As part of its commitment to community service, Fifth Third Bancorp will join forces with education company EverFi Inc. to offer financial education to high school students in the states it serves starting next fall.
“We are going to put the power of our own financial expertise to work through these programs and will facilitate the evaluation of the students’ progress to ensure they have the knowledge they need at the course’s conclusion and can apply it in their adult lives,” said Fifth Third Executive Vice President Brian Lamb.
The courses will be offered to students in 10 states where Fifth Third has retail branches, including Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and West Virginia. In all, it will reach some 150,000 students. The program is part of Fifth Third’s $30 billion initiative to invest in the communities it serves, including $158.4 million toward financial empowerment.
The multi-year program will launch at the start of the 2017-2018 school year. The digitized and interactive courses, developed by EverFi, will be embedded into the high school curricula. It will focus on financial education and entrepreneurship training. Upon completion, students earn a Fifth Third Post High School Financial Road Map.
“[Fifth Third’s] groundbreaking investment will provide students and teachers with our digital learning technology and a national network of educators for training and professional development,” said Ray Martinez, co-founder and president of EverFi’s Financial Education Division.