Four Brooklyn high schools will take part in a financial literacy pilot program where students and their families can open up bank accounts through the school.<\/p>\n
Four Brooklyn high schools will join a financial literacy pilot program that allows students and their families to open bank accounts through the school.<\/p>\n
The pilot program announced on Wednesday by Mayor Eric Adams will introduce in-school banking services to students and their families, provide workshops on best banking practices, and, when possible, connect students to career development opportunities in the financial sector.<\/p>\n
Starting the 2026-2027 school year, students from 15 schools, including\u00a0High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology,\u00a0World Academy for Total Community Health High School,\u00a0John Dewey High School and\u00a0Brooklyn Collegiate: A College Board School\u00a0will take part of the pilot program, officials said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“If you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0teach people how to use their money, they will lose their money,” Adams said in a statement. “With this groundbreaking program,\u00a0we\u2019ll\u00a0bring banking services directly to students and give them hands-on experience\u00a0opening up\u00a0a safe, affordable bank account, learning about financial products, and starting careers in banking and finance. In-school banking has been called \u2018the most promising frontier\u2019 in financial education, and here, in New York City, we are on that frontier.”<\/p>\n
Students will work with\u00a0financial educators that will provide families with one-on-one free financial counseling, lead workshops, and help develop classroom resources for teachers to build responsible financial habits among students.<\/p>\n
Financial institutions participating\u00a0in the pilot program include Bank of America, Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union, Citizens Bank, M&T Bank, Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union, PNC Bank, Ridgewood Savings Bank, TD Bank, Santander, Spring Bank, Urban Upbound Federal Credit Union and Wells Fargo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After approximately six months, financial educators will expand their reach to serve\u00a0additional\u00a0schools across the district, the mayor said.<\/p>\n
The mayor predicted that more than 350,000 public school students and their family members will be served in the first five years of the program.<\/p>\n