TAMPA — The TV Muma College of Business community recently celebrated the launch of the Grow Financial Literacy and Planning Clinic, a new initiative dedicated to expanding access to financial education and teaching students and the local community the fundamentals of personal financial planning.
Leaders, faculty, partners, and student financial coaches gathered to recognize the clinic’s mission of empowering individuals through financial literacy and personalized planning support.
The clinic, created in partnership with Grow Financial Federal Credit Union, provides student coaches with hands-on experience while helping community members navigate important financial topics, including budgeting, saving, credit management, and long-term financial planning.
Photo by Sadie Stetson, USF Muma College of Business
Photo by Elizabeth L. Brown, USF Muma College of Business
Housed in USF’s Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance, the clinic collaborates with several organizations and programs at USF, including Bull2Bull, a peer-to-peer financial education program, and the College of Education’s Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education, which hosts workshops for teachers to incorporate financial literacy into the K–12 curriculum.
Local high school educators recently attended the summer workshop, "Empowering High School Educators: A Three-Day Institute for Teaching Personal Finance,” held June 24-26 at the Stavros Center, where the clinic’s student coaches co-presented several topics with Stavros Center master teachers.
“When we invest in teachers, we multiply our impact. Every educator who leaves our Summer Institute with greater confidence in teaching personal finance has the potential to influence hundreds of students each year,” said Peter Trakas, director of the Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education.
Photos by Alexander Ponder, USF College of Education
Since the clinic’s launch in spring 2026, student financial coaches have presented educational workshops in USF and high school classrooms, covering topics such as budgeting, debt management, credit and loans.
The student-coach-led roadshow continues this fall. Local high school teachers or community organizations can request that a student financial coach visit and present a financial literacy workshop.
“What’s really exciting about this program is that we’re able to provide a valuable service to the community, and it provides a fantastic experiential learning opportunity for our personal financial planning students,” said Tim Greer, director of the personal financial planning program at USF.
Supporters emphasized the importance of accessible financial education and the impact the clinic will have on students and the Tampa Bay community.
Photos by Sadie Stetson, USF Muma College of Business
"Our purpose is to make things grow, and when we think about how we can help people grow their financial lives, it’s really about the spending habits, their saving habits, and what does credit mean?” said Thomas Feindt, CEO of Grow Financial.
Student coaches said going into classrooms to share the fundamentals of financial planning has been rewarding.
“My biggest takeaway has been students reaching out to me after presentations and saying that what we’ve talked to them about has truly transformed their lives and has impacted their financial literacy,” said Neil Foley, a student financial coach.