USLS STUDENTS’ LEVEL OF FINANCIAL LITERACY

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

Major in Marketing Management

Bacolod, Donna Ross E.

Mantalaba, Gia Christina L.

Montelijao, Derrick Raphael D.

Morancil, Trexie Marie P.

Panie, Katherine Nicole D.

Ms. Geraldine Abella

May 2024
 Introduction

Financial literacy is also the ability of an individual to understand and effectively use

various financial abilities, such as personal financial management, budgeting, and investing

(Fernando, 2024). It is the knowledge to make informed decisions about how to manage your

financial resources. Having financial literacy is a life skill that is needed to achieve financial

security and individual well-being, economic growth and overall sustainable development

(Zaimovic et al., 2023). It is important in understanding and guiding an individual into making

economic decisions as it affects variables such as retirement planning, financial inclusion, return

on wealth, risk diversification, etc (Oke & Benedict, 2024; Zaimovic et al., 2023).

Specific Objectives

1. What is the profile of the USLS students in terms of :

a. Sex

b. College

c. Year level

2. What is the students’ awareness of financial products and services?

3. What is the students’ level of financial attitudes and behavior when taken as a whole and

grouped according to:

a. Sex

b. College

c. Year level

4. What is the students’ level of financial knowledge when taken as a whole and grouped

according to:
 a. Sex

b. College

c. Year level

5. Is there a significant difference in the students’ level of financial attitudes and behavior

when grouped according to:

a. Sex

b. College

c. Year level

6. Is there a significant difference in the students’ level of financial knowledge when

grouped according to:

a. Sex

b. College

c. Year Level

Conceptual Framework

The purpose of this study is to determine the University of St. La Salle-Bacolod college

students', specifically from the College of Business and Accountancy and College of Engineering

and Technology, level of financial attitude, behavior, and knowledge. The participants’ profiles

will be gathered in terms of sex, college, and yearlevel.

The participants’ demographic profile will be utilized to determine their level of financial

attitude, behavior, and knowledge. Participants will be asked questions regarding their awareness

of financial products, financial attitudes and behaviors, and financial knowledge.

Scope and Limitations

This study aims to determine the level of financial awareness, attitude and behavior, and

knowledge of USLS College students in terms of their sex, college, and year level. The study

will only accommodate a total of 100 participants from the two chosen colleges of USLS: 50

participants from the College of Business and Accountancy and another 50 participants from the

College of Engineering and Technology. Researchers will begin gathering the data in the second

week of April and will automatically end once a total of 100 participants are completed.
Definition of Terms

Financial Literacy. It refers to the ability to understand and apply different financial

skills effectively, including personal financial management, budgeting, and saving.

Financial Awareness. It refers to the understanding and knowledge of various aspects of

personal finance, including budgeting, saving, investing, debt management, and more.

Financial Knowledge. Refers to the objective mastery of financial definitions, terms and

concepts.

Financial Attitudes and Behavior. Attitude is a state of mind of a person about finances

which is generally a resultant of his background and environment, while financial behavior

concerns a human's action with respect to money management.

 Methods

Research Design

This study will use descriptive quantitative research design as researchers aim to gather

data for statistical analysis of a specific population and will identify the demographic variables

such as sex, college, and year level.

A quantitative research design consists of gathering and analyzing numerical data. It is

mostly used in natural and social sciences, including, economics, marketing, chemistry, etc., also

used in making predictions, test causal relationships between variables, and generalize results to

wider populations (Bhandari, 2020).

Participants

The participants of the study are a total of a hundred and three (103) students of

University of St. La Salle from the colleges of Yu An Log College of Business and Accountancy

(YAL-CBA) and College of Engineering (CET). This will cover up from ages 19 to 25 years old.

The total number enumerated by customers will be used as the descriptive quantitative research

design of the study.

Research Instrument

Researchers will use a survey questionnaire aimed at gathering data to answer the

objectives of this study. The survey questionnaire will be divided into four distinct sections.

The first section will determine the demographic profile of participants in terms of their

name(optional), age, sex, college, and year level.

 In the second section, participants will be provided with check boxes where they will be

given two choices,which is a yes and a no, to identify whether they are aware of the financial

products and services available.

