The initial model for MSFCP began in 2015 at Westchester Community College (WCC). The Money Smart Forum, MSFCP 1.0, demonstrated significant results in helping students increase savings, reduce debt, achieve financial goals, improve persistence and retention, and attain higher rates of credential completion. These positive results were largely attributed to the one-on-one financial coaching provided by professionally trained coaches. As a result, JPMorganChase decided to invest in a three-year grant, MSFCP 2.0, by selecting the National Council for Workforce Education, (NCWE), to lead the grant. The purpose of this grant was to determine if MSFCP could be successfully implemented at other colleges: community and technical colleges, HBCUs and four-year universities.

As anticipated, the additional colleges posted similar results at WCC as early as year one in the grant cycle. One of the colleges expressed an interest in developing a personal finance course which blends traditional college coursework with individualized coaching. The initial pilot, MSFCP 3.0, showed promising results. This created an opportunity for the next funding cycle for JPMorganChase to make the program more sustainable, by sharing more of the cost of delivery with the colleges. As a result, JPMorganChase invested in a new grant project, MSFCP 4.0, in which a personal finance course is co-delivered with college faculty and JPMorganChase Community Managers and combined with one-one-one financial coaching. This model moves the program from being solely dependent on grant funding to a blended model in which colleges utilize local funding to deliver the course and JPMorganChase provides funding for the coaching and other ancillary activities.

See below for more details on each phase of the project.