The Center for Financial Literacy

The Center for Financial Literacy is a partnership among several financial institutions, non-profit entities and governmental agencies. Champlain College hopes to increase financial literacy in classrooms across our nation, ensure college students graduate with the skills to make sound decisions about spending, credit and investments, and help adults navigate difficult financial situations like buying a home and saving for retirement. The Center advocates for more financial education opportunities at the local, state and national level. John Pelletier of Stowe, Director of the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College, is a former chief operating officer and chief legal officer at some of the largest asset management firms in the U. S..

A lack of knowledge about credit, investing and financial planning is at the heart of the recent economic downturn. "The Great Recession demonstrated that our citizens struggle when making complex financial decisions that are critical to their well being. Some of our economic problems were created by bad actors, focused on personal gain, but so many others were created by good people making poorly informed personal financial decisions," notes the Center's director, John Pelletier.

The Center has launched a variety of programs aimed at increasing the personal finance sophistication of our citizens.