Crown Advises that After Graduation, Students Should Major or Minor in Money: Because Ignorance is Expensive.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 18, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "A generation of young people graduating with debt they can't repay because the jobs they studied for just don't exist has become a national crisis too severe to ignore," observed Crown CEO Chuck Bentley in a national column.  "Few students can afford to waste time and money. Today, seven in 10 graduating seniors at public and private colleges have student loans. Taking steps to make sure they have jobs before the loans come due is a process that should begin before enrolling for college."

Crown can help. Bentley announced the launch of a special website for students, parents, grandparents or anyone who wants to invest in a graduation gift that lasts a lifetime, where a number of on-line resources and unique job-find tools are available from Crown Financial Ministries. Crown offers everything from strategies for graduating debt free from college, to Career Direct skills planning to a outline for job seekers found in Robert Dickie III's The Leap: Launching Your Full-Time Career in Our Part-Time Economy.

Bentley noted that the first step in making sure that students invest their time, money and intellect in the right course of study begins with spending more deliberate time in selecting a major, using a tool like Career Direct to understand a person's unique make up.

Consider this recent report: "About 80 percent of students in the United States end up changing their major at least once, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. On average, college students change their major at least three times over the course of their college career." Career counseling and reflection on people's unique make up, passions and skills should not take place only a few months before getting a degree.

Step two should be choosing a minor, or at least a deliberate course of study, that can save your financial life. For those attending college right now, no matter what your major is make your minor, or at least a deliberate emphasis, an investment in a foundational understanding of economics and personal finance.

The Council for Economic Education notes that while states are beginning to require some standards for economic education, only 22 out of 50 require an economics class before high school graduation. The situation with personal finance instruction is even bleaker. Only 17 states require some kind of personal finance instruction to graduate from high school, with only six of those actually requiring students to pass a test.

"Ironically, what students are not required to understand in school, they will be held accountable for in the real world," said Bentley. "Financial ignorance isn't bliss; Taking time to align your unique gifts and abilities in employment and to understand your finances will make all the difference in achieving a life well lived, unencumbered by needless waste of time and money."

Chuck Bentley is CEO of Crown and author of "The Worst Financial Mistakes in the Bible And How You Can Avoid Them" as well host of the nationally syndicated radio feature, My MoneyLife™, follow him, @chuckbentley. For interviews, e-mail [email protected]  Learn more at www.crown.org 

CONTACT: Kristi Hamrick, [email protected]

SOURCE Crown