1654

Peer-Reviewed Publications Have Cited NEFE

40

Active Partnerships

$7.6M

Awarded for Research Projects Since 2006

46

Research Grants Awarded Since 2006

NEFE News

June 18, 2026

Leading Organizations Launch National Research Consortium To Expand Participation In 529 Education Savings Plans

The University of Chicago Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) and the Stanford University Initiative for Financial Decision-Making (IFDM) are partnering with the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) through its education savings network the 529 Network, with support from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), to launch a new consortium dedicated to advancing research on public understanding of 529 education savings plans and related financial education and education access initiatives.

June 16, 2026

A Field Infrastructure Challenge: Supporting the Discipline of Financial Education for the Long Term
By Billy Hensley, Ph.D., President and CEO

Financial education has grown rapidly over the past two decades. It is now embedded or being implemented in well over half of K-12 classrooms, increasingly present in postsecondary environments, and recognized by employers and community organizations as essential to long-term economic mobility.

June 09, 2026

Reframing the Problem: Understanding Financial Education as a System
By Billy Hensley, Ph.D., President and CEO

Financial education is often treated as a content problem: What should people know? How should we teach it? How do we reach more learners? Those questions are important, and the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) has invested decades in answering them.

June 02, 2026

Expansion Requires Stewardship: Building a More Durable Financial Education Field
By Billy Hensley, Ph.D., President and CEO

Financial education has grown rapidly, but lasting impact will require stronger systems, shared priorities and a commitment to stewardship across the field.

Student Loan Repayment 2025: New Plans, Policy Challenges, and What Comes Next

May 18, 2026

By NEFE and BPC Staff

More than 42 million Americans currently hold federal student loan debt, representing a collective balance of over $1.7 trillion, with nearly a quarter of borrowers in delinquency or default.

May 12, 2026

Leading in Financial Education When the Old Rules No Longer Fit
By Billy Hensley, Ph.D., President and CEO

As financial education evolves alongside shifting trust in institutions, effective leadership requires greater transparency, systems awareness and collective learning.

Building Nationally Normed Personal Finance Assessments

April 28, 2026

By Jennifer Davidson, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln & Jamie Wagner, Ph.D., University of Nebraska at Omaha

As personal finance courses expand nationwide, NEFE is leading a groundbreaking effort to create the first nationally normed assessments—giving educators and policymakers a powerful new way to measure what students actually know.

New Research Explores the Financial Well-Being of Underrepresented Couples

April 20, 2026

By Casey Totenhagen, Ph.D., University of Alabama

New research sheds light on how LGBTQ+ couples experience financial well-being—and where gaps in support still exist.

NEFE Response to the U.S. National Strategy for Financial Literacy

April 07, 2026

NEFE shares key insights and recommendations to help shape the future of financial literacy in the U.S.

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Financial Literacy Graduation Requirements by State

More than half of U.S. states now have financial education graduation requirement policies in place. Learn more about these policies in our latest Legislative Review Report.

Creating these requirements is the important first step, but the critical phase is the implementation of these policies. The variables that must be considered range from funding streams to measuring success.

NEFE Research

Supporting research in the field of financial well-being.

NEFE promotes a better understanding of personal finance by identifying and investigating the financial issues affecting people's lives. We advance effective financial education through research studies, symposia, think tanks and round table discussions.

NEFE funds rigorous, innovative and actionable research that seeks to improve the public's financial well-being and has the potential to make a profound contribution to our field.

Our research values drive this work.

Learn More
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