GradSense

GradSense, from the Council of Graduate Schools

The Division of Graduate Studies at UC Santa Cruz is a partner in the Council of Graduate Schools’ (CGS) “Enhancing Student Financial Education” project, an effort in collaboration with TIAA-CREF to inform graduate and undergraduate students about financial issues. The GradSense tools and resources were developed for students as they plan for academic and professional career success. 

CGS has developed GradSense, a unique online education platform that provides students with financial information about a range of topics including the value of pursuing an advanced degree. Through interactive visualization tools and engaging infographics, we invite students to better understand a variety of issues related to borrowing and spending, potential future earnings, and money management.

To help students learn how to successfully manage their finances and educational costs, the Council of Graduate Schools, funded by a grant from TIAA-CREF, a leading financial services organization with a long history of serving those in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields, has launched a three-year project to enhance the financial literacy of graduate and undergraduate students. Through a competitive proposal process involving an independent selection committee, 15 institutions were selected to participate in the project as funded research partners and 19 institutions are participating as affiliate partners.

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is an organization of over 500 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada engaged in graduate education, research, and the preparation of candidates for advanced degrees. Among U.S. institutions, CGS members award 92% of the doctoral degrees and 78% of the master’s degrees.* The organization’s mission is to improve and advance graduate education, which it accomplishes through advocacy in the federal policy arena, research, and the development and dissemination of best practices. 

* Based on data from the 2012 CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees 

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