. “For teachers who embed it — who get good student learning outcomes — what are they doing that we can copy?” The center is partnering with the nonprofit Washington Council for Economic and Financial Education to interview about 38 teachers across the state to learn what they’re teaching, and what curricular resources they’re using."...-Mary Lane Gallagher, WWU Communications
Financial literacy is more important now than ever
"In a world increasingly shaped by individual financial responsibility and complex financial products, the ability to understand and manage one’s finances is no longer a luxury — it is a necessity. Financial literacy, once viewed as a nice-to-have skill, is now a cornerstone of personal stability and national economic health. This comes at a time when state bills to make financial education a high school graduation requirement have stalled in Washington.
As reliance on traditional pensions decreases, individuals must navigate retirement planning largely on their own, often through 401(k)s or IRAs. This shift places a significant burden on people to understand investment vehicles, risk tolerance, compound interest, and long-term financial planning — topics that are not always taught in school. A lack of preparation can lead to serious consequences. Some 68% of working Americans say the average worker cannot save enough on their own for a secure retirement, according to a 2021 report by the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS, 2021)."...-Dr. Adam Wright, Guest Writer, Cascadia Daily News
WWU event will tackle role schools play in promoting financial literacy
"Each year Western Washington University gathers teachers, policymakers and stakeholders for the Washington Economics Symposium — a series of panels and workshops aimed at increasing students’ financial literacy. This year’s event is scheduled for July 29 at the University of Washington in Seattle. Attendees can join two tracks — one for K-12 teachers and another for business and policy experts. Adam Wright, associate professor of economics at WWU and organizer of the symposium, said the idea is to bring together industry professionals that otherwise work separately. Given trends in financial behaviors, Wright said there is a need for financial education and events like the symposium.
“Right now, there’s a record amount of debt held by households. The most recent report in the first quarter of 2025 that came out of the New York Federal reserve was $18.2 trillion. $1.1 trillion of that was credit card debt,” Wright said. “This used to not be such a big issue. Since we started measuring this in the 1930s, you were basically guaranteed to do better than your parents.”"... - Kali Herbst Minino, The Bellingham Herald