For over 30 years, StockTrak has helped universities bring hands-on financial education into the classroom.
Today, universities are taking it further.
More institutions are expanding financial literacy beyond individual courses by launching campus-wide financial literacy challenges, giving students across all majors the opportunity to practice budgeting, money management, and investing skills.
From Classroom Learning to Campus-Wide Financial Literacy
What was once taught in a single personal finance or investing course can now be expanded to reach hundreds or even thousands of students across campus.
These initiatives are designed to:
- Promote financial literacy across all disciplines
- Give students practical experience managing their money
- Increase student engagement outside the classroom
- Build financial confidence before students enter the workforce
A campus-wide financial literacy challenge gives students the opportunity to make financial decisions in a simulated environment, where they can learn from their choices without risking real money.
What a Campus-Wide Financial Literacy Challenge Looks Like
Successful programs typically combine financial education with campus-wide promotion and student engagement.
Many universities:
- Host a kickoff event to introduce the challenge
- Partner with student clubs and organizations to drive participation
- Promote the challenge through campus marketing channels
- Recognize top participants with prizes or awards
- Partner with banks, credit unions, or other organizations to support the initiative
Schools can customize their challenge based on their financial literacy goals and the students they want to reach.
Budget Game vs. Budget Game + Stock Game
With StockTrak, universities can choose the type of financial literacy challenge that works best for their campus.
Schools can run just the Budget Game, giving students hands-on experience with budgeting and everyday money management.
Students practice managing income and expenses, paying bills, using checking and savings accounts, managing credit, dealing with unexpected expenses, and making financial decisions over 12 simulated months.
Universities that want to incorporate investing can also combine the Budget Game and Stock Game into one campus-wide challenge.
Students can practice managing their day-to-day finances through the Budget Game while also learning about investing and portfolio management through StockTrak’s Stock Game.
Why Choose One? StockTrak Lets You Choose What Works for Your Campus.
Not every university has the same financial literacy goals.
With StockTrak, you can run a Budget Game-only challenge focused on personal finance or combine the Budget Game and Stock Game for a broader financial literacy experience.
This flexibility allows universities to build a program around their students, learning objectives, and existing campus financial wellness initiatives.
How StockTrak Supports Campus-Wide Financial Literacy Challenges
While approaches vary by institution, StockTrak provides the structure and scalability to make campus-wide challenges easy to run.
With StockTrak, you can:
- Launch and manage a campus-wide financial literacy challenge
- Reach students across different majors and programs
- Track student participation and performance
- Give students hands-on experience with financial decision-making
- Run the Budget Game alone or combine it with the Stock Game
- Create a scalable program that can be repeated each year
Not Just for Finance Students
Financial literacy is relevant to every student, not just business and finance majors.
Students across all disciplines will eventually need to manage expenses, use credit, build savings, understand debt, and make decisions about their financial futures.
A campus-wide challenge gives universities a way to make practical financial education available to a much larger student population.
It can also become part of a broader financial literacy initiative, with workshops, guest speakers, student organization partnerships, and other campus events built around the challenge.
Bringing This to Your Campus
If you’re looking for a new way to increase student engagement, promote financial wellness, and provide practical financial education, a campus-wide financial literacy challenge can bring those goals together.
With StockTrak, you can:
- Engage students across all majors
- Run a Budget Game-only challenge
- Add the Stock Game for an investing component
- Partner with campus organizations and industry sponsors
- Build a scalable, repeatable financial literacy program
Ready to bring a financial literacy challenge to your campus?
Looking for an investing-focused campus initiative? Learn more about Campus-Wide Investing Challenges.