Charles Schwab Foundation gift to enhance UGA financial planning program

A significant gift from Schwab Advisor Services in partnership with the Charles Schwab Foundation will establish a new center at the University of Georgia focused on enhancing student-centered service-learning in financial services and financial literacy initiatives for students, teachers and communities.

The gift will fund the UGA Financial Resilience and Education Center within the College of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) as well as major renovations to office spaces where students gain immersive experiential learning opportunities by providing faculty-supervised, free financial planning services to Georgia residents.

Significant support for the center is also being provided by Schorn Wealth, Signature FD and Homrich Berg Wealth. Their endowed gifts will provide enduring support for the center to deliver programming, innovative research and implement statewide strategies.

The support also will enable the creation of a high school personal finance training program and strengthen statewide educational outreach for schools and communities.

“We are incredibly grateful for the Charles Schwab Foundation’s partnership and their generous support of our financial planning program,” said Swarn Chatterjee, the Bluerock Professor of Financial Planning in FACS. “This donation will not only provide our students with state-of-the-art facilities but will also allow us to significantly expand our financial planning outreach efforts, bringing critical financial education to underserved communities and schools across Georgia.”

The Schwab gift will allow the college to renovate one of four historic 1930s-era buildings that originally served as “home management houses,” where FACS students lived and oversaw all operations involved in managing a home as part of their graduation requirements.

The buildings have housed faculty and graduate student offices and meeting spaces since the home management course was phased out in the 1980s.

A gift from Schwab Advisor Services and the Charles Schwab Foundation in 2019 allowed for a complete renovation of an adjacent building that now serves as the Charles Schwab Financial Planning Center.

“The Schwab Foundation has supported our program for years, and this latest investment is a testament to their belief in our faculty and students,” FACS Dean Anisa Zvonkovic said. “Our students and faculty have benefited greatly from this partnership, and by extension, so have thousands of Georgia residents who have received free tax preparation services through our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. As trusted community members, we are looking forward to even broader impact as we lead the development and implementation of the personal finance curriculum in high schools statewide.”

The latest gift from Schwab will elevate three strategic areas of the FACS financial planning program: expanded income tax assistance for individuals working with the IRS; broader financial planning offerings for low and moderate income individuals; creation of a Georgia high school teacher training in personal finance program and support statewide financial education training for communities and schools.

“We are extremely grateful to the Charles Schwab Foundation, Schorn Wealth, Signature FD and Homrich Berg Wealth for this funding that enables rich experiential learning to be integrated into the curriculum through service-learning initiatives and enhanced course designs,” said faculty member Lance Palmer, the Janette McGarity Barber Professor in FACS. “These opportunities create a strong bridge for students as they cross into the financial planning profession.”

The FACS financial planning program is registered with the CFP^® Board of Standards and has been ranked as one of the top 10 programs in the country by Financial Planning Magazine.

The college’s financial planning program was first registered with the CFP® Board in 2001 and started with just seven students. There are now well over 200 undergraduates and approximately 80 graduate students in the program.

“We’re excited and proud to play a role in establishing the UGA Financial Resilience and Education Center,” said Jon Beatty, Head of Schwab Advisor Services. “Knowing that we are working alongside independent advisory firms who are also supporting UGA makes this initiative especially gratifying. Together, we can help students pursue their goals and also raise awareness of the important role independent advisors play not only in serving their clients, but also in serving their communities.”