PwC US and Junior Achievement launched JA Build Your Future, an app designed to assist with financial planning as teens look towards post-secondary education and explore their desired careers. This educational resource aims to strengthen the message about the importance of prioritizing financial literacy in our education system while providing a newly developed tool that fits the lives of today’s students. JA Build Your Future works on Apple and Android phones and tablets. Get the app now at Google Play. Or, download JA Build Your Future on Apple iPhone or iPad.
JA Build Your Future allows teens to discover more than 100 careers; see what levels of education are required, from a high school education to a doctorate; learn about potential income; and then calculate the cost of education, including factoring the cost of attending in-state, out-of-state public universities and private universities. Teens can then adjust the level of money they and their parents may contribute, combined with student loans they may need to secure. At the end of the exercise, teens are given a Return on Investment (ROI) score between 1 and 5. A score of 1 suggests it will be difficult to pay off the debt accrued based on future income; 5 indicates that using current factors, there should be less financial hardship paying off debt with estimated future income.
“Through the creation of this app, PwC and Junior Achievement capitalized on our individual assets to create a new solution that will deepen our impact in the marketplace,” said Shannon Schuyler, US Corporate Responsibility Leader at PwC. “Like PwC’s financial literacy curricula, this app brings a new level of scalability to our Earn Your Future commitment, allowing us to reach students and teachers we may not have the opportunity to work with directly in the classroom.”
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, nearly one-in-three Federal student loans are in deferment, forbearance or default. Amid the rising cost of education, students need resources and tools to financially plan for these costs so they can achieve their goals.
Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain, Inc. is one of 38 markets across the country in which local PwC leadership serves on the board of directors.
