NEFE awards research grants that have the potential to make a profound contribution to the field of financial literacy and seek to improve the public’s financial well-being. Explore findings from our completed research projects below.
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Completed Research
NEFE/Knology Financial Education Database Training Fellowship Webinar Series
March 13, 2023
In 2019, NEFE awarded a grant to Knology to develop an open-access database and mapping tool to show state-level investments in financial education initiatives. To further utilize these new tools, NEFE and Knology launched a fellowship program for early-career scholars to conduct their own research projects using these resources. At the completion of the fellowship, each fellow participated in a webinar to present their work to NEFE and Knology’s partner audiences.
Making it Stick: Using Cognitive Science and Technology to Enhance the Impact of Financial Education
November 29, 2022
This project evaluated the effectiveness of learning interventions on participants’ knowledge recall, self-confidence, and behaviors following a credit-focused financial education workshop. It also evaluated how knowledge recall and behavior changed if material was taught and reviewed over a short versus long time span.
Efficacy in Measuring Financial Literacy: NEFE & University of Alabama Research Webinar
October 17, 2022
University of Alabama
Many existing survey instruments measuring financial knowledge include “don’t know” or “refuse to answer” options. Researchers from the University of Alabama studied the impact of including these options in financial knowledge surveys and featured their findings in a webinar hosted by NEFE.
Three New Scales Measure Family Financial Socialization
October 07, 2022
University of Arizona and Brigham Young University
This project sought to develop three new theoretically-driven and psychometrically-tested scales to measure family financial socialization, which assesses how children learn financial lessons from their parents or other family figures.
LGBTQIA+ Experiences with Financial Education and Services
June 24, 2022
Nearly 1 in 3 LGBTQIA+ Respondents say they’ve experienced discrimination, bias in financial services.
Effective Financial Education: Best State Practices
February 24, 2022
Knology
This research study by Knology examines the impact of greater spending on youth financial education upon measures designed to capture the experiences and challenges of low- and moderate-income Americans.
Amount and time exert independent influences on intertemporal choice
January 20, 2022
Duke University
This study, funded by a grant from NEFE to Duke University, evaluates how individuals process information to make personal finance decisions. The project uses methods from neuroscience and marketing science to uncover the mechanisms of financial behavior.
Stealth Wealth Project: Literature Review
July 15, 2021
America Saves and the University of Minnesota
This report summarizes research on the factors that influence emerging adults’ financial behaviors and decision-making. The authors include research about socialization, demographic factors and individual characteristics of emerging adults.
Working Longer: Evidence and Implications for a Heterogeneous Workforce
October 29, 2020
George Washington University
This study, funded by a grant from NEFE to George Washington University, identifies barriers to implementing phased retirement programs and suggests possible solutions.
Understanding Financial Literacy Decay to Improve Financial Behaviors of Young Adults
October 22, 2020
University of Rhode Island
This study, funded by a grant from NEFE to the University of Rhode Island, examines how financial literacy declines over time, and how knowledge and confidence interact with financial behaviors. Researchers used experimental methods to test how financial information and priming relate to financial literacy, confidence, management and knowledge among the study’s participants.
Diverging Paths: Youth Debt, College and Family Background
June 05, 2019
The Ohio State University
This study, funded by a grant from NEFE to The Ohio State University, examines student loan debt along with secured and unsecured consumer debt to illustrate the broader financial risk experienced by young adults with education ranging from high school diplomas to graduate degrees.
K-12 Financial Ed Mandates on Student Postsecondary Ed
November 15, 2018
Montana State University
This study, funded by a grant from NEFE to Montana State University, examines how personal finance graduation requirements in high school change whether or not young adults attend college, the types of institutions attended, and the methods by which individuals finance their post-secondary educations.
Financial Fragility in the US: Evidence and Implications
April 16, 2018
George Washington University
This study, funded by a grant from NEFE to George Washington University, analyzes financial fragility measures across two different datasets and gains additional insight from focus groups about people’s capacity to cope with unexpected expenses.
APLUS: Financial Behavior During the Transition to Adulthood
March 27, 2018
University of Minnesota
This study, funded by a grant from NEFE to University of Minnesota, examines emerging adult financial behavior as a decision making process leading to adult thriving. This is the fifth installment of the longitudinal Arizona Pathways to Life Success (APLUS) study, which has been following a large, diverse college student sample since 2008.
Untangling Determinants of Retirement Savings Balances
July 14, 2017
The New School
This study, funded by a grant from NEFE to The New School, determines how life events (such as unemployment spells, disability, marriage, and divorce) impact retirement savings and how these impacts differ by race, sex and income categories.
Enhancing Retirement Savings with School Financial Education
January 05, 2017
George Washington University
This study, funded by a NEFE grant to George Washington University, analyzes findings from the OECD’s 2012 PISA financial literacy data and their implications for the development of sustainable retirement systems.
Early Warning Signs of Impaired Financial Skills in Adults
October 15, 2016
University of Alabama at Birmingham
This study identifies very early declines in financial skills and translates these findings into a set of understandable early warning signs accessible to older adults, their families and a range of relevant professionals.
Financial Capability Among Young Adults
September 09, 2016
George Washington University
This study analyzes financial capability among young adults using the National Financial Capability Study.
The Significance of Gender for Savings and Retirement
February 24, 2016
University of Notre Dame
Ethnographic study to illuminate how gender affects savings and retirement in diverse populations.
Cognitive Capabilities, Decision-Making, Financial Outcomes
March 05, 2015
Columbia University
This study, funded by a NEFE grant to Columbia University, explores how differences in decision-making traits translate to real-world financial outcomes.
Financial Behavior, Debt, and Early Life Transitions Insights from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort
September 02, 2014
The Ohio State University
This study, funded by a NEFE grant to The Ohio State University, follows the 1997 Cohort from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to explore financial behavior, debt, and early life transitions among young adults coming of age in the 2000s.
APLUS: Transitioning to Adulthood in Rough Economic Terrain
June 11, 2014
University of Arizona
Arizona Pathways to Life Success for University Students (APLUS), an investigation at the University of Arizona that follows young adults from their college years to the workforce, is discovering how the majority of young adults are struggling to achieve financial security in their transition from college to adulthood and how this time of passage affects financial attitudes, behaviors and overall well-being.
Financial Literacy and Education on Downstream Behaviors
October 10, 2013
University of Colorado - Boulder
The purpose of this project was to compare the strength of findings across studies with different designs and different kinds of statistical analyses, all exploring the same core question: What is the connection between financial literacy and the choices that people make about their finances?
APLUS: Changing Financial Behaviors of College Students
September 01, 2011
University of Arizona
Longitudinal research study to look at the connections between financial success and well-being in a diverse group of first-year college students; Wave 2 focuses on young adults' financial capability.
Financial Education Mandates Report
February 01, 2010
University of Florida
Study of the relationship between exposure to varying state mandates for high school financial education and college students' financial knowledge, dispositions, and behaviors.
APLUS: Financial Well-Being, Coping Behaviors and Trust
January 15, 2010
University of Arizona
Longitudinal research study to look at the connections between financial success and well-being in a diverse group of first-year college students; Wave 1.5 focuses on the impact of the Great Recession on the financial well-being, coping behaviors and trust among young adults.
APLUS: Arizona Pathways to life Success for Students
May 01, 2009
University of Arizona
Longitudinal research study to look at the connections between financial success and well-being in a diverse group of first-year college students; Wave 1 focuses on cultivating Positive financial attitudes and behaviors for healthy adulthood.