Let's Collaborate! The Impact of Transformative Technologies on Collaborative Partnerships with Schools

In 2011, Virginia's General Assembly enacted legislation that required one credit in a stand-alone personal finance course for graduating students. Subsequently, the Virginia Department of Education developed Standards of Learning (SOLs) for Personal Finance and Economics (Code of Virginia §22.1-200-03B), which included a focus on personal financial literacy skills and decision making. Around the same time, many credit unions (CUs) were realizing attrition as their memberships aged. Schools' need to fulfill state-required SOLs and credit unions' need to acquire a new generation of members lead to an organic emergence of symbiotic relationships between financial institutions and local high schools. With state Banking-in-Schools guidance and the Work-Based Learning component of Career Technical Education (CTE), partnerships with credit unions made sense as they're not-for-profit financial cooperatives. And rather than simply providing financial education tools to schools or hosting member drives at student events, many credit unions decided to supply hands-on learning and a convenient place for students, teachers, and staff to bank by opening in-school Student-Run Credit Union branches.