Same Drive, New Directions

Dear Moneythinker,

We founded Moneythink in 2008 to bring personal financial skills to under-resourced teens a few blocks away from our college campus.

Since then, we have helped over 14,000 students in 30 communities nationwide track their spending, open bank accounts, achieve savings goals, budget for college, and believe in themselves.

Two years ago, we decided we wanted to take our impact a step further to drive life-changing outcomes for our students. So, we interviewed 93 first-generation college students to learn how financial stress was endangering their dreams. And what they told us inspired us to think about our impact in an entirely new way.

See, one of the biggest financial decisions a student will ever make is where to attend — and how to afford — college. But for students in the communities we serve, guidance on the most critical and financially complex aspects of these decisions is often lacking. As a result, millions of students stop out of their postsecondary journey every year for financial reasons and all too often, end up with debt but no degree.

We’ve met the students. We’ve seen their challenges. We know their potential.

And we believe that the higher education system is failing them.

But we also believe that many of the financial challenges students face in college can be prevented upstream. So we are setting out to eradicate financial stress as the leading cause of college attrition.

As the first step toward that better future, we’re bring financial coaching to students’ fingertips over SMS — for free. Check out our new website to learn more, and follow us on social to grow with us.

It’s going to be an exciting next few years.

Onward!

Ted Gonder
Co-founder and CEO, Moneythink