FARMINGTON — Audrey Morin, a junior at the University of Maine at Farmington, recently realized she’s already $12,000 in debt.

She’s not alone. Student loans are as easy to get as a click on the computer, she said. There’s no training beforehand, and who bothers to read all the fine print? she asks.

She borrowed money for college with the expectation that she was preparing for a better career with higher wages.

She’s confident that she’ll get a good job after graduation, she said. But she still felt pretty bad when she saw her real financial picture.

With some guidance from a peer financial adviser under a new financial outreach literacy program at UMF, Morin now has a better understanding of her financial situation, what’s ahead and how to save money and pay on the loan interest while still in school, she said.

The program, UMF Campaign for Financial Literacy, was created by students for students.

When indebtedness statistics showed that many UMF students graduate with debts north of $29,000, Michael Angelides, a senior and intern in the financial aid office last year, was tasked with the development of a program.

The program’s goal is to “provide students with personalized money management strategies and debt management guidance that they can use as a foundation to make good financial decisions,” according to a release.

Working with Ronald Milliken, UMF director of financial aid, Angelides determined that students need an easy, peer-to-peer approach, something that helps students understand how to control the amount of debt they are accumulating, how to maximize the amount of money they save and how to prepare for the repayment of their loans after graduation.

Angelides was hired by UMF in September to “champion the cause.” After hiring six undergraduates as peer financial advisers, the group worked together to refine and promote the new program, he said.

An online presentation of the program, “Budgeting as a College Student,” was placed on Prezi.com and quickly received more than 50,000 views. It has also had ten requests for translation into other languages.

The next big focus is to reach out to high school students and help them become more financially literate before they take out student loans.

“The program is expressly for the student, Angelides said. “It’s a holistic approach, geared to them. Students engage students, especially on the sensitive subject of money. They’re all going through the same thing.”

The interns conduct a variety of educational workshops on campus and offer one-on-one sessions.

Working together in a confidential setting, intern Matt Towle said he helps other students log into financial programs — ones that show them what their own financial landscape looks like.

They work on the importance of saving some of what they have coming in now, he said. The students also explore the future job market, where they want to end up and how much debt they’ll owe.

The six interns and Angelides have connected, creating a group dynamic that flows with ideas, said intern Jeremiah Roper.

“Angelides developed the foundation, and we came in and helped take off with it,” he said.

As an English major, his work as an intern has been a revelation that’s helped him become more financially literate, he said.

It’s not complicated,” Morin said after participating in the program. “Some of it is just common sense.”

Now she’s keeping track of spending, paying back interest before she graduates and questioning whether she really needs something before she buys it. Before the program, she said, she would have just bought the item without giving it a second thought.

She sees the program’s potential to help other students, especially freshmen, become more aware and “not spend money you don’t have,” she said.

“We are very excited about UMF’s new financial literacy program and how it provides students with the knowledge, tools and support that can help them make informed, common-sense decisions about their finances,” said Kathryn A. Foster, UMF president, in a release.

For more information, please visit: finaidumf.wordpress.com

abryant@sunjournal.com

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