Good news on the Government of the Student Body front: Wednesday night, GSB passed a bill to fund a financial literacy campaign for ISU students. It’s a bill for less than $2,000, and it’s two grand well spent.

The unavoidable truth is that ISU graduates have a bad debt problem: on average, over $31,000 according to the state Board of Regents. And given the press coverage of the issue and its seemingly unchanging status, it seems like everyone likes to talk about it but not really do anything about it.

It’s important that both ISU students and administrators make financial literacy programs a priority. Iowa State has plenty of financial resources, certainly not limited to Doug Borkowski’s financial-tip-of-the-week e-mails. The human development and family studies department offers a for-credit class on the topic, HDFS 283, and campus plays host to a Financial Counseling Clinic, a feature many colleges and universities aren’t able to brag about.

Iowa State has the resources to tackle this problem. If it takes an informational campaign to let them be known, all the better.

It’s an issue GSB Vice President Maggie Luttrell feels strongly about.

“We need to be mindful that not only should we provide as much financial aid opportunities as possible, but as many educational opportunities as possible through student services and academic courses to tackle this issue,” she said.

She has a point, and it goes further than just Iowa State. It’s an issue that needs to be explored in primary and secondary school districts across the state.

Financial literacy education in college is a bandage to cover up wounds inflicted in middle and high school: Minors simply don’t get enough education about how to manage their money by the time they get their first jobs. Then suddenly they get to college, deal with loans, become inundated with credit cards offers and are told they should start stuffing money away for retirement before their teenage years are up.

College preparatory classes are great, but shouldn’t those be balanced out with classes preparing students for everyday life?  

They should, but those are the classes first felled when budget cuts come along. A recession calls for us to make tough choices, but a recession is exactly the time when economic and financial education is so critical.

Unfortunately, that’s an issue that goes beyond the scope of any one group’s power. But locally, GSB has addressed the problem, and hopefully it’s an effort that pays off.