I run a blog for United Way in Massachusetts, and one of our bloggers just wrote on the Financial Education Summit in Chicago, which focused on young people and debt. (Her post and a link a video of the conference are on www.speakunited.org) But some of the highlights are below:

• provide financial education at teachable moments messaged within new technologies (youtube, financial football gaming, online resources, etc.)
• offer incentives for learning (for example, savings bonds for students and continuing education/certification/training for trainers/teachers).
• advocate for financial education requirements in high schools (8 states have instituted this requirement) and test if competencies have been captured.
• collaborate across sectors to address the gravity of the situation.
• Re-invest in accessible higher education (so students don’t need to go into so much debt to get educated)