Does Debtor Financial Education Matter

ABI Resident Scholar Laura Bartell (Wayne State University Law School) visits with Prof. Katherine Porter (University of Iowa College of Law) and Prof. Deborah Thorne (Ohio University) about their recent empirical study concerning debtors' perception of the financial management course requirement mandated by BAPCPA. The study found that while many debtors express optimism about the future benefits of financial education, only about one in three debtors believes financial education could have prevented their bankruptcy. The findings have implications for designing financial education curricula and for understanding the causal relationship between financial distress and financial knowledge.