CSU launches Center for Personal Financial Management

The Charleston Southern University College of Business announces the launch of the CSU Center for Personal Financial Management in association with the Ron Blue Institute.

The Center for Personal Financial Management is training and equipping CSU students and the greater CSU family with biblical principles of financial wisdom and money management. More than 600 students are participating in its programs this fall.

“We are excited about the Center for Personal Financial Management and the impact it will have on our students, alumni and the community,” said Dr. David Palmer, dean of the College of Business. “Our commitment to the well-being of students is foremost in the minds of the faculty and leadership of the College of Business. The center, and its association with the Ron Blue Institute, shows we are dedicated to supporting students and providing the best possible financial literacy education available.”

CSU has been teaching a personal finance course for 11 years. Through the CPFM, the College of Business is elevating the course and broadening its reach. The center will focus on teaching topics that include a biblical view of money, stewardship, budgeting, debt management, investing, charitable giving and wealth management. The center began partnering with freshman seminar classes to teach freshmen about personal financial literacy this fall. 

Business majors and traditional and online students can take the personal financial management course as an elective or as part of the liberal arts core in the social sciences. The textbook used in the course is Mastering Personal Finances, a Biblical Approach by Ron Blue and Boyce Smith. Smith is an assistant professor in the CSU College of Business and leading the efforts of the Center for Personal Financial Management.

Ron Blue said, “We are so excited that Charleston Southern University shares our passion for preparing students to enter a world that will be challenging their faith with a clear understanding of what God‘s Word has to say about money and money management.”

Dr. Dondi Costin, CSU president, said, “At Charleston Southern, we believe that faith should permeate every aspect of our lives, including our finances. The Center for Personal Financial Management will equip our students with the skills to apply biblical financial wisdom, helping them live lives of purpose for the glory of God.”

CSU also has developed Buc$ense, a project to introduce basic financial literacy information and tools to students, parents, alumni and other stakeholders. Buc$ense is funded by a Title III Technology Grant. 

In addition, the Center for Personal Financial Management is creating a peer-to-peer counseling service for students and will host nationally recognized personal finance speakers on a regular basis.

Blue said, “The Ron Blue Institute was formed for two purposes. One was that every student in a Christian university would be taught a biblical perspective on money and money management. God‘s word speaks more to money than any other topic, and I have had the privilege over the last 40 plus years of helping Christians plan and manage their finances according to a biblical worldview. Not only is a biblical worldview the most practical and rational way to manage money but also it is profoundly simple in its concept. 

“The second purpose for the Institute is to move God’s biblical financial wisdom into academia for credibility and authenticity purposes. There are very few universities that share the passion of Charleston Southern for these two purposes, and I am privileged to be a part of the effort.”

CSU chose to affiliate with the Ron Blue Institute because of its mission to advance biblical financial education, enabling Christians to make financial decisions within a biblical framework. The Ron Blue Institute is hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University.

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