Welcome to APLUS!
The first longitudinal study of young adults’ changing financial behaviors
Listen to Dr. Serido speaking about the financial well-being of young adults.
Download MP3
Stream WMA
Recorded live on 1/8/2012 with Dave Sitton of the Daily Male Radio Show, 104.1FM, Tucson, Arizona.
Download a copy of the APLUS Wave 2 Report
APLUS Webinar, September 14th, 2011. More Info.
Coming of age in any generation brings with it the need to become self-sufficient adults. Yet, today’s young adults need to quickly develop their financial capability – the ability to make wise financial decisions.
Why? They are transitioning to adulthood following the worst recession since the Great Depression - a time of job losses, decreasing employer-provided benefits, less access to credit - and uncertain funding for social support programs. This generation, and those to come, must bear more individual responsibility for securing their financial future.
Yet, how do people learn their financial behaviors? Dr. Soyeon Shim, Professor/Director of the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences and her colleagues want to find out the answer.
This landmark longitudinal research study examines three important questions: 1) How do early experiences at home, at work and at school shape the financial attitudes and behaviors of college students? 2) How do changes in financial behaviors during college contribute to financial capability? 3) How does financial capability in college contribute to life success and well-being in adulthood?
To answer these questions, we plan to follow a group of young adults from college into middle-age to understand how the financial behaviors practiced in college form the basis for their financial habits as adults.
Project Synopsis
Fall, 2007 – Spring, 2008 Wave 1: Baseline Study
Survey data collected from more than 2,000 first-year students enrolled at the University of Arizona to understand the pre-college experiences that contributed to college students’ financial attitudes and behaviors.
Spring, 2009 Wave 1.5: Economic Impact Study
Shortly after the global financial credit crisis, data collected from a subsample (748) of the baseline study participants to understand the immediate impact of the recession on young adults’ financial behaviors.
Fall, 2010 – Spring, 2011 Wave 2: Young Adults’ Financial Capability Study
Survey data collected from over 1,500 of the participants in the baseline study as they prepare to leave college to understand how prepared they are for the life-changing experiences awaiting them as they enter the world of full-time adult responsibility.
Download a copy of the APLUS Wave 2 Report
Future Study Waves
Plans are underway plan to resurvey the APLUS participants in early 2013, to gain an understanding of the association between changing financial obligations and young adults’ financial capability.