For the third section, a 5-point likert scale is used to determine the level of Financial

attitudes and behaviors of USLS College Students. The following verbal interpretations will be

utilized: 1 - Very Agree, 2 - Agree, 3 - Neither, 4 - Disagree, 5 - Very Disagree.

And the fourth section is in the mixture of multiple choices and long answer text, which

enable researchers to identify the level of financial knowledge of USLS College Students.

Statistical Treatment

The following statistical tools will be used in answering each specific objectives of the

study:

For the first and second objective, which is the demographic profile of the participants, a

frequency distribution table will be used to determine the categorical variables such as sex,

college, and year level.

The third and fourth objective will utilize the mean and standard deviation to identify the

participants’ level of Financial attitude, behavior and knowledge when grouped according to sex,

college, and year level. Moreover, the level of financial attitude and behavior will be interpreted

using the following interpretations: 1.0 - 1.49 - Very high, 1.50-2.49 - High, 2.50-3.49 -

Moderate, 3.50-4.49 - Low, 4.50-5.00 - High. The level of financial knowledge will be measured

using the interpretation of the mean sum; 0 - 2.32 low, 2.33 - 4.65 moderate, 4.66 - 7.0 high.

For the fifth and sixth objective, to determine the significant difference in both levels of

financial attitude and behavior and financial knowledge of the participants. Mann-Whitney will
be used for sex and college, to test whether the variance of these two variables are equal or not.

As for the year level,a One-Way ANOVA Kruskal-Wallis test will be used, as the variable has

more than three samples and to determine any significant difference among the four samples of a

continuous independent variable.

Data Gathering Procedure

Researchers will identify and select the participants, specifically students from the

College of Business and Accountancy and the College of Engineering and Technology, and will

proceed with the gathering of data. The proponents are to gather data through online surveys

with the use of Google Forms at the University of St. La Salle-Bacolod.

 Results and Discussion

The table below shows the demographic profile of the participants used to determine the

following: (a) level of awareness of financial products and services; (b) level of financial

attitudes and behavior; and (c) level of financial knowledge among the USLS College students.

Table 1

Profile of the Respondents

Variable Category f %
Sex Female 51 49.5%
Male 52 50.5%
College College of Business 52 50.5%
and Accountancy
College of 51 49.5%
Engineering and
Technology
Year Level 1st Year 18 17.5%
2nd Year 16 15.5%
3rd Year 44 42.7%
4th Year 25 24.3%
 The table below shows the level of awareness of the different financial products and

services among USLS College students. As shown in the table, mobile payments (98.1%),

savings accounts (92.2%), prepaid debit cards/payment cards (89.3%), insurance (84.5%), and

credit cards (83.5%) have the highest cumulative percentage. Which indicates that most of the

participants are familiar with these financial products and services.

Table 2

Awareness on Financial Products and Services

Financial Yes No Yes,No

Products and
Services
(f) % (f) % (f) %
Mobile 101 98.1% 2 1.9%
Payments (e.g.
GCash and
PayMaya)
Savings 95 92.2% 8 7.8%
Account
Prepaid Debit 92 89.3% 11 10.7%
Card/Payment
Card
Insurance 87 84.5% 16 15.5%
Credit Card 86 83.5% 17 16,5%
Stocks and 75 72.8% 28 27.2%
Share
Investment 65 61.5% 37 35.9% 1 1.0%
Account (e.g.
Unit Trust)
Bonds 63 61.2% 40 38.8%
Crypto Assets 61 59.2% 41 39.8% 1 1.0%
 The table shows the level of financial attitudes and behaviors of the USLS College

students if taken as a whole and when grouped according to sex, college, and year level. The

results emphasize that participants have a high to moderate level of financial attitudes and

behaviors in terms of sex, college, and grade level.

Table 3

Level of Financial Attitudes and Behaviors

Variable Category Mean Std. Deviation Interpretation

As a whole

Sex Female 2.39 0.440 High

Male 2.54 0.441 Moderate

College College of 2.54 0.424 Moderate

Business and
Accountancy
College of 2.39 0.454 High
Engineering and
Technology
Year level 1st year 2.55 0.474 Moderate
2nd year 2.41 0.304 High
3rd year 2.41 0.503 High
4th year 2.55 0.380 Moderate
 The table shows the level of financial knowledge of USLS College students if taken as a

whole and when grouped according to sex, college, and year level. The results highlight that

participants have a high level of financial knowledge in terms of sex, college, and year level.

