Under the direction of Dr. Cynthia Harter, the Eastern Kentucky University Center for Economic Education works to improve decision-making and understanding of economics by equipping students as well as K-12 teachers with knowledge, resources, and networks that help them understand and teach economics, personal finance, and entrepreneurship.
The EKU Center is part of the Coalition for Financial Literacy in the Commonwealth, a regional partnership among central Kentucky economic educators. This group collaborates with local banks annually to offer a free professional development conference for K-12 teachers in economics and personal finance. Teachers are provided with content and resources that are aligned with the Kentucky Department of Education Academic Standards in these content areas.
The Kentucky Master Teacher of Personal Finance Program was developed and launched in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to prepare middle- and high-school teachers to meet an unfunded mandate to provide financial literacy as a graduation requirement. This intensive hybrid program is provided annually at no cost to Kentucky teachers during the summer and is aligned with state standards. Opportunities are provided for participants to stay connected after completing the program.
The EKU Center for Economic Education offers a campus-wide, annual Financial Literacy Fair to increase awareness of the importance of financial literacy and to improve knowledge of personal finance content among college students. We also work with education professors to provide workshops designed for undergraduate education methods classes to increase future teachers’ knowledge of economics content and how to teach it at various grade levels.
For more information about the EKU Center or to register for programs, visit the Center for Economic Education or email econed@eku.edu.
