UMBC has been selected for the Enhancing Student Financial Education project, a best practice project aimed at enhancing financial education, with special emphasis on addressing the needs and understanding the financial circumstances of graduate students.

The study is funded by TIAA-CREF and is being conducted by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC dedicated solely to the advancement of graduate education and research (www.cgsnet.org). All graduate students received an official link via their UMBC email accounts for the survey.

The goal of the project is to provide best practices to universities to help them improve financial education based on the unique needs of graduate and undergraduate students. We would like to hear about your perspectives on topics such as financing your education and your exposure to financial education resources.

If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this research study, contact the Office for Research Protections and Compliance at (410) 455-2737 or compliance@umbc.edu.

To begin the survey, please use the link that was sent to your email, with the subject: "UMBC Graduate Student Financial Perspectives Survey,"then follow the online instructions. We estimate that this survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. The link from your email is uniquely tied to the survey and your email address. Please do not forward the email message.

Participants who complete the survey will be eligible for a series of drawings that lead to prizes in the form of UMBC bookstore gift cards. Participants who do not win a prize in the first drawing will be entered into subsequent drawings. Therefore, when you participate early, you have more chances to win.

• Participants who take the survey by October 4th will be entered into the drawing for a chance to win a gift card worth $250.

• Participants who take the survey between October 5th and 18th will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a gift card worth $100.

Participants who take the survey between October 19th and 31st will be entered into the drawing for a chance to win one of three gift cards worth $50.

Thank you for your participation. Please reference the link that was sent to your email on Thursday, October 3, 2013 with the subject:

UMBC Graduate Student Financial Perspectives Survey; $250, $100, $50 prizes