CAL Community High School in Latimer was recognized last week as the first school to have a group of students complete the Iowa Financial Literacy Program.

The program is an effort by the Iowa College Student Aid Commission (ICSAC), partnering with the Iowa Bankers Association, using interactive Web software from EverFi Inc. The goal is to help reduce the fourth-highest average college student debt in the nation by educating students at the high school level about how to manage money wisely, using the program’s video and animated teaching methods.

Students work through 10 lesson modules, and the whole course is designed to take about six hours to complete.

The program has drawn good reviews from across the political spectrum, and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds spoke to students in Latimer last week who received financial literacy certification – a formal way of recognizing graduates of the program. A group of 22 juniors and seniors at the school completed the course.

The program went live during the current spring semester at Iowa schools. It has been implemented at 46 schools with 1,462 students across the state using it, according to an ICSAC spokesperson. Currently 176 students have been certified, completing the program either on their own or through an economics or business education class.

ICSAC is in the process of launching a kindergarten through fifth grade portal in elementary schools.