Since 2011, the Offi ce of the Kansas Securities

Commissioner (the KSC) has partnered with EverFi

to bring its online fi nancial literacy programs both to

high school students and—by means of an innovative

partnership with the state’s public-employee health

program—to a working adult population as well. Along

the way, its initiatives have become a model for increasing

participation in online fi nancial education through the

smart use of incentives.

“Our goal is to provide investor education,

and that starts with a fi rm foundation in basic

fi nancial literacy. EverFi fi ts into that wonderfully

because their programs provide the foundation

that every person needs in order to make smart

choices about investing. EverFi not only helped

us reach our goals, but also makes it much easier

for us to complete our mission—we don’t have to

teach people one by one, rather, we can reach a

broad audience through a single, online program.”— Shannon Stone

Director of Investor Education at the KSC

FINANCIAL LITERACY AS A HEALTH ISSUETwo key factors fueled the Commissioner’s Offi ce’s push

to make fi nancial education available to Kansans. The

fi rst was need. In a fi nancial-capability study conducted

by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, only 40%

of Kansas adults demonstrated a fundamental level of

fi nancial knowledge, highlighting a major need for fi nancial

education. The second factor was the KSC’s understanding

of the link between fi nancial health and other types of

wellbeing. “Financial problems affect people’s health,”

says Stone. “As people learn about fi nancial health, that

positively impacts their emotional and physical health

in return.”

In 2013, the Securities Commissioners Offi ce, in

collaboration with the Kansas State Bank Commissioner’s

Offi ce, partnered with Healthquest, the State of Kansas’

Health and Wellness Program, to make EverFi’s fi nancial

literacy programs available to all state employees.

Healthquest operates an incentive program, allowing

employees to earn points by participating in healthy

activities such as screenings, lifestyle coaching, and health

assessments. When participants accumulate enough

points, they can qualify for attractive benefi ts such as a

reduction in their health insurance premiums. Thanks to

the initiative of the KSC, fi nancial literacy has been added

to Healthquest’s incentive program, and participants can

now take EverFi’s online courses to accumulate points.

The Offi ce of the Kansas Securities Commissioner:Smart Incentives To Promote Financial Education

6,000 people enrolled

2.5 years of

partnership

25,000 modules completed

2,000 hours of education

The results speak for themselves: in the two-and-a-half

years since the partnership began, nearly 6,000 people

have enrolled in the financial literacy course, completing

some 25,000 modules: an impressive average of more than

four modules completed per person. This equates to more

than 2,000 hours of financial literacy education delivered to

Kansas state employees via the EverFi platform.

DRIVING TRAFFIC AND GETTING RESULTS

Determined to make a lasting difference for its employees,

the Office, spearheaded an effort involving seven different

state agencies, to launch a separate new financial and

consumer protection education website, KansasMoney.

gov for all Kansas residents. To drive traffic to the website,

the one of participating agencies, The Kansas State

Treasurer’s Office, added another initiative on behalf of the

KansasMoney.gov group: users who completed eight EverFi

modules on the website would be entered into a drawing to

win an iPad. Thanks to the initiative, kansasmoney.gov saw a

noticeable uptick in enrollments and registration.

“It’s important to recall that adults are harder to reach than

students at school,” says Stone. “They’re busy at home or on

the job, so having the EverFi @WorkTM program available to

them is fantastic. It’s not overly time consuming, and they

can work through the modules at their own pace. It’s ideal for

reaching the adult population.”

HIGH SCHOOLS, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF DATAAnother goal of the Kansas Securities Commissioner’s Office

is to reach teenagers before they enter the workforce.

For that reason, the KSC along with the State Bank

Commissioner’s Office began a partnership with Kansas

high schools in 2011. From a starting point of just eight

institutions, EverFi’s programs are now used in over half of

the state’s high schools, a remarkable achievement in just

five years.

“It has strengthened our relationship with the schools. I can’t count the number of teachers I’ve run into who have used the program. They love how easy it is to implement and use. I think the fact that we have so many repeat participants shows the strength of the program.” — Shannon Stone

Director of Investor Education at the KSC

Like the adult programs, incentives have proven valuable

in the school initiatives as well. The KSC has recently

sponsored a college scholarship essay contest for seniors

who have taken the EverFi programs. In the two years that

the contest has been offered, a total of 174 seniors have

participated, writing essays on the importance of financial

literacy and how to apply the lessons they’ve learned in their

lives as they head out to college and the workforce.

As with other state agencies, the KSC is required to present

performance data to the Kansas legislature regarding

its activities and programming. To this end, the reporting

feature of EverFi’s programs has proved extremely useful.

EverFi provides its partners with critical reports on

users, modules completed, pre- and post-test scores, and

behavioral data. “It’s nice to be able to show the usage and

successes of this program,” Stone comments. “We especially

love the data for the high school program because we’re able

to see before-and-after results, as well as how we stack up

against other states.”

A POSITIVE ROLE MODELIn its use of EverFi’s online financial education programs,

the Office of the Kansas Securities Commissioner has paved

the way for other agencies. “It’s worked out beautifully,” says

Stone. “We’ve seen some incredible returns. And because of

what we’ve been doing, other agencies have been inspired to

change the way they do things as well.” A positive role model

indeed—for Kansas and beyond.

Learn More About EverFi and Financial Education at

Everfi.com/FinancialEd