GAO Releases Report on Financial Literacy Program Certification

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Government Accountability Office has released a report to Congress on the feasibility of a process for certifying financial literacy providers. The report, mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, concludes that a federal process for certifying financial literacy providers appears to be feasible, but also would pose challenges. In preparing the report, the GAO reviewed relevant literature, focusing on evidence-based evaluations of financial literacy programs or approaches and conducted interviews in the federal, nonprofit, private and academic sectors. The agency also examined the lessons learned from the approval processes of the Trustee Program and HUD. According to the report, federal certification would require financial and staff resources for administering the process. Moreover, most financial literacy stakeholders with whom GAO spoke cited additional concerns, including the potential cost and administrative burden to certified entities, the challenge of creating a single process for certifying such a diverse field and skepticism that certification would improve the quality of financial education providers. Further, the lack of consensus about which financial literacy strategies and approaches are most effective would make certification challenging, the report concluded.