A Research on College Students Financial Literacy Level

The purpose of this study is to assess the level of financial literacy among the students of Hacettepe University and to reveal the association between their financial behaviors and their financial attitudes with their financial literacy as well as the association between their financial behaviors and their financial attitudes. The scores of financial literacy, financial behavior, and financial attitude of 500 participants who are currently studying at Hacettepe University were assessed; and the focus of the study was examined by taking various socio-economic, demographic and defining variables into account. As a result, the study revealed that students responded correctly to 53.62% of questions related to financial literacy, indicating that they reached a medium level in financial literacy. Average performance of students in financial behavior was=3,34 and average score in financial attitude was also at a medium level, i.e.=2,91. There was a significant linear correlation between the financial literacy scores and the financial behavior scores of students, and between their financial literacy scores and their financial attitude scores while the results also indicated a positive but low linear association between the students’ financial behavior scores and their financial attitude scores. Students of the Faculty of Dentistry scored the highest in this study followed by the students of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine . On the other hand, students at the Faculty of Conservatory scored the lowest in the financial literacy test. Furthermore, students of the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences ranked the tenth with their financial literacy performance among all the other faculties.

Keywords:

financial literacy , financial behavior , financial attitude