Arkansas Grant Packet

Use this sample application as a guide to complete the Investor Education Grant Program form and support student access to PersonalFinanceLab.

Grant Application Form: https://securities.arkansas.gov/grant-application/

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Example Responses by Arkansas Form Field

For the following questions, please amend them to fit your unique situation. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team at sales@PersonalFinanceLab.com.

Brief description of the School or Organization and past securities or investment education

River Valley High School is a public high school serving 780 students in grades 9-12 in Conway, Arkansas. Students participate in college and career readiness pathways that include Personal Finance, Economics, and CTE Business Foundations.

Our current financial literacy instruction covers budgeting, saving, credit management, and identity theft prevention. We are requesting grant support to expand securities and investment education through PersonalFinanceLab, a standards-aligned platform with market simulations, interactive calculators, and measurable student progress data.

Project Description

A) Educational Needs this project will address, including student population description

Our student population includes first-generation college-bound students, students planning to enter the workforce right after graduation, and students with different levels of prior exposure to investing and long-term financial planning. Many students have had limited opportunities to practice real-world financial decision-making in a structured setting. This project addresses the need for practical, age-appropriate securities and investment instruction that is engaging, measurable, and aligned to Arkansas personal finance outcomes. Through PersonalFinanceLab, students will apply concepts such as investing research, risk and return, diversification, interest rates, saving and borrowing decisions, through hands-on simulations.

B) Learning Objectives for Students

By the end of the project, students will be able to explain key investing concepts such as risk and return, diversification, and compound interest, compare common investment options like stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds, apply portfolio decision-making strategies in simulated market conditions, interpret market data and justify investment choices using evidence from their virtual portfolios, and demonstrate measurable gains in financial literacy on standards-aligned pre- and post-assessments.

C) Specific description of project, including project time period, time dedicated to project, learning activities, and benefits

The project will run from August 19, 2025 through May 22, 2026. Six teachers will integrate PersonalFinanceLab into Personal Finance, Economics, and CTE Business Foundations for about two class sessions per week over 28 instructional weeks. Students will complete mini-lessons on saving, borrowing, credit, and investing basics, and practice their investment decisions in a virtual portfolio simulation, standards-aligned activities, and teacher-led discussions tied to current events and market behavior, along with graded quizzes and unit checks for mastery. We expect this to increase engagement in financial literacy topics, strengthen understanding of market behavior and investor decision-making, build student confidence in evaluating financial products and risk, and better prepare students for postsecondary, military, and workforce financial decisions.

Description of Measurable Outcomes

Program outcomes will be measured using clear classroom indicators: 780 students will participate in required activities, at least 90% of participating students will complete assigned modules and simulations, students will show an average gain of at least 20% from pre-assessment to post-assessment, and at least 80% of students will score at the proficient level on standards-aligned investment and personal finance assessments. We will also track implementation fidelity by documenting usage from all six teachers across the full project period. Evidence sources include PersonalFinanceLab reports, assignment completion exports, pre/post assessment results, and gradebook data.

Other school resources that will be dedicated to this project

River Valley High School will dedicate teacher time for implementation, facilitation, and grading, existing 1:1 student device access and classroom internet connectivity, scheduled instructional time within Personal Finance, Economics, and CTE sections, campus and district administrative support for compliance and reporting, and teacher collaboration time during monthly PLC meetings.

Itemized Project Budget (Attach cost estimates for each item requested)

Requested grant funds of $6,240 will be used exclusively for securities and investment education implementation through PersonalFinanceLab.

  • PersonalFinanceLab site license (student seats): 780 students x $8.00 = $6,240.00
  • Implementation and onboarding support: Included in site license ($0)
  • Teacher/admin accounts and reporting tools: Included in site license ($0)
  • Market Insight Widgets and supplemental resources: Included in site license ($0)

Pricing Guidance

Please contact our sales team by email at sales@PersonalFinanceLab.com or Request a Quote if you need any assistance to complete this section of the form.

You can also go to the Order Now page and select Stock Game only, Budget Game only or both, and enter the total number of students who will require access to the platform. The bulk discounts will be automatically applied after you click Add to Cart.