Iowa State University teaching proper spending habits

To help students better understand proper spending habits, Iowa State University recently introduced a class that strictly teaches the best ways of managing credit, budgets, debt and other personal financial information, the Ames Tribune reports. In response to the growing credit crisis among college students, Iowa State is taking a proactive approach by teaching best practices to manage money and avoid the pitfalls of poor financial housekeeping. "Rather than hold the course as a series of lectures, we asked a series of guest speakers to appear," senior business lecturer Shoba Premkumar told the paper. The course is not just a passive series of lectures for students. Premkumar says the students are getting hands-on training on how to simultaneously manage large expenses such as mortgages, credit card bills and other lending. "Calculating the interest charges over the life of a student loan is always an interesting exercise," Premkumar said. "With average student loan debt in the range of $30,000, it’s certainly a practical lesson for them." ISU isn't the only university offering such a course. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is offering an early-level course that educates students on how to better manage their student loans and day-to-day expenses, the Omaha World-Herald reports.