Student Banking Program Offers Firsthand Financial Education
Teaching financial education and professional development skills to high school seniors from low-to-moderate income neighborhoods
This story is highlighted in Capital One’s 2019-2020 Corporate Social Responsibility report. To view the full report, click here.
When Shaleena Campbell joined Capital One in 2019 as the project coordinator for our Student Banking Program, it was a homecoming of sorts. Four years earlier, Campbell had completed a year as a student banker in the company’s Student Banking Program while attending high school at Thurgood Marshall Academy in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.
Founded in 2007, the Student Banking Program teaches financial education and professional development skills to rising high school seniors from low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. The program includes four in-school branches in Maryland, New Jersey, and New York City’s boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx.
During the year-long program, student bankers are responsible for day-to-day operation of the branches, including completing deposits and withdrawals, and opening savings accounts. The program also includes workshops to teach students to save money and build credit in a collective effort to help further their understanding and experience with real-world money management. It also includes college counseling and advising for the student bankers, focused on navigating the college application process and understanding financial aid.
In addition to gaining experience that encourages readiness for college and the workforce, Campbell credits the program with instilling confidence to set and meet personal financial goals–a habit which she notes doesn’t generally resonate well for youth growing up in areas where conversations about money can often be negative.
In her new role, Campbell hopes to mentor students after they leave the program.
“The students are able to look up to me as a young professional and see themselves in my shoes,” she says. “It sets them up to understand the complexities of their financial lives once they complete this program.”
Since 2007, more than 380 students have completed the program, with a 100% high school graduation rate and the vast majority graduating from college. In 2019, 31 students successfully completed the program.
Capital One is on a mission to change banking for good. To be authentic and impactful, our goals for our customers, associates and our communities must be clearly linked. Our 2019-2020 Corporate Social Responsibility Report illustrates this commitment. Learn more about Capital One’s commitments, here.