San Antonio, TX – The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI) today held its fifth Freddie Mac’s CreditSmartÒ financial literacy workshop at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) College of Business Center for Student Professional Development. Over ninety students attended this afternoon’s workshop which aims to provide students with information on how to make wise financial decisions.

During the free workshops, UTSA college students learned about consumer credit and money management, with an emphasis on preparing for the financial responsibilities of college and planning for the future. They also learned how credit plays a profound role in achieving financial goals, such as renting an apartment, buying a car or house or getting a job.

“As one of CHLI’s Congressional Board Members, I am pleased to see that college students in my district are benefiting from this tremendous financial literacy workshop. The enormous wealth of information CHLI and Freddie Mac have offered is sure to get students on the right track for establishing and maintaining good credit. Students are very capable of establishing priorities, setting limits, and heightening their level of discipline as they study—they must also apply these qualities as a consumer. The 110th Congress has made great leaps in reducing the costs for higher education, and I will continue to work hard to help alleviate the financial burdens college students and their families face,” said Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28).

“We are proud to be working with the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute to offer CreditSmartÒ and CreditSmartÒ Español workshops to college students,” said Christina Diaz-Malone, director of Freddie Mac. “We hope to better prepare students to deal with the challenges of earning an income, spending wisely and saving money. People who have a better understanding of credit and financial concepts more effectively save, budget and pay bills on time.”

CreditSmartÒ and CreditSmartÒ Español are Freddie Mac’s signature instructor led curriculum, which are being offered in partnership with the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute at academic institutions throughout the county.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac purchases single-family and multifamily residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage passthrough securities and debt instruments in the capital markets.  Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than four million renters.  For additional information about Freddie Mac, visit the company’s web site: www.freddiemac.com.

The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit and non-partisan organization dedicated to creating a broader awareness of the diversity of thought, heritage, interests and views of Americans of Hispanic and Portuguese descent.  For more information, please visit CHLI’s web site: www.chli.org

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