If offered a free ride across campus this week by a seemingly random golf cart, don’t be alarmed; it’s simply students from the financial counseling and planning program running the “Cash Cart.”

Students are offered a free ride to their destination, but there’s a catch: they must answer questions pertaining to financial literacy en route. If they answer two questions incorrectly, the cart stops and the student must walk the rest of the way. If they successfully reach their destination, students are entered in a raffle for an undetermined prize.

The idea was based on “Cash Cab,” a game show that ran on the Discovery Channel from 2005-2012.

Liz Ulrichson and Tiffany Miller, both juniors in financial counseling and planning, staffed the cart for the 1 p.m. hour Tuesday. Miller estimated that about 20 people had accepted a ride from the Cash Cart between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. All four students who accepted rides between 1:30 and 2 p.m. made it to their destination without getting two answers wrong.

Madison Nagle, senior in nutritional science, was initially hesitant to accept a ride.

“I was a little bit confused at first. I thought you guys just wanted to pass me,” she said to the Cash Cart drivers. “Next, I [thought], ‘What’s the catch?’”

Nagle missed one question on her journey from Central Campus to Lied Recreation Athletic Center, but not all passengers were quite so adept. 

“They either do very well, or not so well,” Ulrichson said.

Jeanna Nation, lecturer and adviser for the financial counseling and planning program, came up with the idea for Cash Cart after hearing of it being done at other institutions. She said she hopes Cash Cart, along with the other events planned for Financial Literacy Month in April, will raise awareness about finance and financial literacy, as well as promote the financial counseling and planning program.

The planning process for Financial Literacy Month started at the beginning of the spring semester, when Nation and her team applied for the Academic Innovative Advising Grant, which helped offset the costs of things such as printing for handouts and signage, as well as providing funds to undergraduate workers who helped organize the events.

The financial counseling and planning program, previously called family finance, housing and policy, has three different tracks students can take: financial counseling, financial planning and finance studies. There are also courses in personal finance, which are open to all students and many of which are offered online, as well as in person.

Nation said she hopes the Cash Cart will bring more students into the financial counseling and planning program.

“Consider the courses [and] think of us as a program. It’s an exciting major. We have tremendous growth for careers in this field,” Nation said. “Learning more about money management is never a bad thing, so keep us in mind if [you need an] elective or are considering a career change.”