Student Model/Clinic

In this model, college students are recruited and trained as paid coaches, meeting with coaching participants from the community often in a “clinic” setting.  Clinics may be drop-in or by-appointment and while multiple visits are encouraged, they are not required.  Supervision by a Certified Financial Planner or professional advisor or coach at the clinics is an additional component to this model which provides support and oversight to the student coaches.

A recent pilot program was run in Madison, WI called “2010 Financial Coaching Clinic (PDF)” where five undergraduate students majoring in Financial Planning were trained as both participant recruiters and financial coaches.  They were paid for their time and scheduled like a part-time job.  The students recruited participants from the VITA tax preparation site and signed them up for a half-hour coaching session to take place some time in the 12 weeks to follow.  Certified Financial Planners attended the clinics and were able to provide referrals and advice to students and participants when needed.  Participants were asked to sign up for subsequent coaching sessions with their coach at the end of each session.

In the video below Rob McCalla describes what would motivate coaching participants, students, and Certified Financial Planners to be involved in a Student Coaching Clinic.