A Message From Student Money Management Office Director Karen Serna:

In 2018, a financial wellness survey conducted of ACC students found that 56% of students would have trouble getting $500 to meet an unexpected need in the next month. A car repair, a visit to the dentist, or broken water heater can result in a student dropping classes to address their financial crisis. And, most financial emergencies our students experience can be addressed with $500 or less.

Last year, ACC's Student Money Management Office started giving students the opportunity to earn up to $100 in cash deposits to encourage setting aside money for the inevitable financial emergency. And wow, how our students saved! Students claimed $4,850 of incentives, and on the last day of the program had a collective balance of $44,016.

Lisa Medina, a social work student at ACC, was among the first of last year's 91 students who opened up a Rainy Day Savings account. She started initially "just to get the extra cash" and set up direct deposit from her paycheck. For setting up direct deposit, Lisa earned a $25 cash incentive.

She started contributing $30 every pay period. "Before I knew it, I had saved over $700 and received all of the incentives from the program, $100 in total. Unfortunately, I ended up having a dental emergency that I could not financially cover. Fortunately, I was able to use the money that I saved through the Rainy Day Savings Program to get much needed dental work done. The Student Money Management Office's Rainy Day Savings program helped me when I was in a crunch for extra cash. I have started to save again and will continue to utilize this account for any Rainy Day that may come."

The Student Money Management Office is enrolling the next cohort of students in the Rainy Day Savings Program and will open 150 accounts. The accounts are available on a first-come-first-served basis and they anticipate all spots being filled as early as November 15.

To be eligible, students must be at least 18 years old, degree or certificate seeking, enrolled in at least 6 credit hours this semester, and intend to enroll in at least 6 credit hours at ACC in spring 2020.

Learn more and apply on the Student Money Management Office's website.