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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">SAN DIEGO - iGrad and the University of Illinois (UI) are proud to announce the launch of a financial literacy instructor certification program.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">Launched to coincide with Financial Literacy Month, the online course will be led by Scott Johnson, Program Coordinator of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/"><span style="color:#428BCA">Illinois
Online Network (ION)</span></a>, a faculty development program at the University of Illinois that focuses on online and technology-enhanced teaching and learning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">The course will employ the award-winning classroom curriculum<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://schools.igrad.com/services/financial-literacy-curriculum/"><span style="color:#428BCA">Your
Financial Mastery</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>from iGrad and Pay Your Family First. The 2015 “<a href="http://schools.igrad.com/blog/iGrad-and-PYFF-financial-literacy-curriculum-wins-2015-Education-Program-of-the-year"><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#428BCA;text-decoration:none">Education
Program of the Year</span></em></a>” was written by best-selling author Sharon Lechter and Certified Personal and Family Finance Educator Angela Totman. The course is designed to provide program facilitators with an advanced understanding of financial literacy
concepts and help them convey that knowledge using the highly effective “flipped” classroom approach. This method enhances student learning by leveraging online video lectures, practical examples, and instructor-led activities and discussions, while encouraging
participant learning and interaction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">“When I learned about iGrad’s concept for this certification in financial literacy, I knew this was an important step for faculty development nationwide; you don’t get this training
in graduate school,” says Johnson.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">The importance of this course was further highlighted in a study conducted by the National Endowment for Financial Education. The non-profit organization reported that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.fdic.gov/about/comein/Mar3.pdf"><span style="color:#428BCA">“fewer
than 20 percent” of 1,234 educators they surveyed felt “very competent”</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in teaching financial literacy topics.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">“Many administrators and professors are not comfortable teaching financial literacy because it is a very dynamic subject that many consider to be taboo,” says iGrad Vice President,
Kris Alban. “Most of these financial literacy programs are aimed at helping the student, but very little is being done to address the low-confidence levels cited by those responsible for teaching these subjects.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">The certification course trains educators in the art of personal finance and gives them the confidence and structure to teach the material effectively. “By partnering with ION, we are
helping educators overcome these obstacles by providing them a with step-by-step guide for teaching financial literacy” says Alban.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">Educators and administrators aren’t the only ones interested. Several institutions, including Fortune 500 companies and banks, are beginning to identify the need for financial literacy
education within their organizations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">“Employers are beginning to understand that stress in the workplace is caused largely in part by a person’s everyday money problems. A financial literacy wellness program can help ease
some of that stress, increase productivity, and save them a lot of money along the way,” says iGrad’s Alban.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">Johnson encourages anyone interested in signing up: “It could be a community organization or individual: a plumber, a daycare provider, or a fireman who feels like this is something
that needs to be taught in their community or church.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">Registration for the eight-week course is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/courses/catalog/C-SessionDetail.asp?record=1039"><span style="color:#428BCA">now
open</span></a>, with the next course set to begin June 1 and run through July 25.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">About iGrad:</span></strong><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:7.5pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:15.0pt;background:white;box-sizing: border-box;orphans: auto;text-align:start;widows: 1;-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;word-spacing:0px">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">iGrad partners with more than 600 schools nationwide to provide a financial literacy platform that connects more than 1.2 million students, as well as alumni and staff. iGrad is the
only organization to offer a customizable, adaptive learning financial education platform with optional<a href="http://schools.igrad.com/blog/video-entrance-exit-counseling-federal-student-loans?utm_source=iGrad%20Blog&utm_medium=PR%20UB%20Top%20Product&utm_campaign=PR"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:#428BCA;text-decoration:none"> </span></span><span style="color:#428BCA">video-based
student loan entrance and exit counseling</span></a>. Recent accolades include:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#333333;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:15.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">2013 Outstanding Consumer Information Award, Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#333333;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:15.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Best Product of 2012 & 2013, University Business magazine<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#333333;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:15.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;background:white;box-sizing: border-box">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">2013 & 2015 Education Program of the Year, The Institute for Financial Literacy<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333;background:white">- See more at: http://schools.igrad.com/blog/iGrad-and-the-University-of-Illinois-Launch-Online-Financial-Literacy-Certificate-Course-for-Educators#sthash.3s3tSOON.dpuf</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Edgar Rodriguez<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Marketing Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">888-694-4723 Ext. 321<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><img border="0" width="100" height="50" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D0782A.914EBB40" alt="main-logo-transparent-small"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Your Future. Our Focus<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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