As the National Credit Union Foundation continues to collect data for its 2011 Credit Union Member Education Inventory, some preliminary data has revealed that in 2010, 200 credit unions reached 182,000 students through classroom presentations and over a million people were provided financial counseling or advice.

Sponsored by state credit union leagues and NCUF's REAL Solutions program, the data and information gathered from credit unions is designed to help the credit union industry demonstrate how its financial educational and counseling efforts positively affect consumers' lives.

Here's a look at a few more preliminary findings based on the first 200 CU survey submissions representing 37 different states. In 2010, these credit unions:

• Provided formal financial counseling to 225,000 people through 199 certified in-house professional counselors,

• Referred an additional 37,000 members to counseling agencies,

• Provided informal financial counseling to 788,000 members,

• Developed debt management plans for 19,000 members,

• Established mortgage loan workout options for 7,000 members,

• Provided 7,300 classroom presentations to 182,000 students,

• Conducted 3,000 seminars for 64,000 adults resulting in 3,600 new accounts,

• Produced 358 experiential learning programs (i.e. Reality Fairs) for 29,000 students resulting in 800 new members, and

• Operated 161 in-school branches with 14,000 student members, $5.9 million on deposit, and 850 student workers.

When completed, plans for the final results will be to serve as fuel for state and national public awareness, advocacy and related outreach efforts through solid data and statistics that can be referenced.

“No one has quantified in-depth information for the entire credit union movement around financial education,” said Bucky Sebastian, NCUF executive director.

Each league or association will have a section in the resulting report that contains state-specific data and comparisons to national figures. Designed for maximum impact and exposure, the report will be accessible to participating credit unions at no charge through the REAL Solutions Impact Center. In addition, a companion tool detailing member financial educational and counseling products and credit union best practices will be published in conjunction with the report.

NCUF has been using an online survey tool to gather this data since March and credit union leagues in 29 states have been actively working with Lois Kitsch, NCUF REAL Solutions national program director, to collect the data. All U.S. credit unions have been invited to participate in the project.

Instant Insights /

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