Table 4

Level of Financial Knowledge

Variable Category Mean Std. Deviation Interpretation

As a whole

Sex Female 5.41 1.06 High

Male 5.27 1.09 High

College College of 5.44 1.07 High

Business and
Accountancy
College of 5.24 1.07 High
Engineering and
Technology
Year level 1st year 5.44 0.856 High
2nd year 4.50 1.095 High
3rd year 5.70 0.930 High
4th year 5.16 1.143 High

Use the interpretation table for the level of financial attitudes below:

1.0 - 1.49 - Very high

1.50-2.49 - High
2.50-3.49 - Moderate
3.50-4.49 - Low
4.50-5.00 - High
 The table shows the difference in the level of financial attitudes and behavior of the

USLS College students when grouped according to sex, college, and year level. The

Mann-Whitney test was used for both sex and college, using normality and homogeneity testing

to determine whether the variance and distribution are equal or normal. While year level used

one-way ANOVA Kruskal-Wallis, as the homogeneity test was not equal, but the normality test

states that it has a normal distribution. The results state that there is no significant difference in

the level of financial attitudes and behavior in terms of sex, college, and grade level.

Table 5
Difference in the Level of Financial Attitudes and Behavior

Variable Category N Mean Sd df P Decision

Sex Male 52 2.39 0.440 1 0.136 Do not
Reject
Female 51 2.54 0.441
Year 1st year 18 2.54 0.424 3 0.394 Do not
Level Reject
2nd year 16 2.39 0.454
3rd year 44 2.55 0.474
4th year 25 2.41 0.304
College College of 52 2.41 0.503 1 0.954 Do not
Business Reject
and
Accounta
ncy
College of 51 2.55 0.380
Engineeri
ng and
Technolog
y
 The table shows the difference in the level of financial knowledge of USLS College

students when grouped according to sex, college, and year level. The Mann-Whitney test was

used for both sex and college using normality and homogeneity testing to determine whether the

variance and distribution are equal or not. While year level used one-way ANOVA

Kruskal-Wallis, as the homogeneity test was not equal, the normality test states that it has a

normal distribution. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in the level of

financial knowledge in terms of sex and college, while there is a significant difference in

financial knowledge at the year level, as the P-value (<0.001) is less than 0.05.

Table 5
Difference in the Level of Financial Knowledge

Variable Category N Mean Sd df P Decision

Sex Male 52 5.41 1.06 1 0.369 Do not
Reject
Female 51 5.27 1.09
Year 1st year 18 5.44 1.07 3 <0.001 Reject
Level
2nd year 16 5.24 1.07
3rd year 44 5.44 0.856
4th year 25 4.50 1.095
College College of 52 5.70 0.930 1 0.82 Do not
Business Reject
and
Accounta
ncy
College of 51 5.16 1.143
Engineeri
ng and
Technolog
y
 Conclusion

In conclusion, this study was conducted to determine the level of financial literacy among

USLS college students, specifically from the College of Business and Accountancy and College

of Engineering and Technology, in terms of sex, college, and year level. Findings reveal that

Mobile Payments such as GCash and PayMaya (98.1%), Savings Account (92.2%), Payment

Card (89.3%), Insurance (84.5%), and Credit Card (83.5%) are most aware of these financial

products and services. Participants have a moderate to high level of financial attitudes and

behaviors in terms of sex, college, and year level. And in the level of financial knowledge,

participants have a high result in terms of sex, college, and year level. There is no significant

difference in the level of financial attitudes and behaviors of USLS college students in terms of

sex (P-value = 0.136), college (P-value = 0.394) and year level (P-value = 0.954). As the P-value

in each variable is greater than 0.05. For the Level of Financial Knowledge of USLS college

students, sex (P-value = 0.369) and College (P-value = 0.82) is greater than 0.05 which indicates

that there is no significant difference in the level of financial knowledge. And a significant

difference in the level of financial knowledge of participants is shown in their year level

(P_value = <0.001).
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