The McGraw-Hill Companies Marks Financial Literacy Month with Drive to Help More Than 100,000 Citizens Make More Informed Financial Decisions

NEW YORK, April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To celebrate Financial Literacy Month, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is creating new opportunities to enhance financial literacy throughout New York City and across the United States. Through its Financial Literacy Now campaign, the Corporation expects to help more than 100,000 students and adults in 2010 through a series of educational programs and the establishment of a center dedicated to financial literacy at The New York Public Library.

"A greater emphasis on financial education is absolutely essential to creating a stronger, more vibrant economy and to the economic empowerment of millions of citizens," said Harold McGraw III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of The McGraw-Hill Companies. "Public-private partnerships can play an important role in increasing financial literacy, and we are committed to helping people of all ages learn the financial concepts they need to make informed spending and saving decisions."

There is a clear need for more and better financial education.  Personal bankruptcies rose 30 percent between 2006 and 2008, and 73 million Americans currently are "underbanked" or "unbanked."

Financial Literacy Now — a joint effort of McGraw-Hill, the Council for Economic Education, Literacy Partners, Inc., The New York Public Library, Talking FinLit and Working in Support of Education (W!SE) — is focused on giving teachers, students and the public the resources they need to improve their understanding of important financial principles.

Speaker Series

Starting April 12, the campaign began connecting a wide range of financial experts with at least 28 New York City public high schools to share their insights on such topics as investing, credit cards, and banking. Experts who are slated to hold discussions with students and teachers include:

• Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist, Standard & Poor's;
• Rocky Clancy, executive director, financial services, J.D. Power and Associates; and
• Jack Kapoor, lead author of McGraw-Hill's market-leading high school program Business and Personal Finance.

The campaign's goal is to serve 100 schools and 6,000 students by the end of the year.

The campaign also is supporting the Council for Economic Education's teacher workshops and conferences, which are in turn expected to benefit 100,000 students.  In addition, McGraw-Hill Education recently developed a Web-based professional development platform for the Council.

Financial Literacy Central

Later this spring, Financial Literacy Now will open a new center dedicated to financial literacy at The New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) located at 188 Madison Avenue at 34th Street. Financial Literacy Central, modeled after the Library's popular Job Search Central, will serve as a hub for free personal finance information and resources – including computer access to popular business and finance databases powered by Standard & Poor's, Dun & Bradstreet, Morningstar, and others.  More than 100 McGraw-Hill Education titles on topics ranging from investing to retirement will also be available, and financial planners will be on hand several days a week. The Library expects to serve more than 20,000 patrons by the end of the year through its existing financially focused classes and the resources provided through Financial Literacy Central.

NYSE Bell Ringing

A group of New York City public high school teachers and students are scheduled to join representatives of Financial Literacy Now to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on April 30. The NYSE has designated the last week of April as Financial Literacy Week. After the bell ringing, teachers and students will receive a tour of the NYSE and learn more about how the stock market operates.

The McGraw-Hill Companies' financial literacy initiatives are serving communities in other cities across the country as well.  For example, the Corporation is supporting a financial literacy event at the Houston Public Library on May 1, and the company is assisting the Chicago Treasurer in providing piggy banks to Chicago Public School classrooms to advance financial literacy.

For more information about Financial Literacy Now, visit www.financiallitnow.org and stay up-to-date about all of the campaign's activities on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FinLitNow.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a global information and education company providing knowledge, insights and analysis in the financial, education and business information sectors through leading brands including Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2009 were $5.95 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.  

Investor Relations: http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/investor_relations

Get news direct from McGraw-Hill via RSS:  http://investor.mcgraw-hill.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=96562&p=newsRSS

Release issued: April 21, 2010

SOURCE The McGraw-Hill Companies