The Center for Financial Education will not only carry out applied research projects but also, among other things, evaluate existing teaching activities and develop new programs. It will also focus on advancing financial literacy among children and young people, especially from educationally disadvantaged families, and on improving educational and career orientation opportunities for girls and women. The center also sets out to help strengthen the business education expertise of teachers, improve the quality of teaching materials, and develop digital learning opportunities.

Setting the sights on the future of society

Bettina Fuhrmann, WU professor and head of the WU Institute for Business Education, points out, “Financial education is crucial for the future of our society. With our new Center for Financial Education, we want to strengthen the financial literacy of everyone in Austria, regardless of their age and prior knowledge. We cordially invite companies and organizations to get involved so that we can join forces and have a positive impact on financial literacy in Austria together.” Austrian Finance Minister Magnus Brunner gave the keynote speech at the opening ceremony. He says, “Challenges such as inflation clearly show just how essential financial skills really are. People who have learned to manage their finances well have a decisive advantage. To strengthen financial education and highlight how it can help people lead an independent and worry-free financial life, the Ministry of Finance, together with a wide range of stakeholders, launched Austria’s National Financial Literacy Strategy in 2021 – and 135 measures have already been implemented so far. With its newly opened Center for Financial Education, WU is making an important contribution to advancing and disseminating this topic.”

Austria’s largest and longest-standing business education center

WU’s Institute for Business Education has an outstanding reputation, nationally and internationally. It is a hub for partnerships with companies, schools, and other educational institutions and plays a leading role in Austria as the country’s largest and most long-standing institution of business education. By opening the Center for Financial Education, the institute has now established a central point of contact for many existing and forthcoming activities that aim to improve financial literacy in Austria, such as the Moneywise or Financial Literacy Coaches projects. With WU4Juniors, WU launched a free educational program in 2019 – based on an initiative by WU Rector Edeltraud Hanappi-Egger – to teach fundamental business and economics knowledge to young people. A part of this program also deals with financial topics. As Rector Hanappi-Egger points out, “In the long run, WU wants to strengthen economic literacy in Austria as a whole with all of these activities.”

Find out more about the Center for Financial Education

Contact:
Cornelia Moll
Press Relations Officer
Tel: + 43-1-31336-4977
Email: cornelia.moll@wu.ac.at