"This study examines the level of credit knowledge that 574 college aged students have. The data was collected through a survey that was advertised to College of Business students, Honors students, and fellow Iowa State students via social media. It comprised of three main categories: basic credit knowledge, current borrowing habits, and credit education received. These basic categories, in addition to demographic characteristics, account for all 27 questions in the survey. The main conclusions that can be drawn from this research include 1) Students need more education to learn about what factors determine their credit score 2) Students are underutilizing resources on campus 3) 27% of students do not know what their credit scores is 4) 56% of students were unaware that personal finance courses are offered at Iowa State and 77% of those students would now consider taking a personal finance course and 5) Students could use help mainly with budgeting and understanding their credit report.

All of these 5 conclusions could be fixed by implementing such tactics into the new freshman financial literacy course, Cyclone CashCourse. It is hopeful that this standardized course will provide necessary additional resources for students to improve their financial education levels."