Abstract
M.Com. (International Accounting)
The research report examines the impact that the SAICA Competency Framework, through the Bachelor of Accounting degree, has on the development of personal financial literacy of undergraduate students studying to become Chartered Accountants by measuring their personal financial literacy in order to determine if the score increases as the students’ education progresses.
The research conducts a survey of 652 undergraduate students to measure their personal financial literacy using an internationally developed instrument, the 2008 Jump$tart survey. The score obtained is compared to the 60 per cent passing grade, used as a benchmark in the 2008 Jump$tart survey, to be considered financially literate or not, noting whether the score increases as students’ education progresses.
The research findings indicate that the Bachelor of Accounting degree students of 2015 at the University of Johannesburg possess reasonable levels of personal financial literacy when measured against the international benchmark, as respondents answered an average of 61 per cent of the questions correctly. Scores of personal financial literacy improve with each academic year, supporting the results per the 2008 Jump$tart survey of an increasing trend in financial literacy scores of college students. The statistical findings however indicate that the SAICA Competency Framework, through the Bachelor of Accounting degree, does not seem to have had a statistically significant impact on the personal financial literacy of students as their education progresses.