The burden of student loan debt on 25 to 34-year-olds weighs heavily, with an average amount of $33,173. This significant figure represents the financial burden carried by young adults in their pursuit of education and opportunities. If you were wondering why a lot of younger people in particular seemed so stressed out about the fact that student loan repayments are beginning again, that single statistic should help you understand why.
However, it is important to note that the average age of credit union members is currently 53 years old, which falls outside the age range mentioned earlier. This raises an interesting question: how can your credit union help the younger generation?
While it is true that credit union members are not getting any younger, there is an opportunity to expand your reach. By offering personalized services and financial assistance to younger members, specifically addressing the student loan crisis, you have the opportunity to empower the next generation of leaders.
FLEX Member Services: Your Key to Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders
Offer a Personal Consultation
One of the best ways that your credit union can help with student loan-related challenges is offering personal consultations to those in need. Keep in mind that about 46% of people with student loans don't actually know how much they owe, and about 57% don't even know who they owe it to.
Providing personalized consultations will not only help individuals establish a solid base to work from but also enable you to offer tailored repayment advice based on their existing financial products and services. Help people find out how much they owe and create an action plan to repay it.
Lean Into Financial Education Workshops
Imagine the power of a personal consultation magnified to operate on a larger scale, where your influence transcends individual lives and extends to the betterment of an entire community. Instead of aiding people on a one-on-one basis, you have the potential to make a difference on a collective level.
And if you ever doubt whether such an audience exists to warrant your efforts, reconsider your stance. The stark reality is that today, approximately half of all students are departing their educational journeys burdened by the weight of student debt. This staggering statistic not only underscores the immense need for support and guidance, but also serves as a compelling testament to the significance of addressing this issue comprehensively.
Create Online Resources
Finally, consider taking the resources that you're creating for these personal consultations and financial education workshops and turning them into something that anyone can see online. It doesn't matter if they're currently a member or not. Spend time generating high-quality eBooks, white papers, blog posts, videos, and more. Put them on your website and promote them via your credit union's social media.
As people find them helpful, those who aren't already members will likely consider becoming one--or at least, they'll know you're out there when they didn't before. Those who are members become more likely to stay that way as they grow older and have more disposable income.
Putting Members First: Empowering the Next Generation with FLEX Member Services
In the end, this is all just another example of one of the most important jobs of any credit union: serving your members whenever possible. They have needs, and you have the technology to meet them. They have problems (be they student loan-related or otherwise), and you have the insight and expertise needed to solve them. This "Member First" approach doesn't just make a positive impression in the short-term--it also helps breed the type of trust and loyalty that will continue to span the generations as well.
Download our FLEX Member Services guide to find out about even more ways that you can help empower the next generation of America's leaders, or contact us today with any additional questions that you may have.
