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Borkowsi equips students for financial success
 By Scott Schrage
Doug Borkowski may be best known for his “Weekly Financial Tips” – tidbits of advice he’s been e-mailing to Iowa State students for the past several years – but he makes much of his impact face to face as the director of the ISU Financial Counseling Clinic.
“It’s providing students with education in an area that they’re going to use throughout their lifetime,” Borkowski said of the clinic, one of only three in the nation to offer both professional and peer-to-peer assistance to students.
“I try to simplify financial literacy down to communication, education, and goals,” he said. “I want to get [students] to a point where they at least know to ask the right questions – where they can say, ‘I remember that diversification of investments is important. I might not know exactly how to accomplish that, but I’ve got to ask that question.’”
Borkowski noted that a lackluster job market and the pitfalls of the credit system – including credit card and student loan debt – are two of the biggest challenges facing students today. Overcoming them starts with a willingness to confront bad financial habits and a lack of education, he said.
“Once students have done that, they’ve made it over the first big hurdle: They’ve pulled their heads out of the sand.”
In order to help students deal with their financial issues – which range from budgeting troubles and debt burdens to job benefit concerns and investment worries – Borkowski asks them open-ended questions aimed at eliciting valuable information.
“‘What happened in the past? When did things get out of hand?’ You don’t want to dwell on the problem, but you have to gather [that] information,” Borkowski said. “You’re finding out about their literacy level and what they need to work on from an education perspective. [It’s] really brainstorming and developing a plan.”
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