Pony Finance 101

In this episode of Poney Finance 101, we’re joined by Manuel Serrato, an SMU senior and Political Science major who transferred from community college. Manuel shares his unique journey navigating the financial realities of transferring to a four-year university—from managing tuition differences to budgeting for campus life. We dive into the essential strategies he used to make

Welcome back to Poney Finance 101! On this episode, hosts Hedy Rojas and Paulina Esparza, peer mentors from SMU Financial Literacy, reintroduce themselves and provide highlights from some of the best episodes of last season.From learning essential financial resources with Mrs. Gomez to exploring creative scholarship hunting strategies with Syra Castillo, and getting expert advice o

On this episode, we talked to Adam Neal from the Office of Engaged Learning, Evan Saperstein and Amanda Bobo from Hegi Career Center and Cheryl Posner from the Cox Career Management Center about different resources at SMU like the Career Closet, Big iDeas Pitch Contest and more.

Investing doesn't have to be as big of a deal as it seems to be. As soon as you know the basics, you can continue to grow your knowledge and make your money work for you. I talked with SMU professor, Eric Marrs about the basics of investing and how college students can get started.

The U.S. deadline to file your taxes is April 15th. If you have never filed your taxes before or need a refresher, we talked with SMU professor, Wendy Wilson, about the basics of taxes. Learn what documents you need, what a deduction is and more in this episode

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid has experienced a major update this year under the FAFSA Simplification Act. I sat down with Director of Financial Aid at SMU, Dr. Mary Sauceda, to learn about the major changes which affect the process of submitting your FAFSA, the vocabulary used and how much aid you can receive.This podcast was created, produced and led by SMU Financi

Renting an apartment for the first time can be daunting. There are a lot of unknowns like: How do I find the right apartment for me? What do I need to look out for in a lease? What kind of expenses should I expect? I talked with Dallas realtor, Gabe Soto, about these questions and more.This podcast was created, produced and led by SMU Financial Literacy peer mentor, Elizabeth Gueva

Studying abroad can be very influential and effective in advancing a student's education. However, there are many costs associated with it. Today, I talked with SMU Abroad's lead peer advisor, Averyl Hartje, about financial aid, budgeting and scholarships to utilize. Learn how to make study abroad affordable with this episode.This podcast was created, produced and led by SMU Financ

Financial and academic security go hand and hand. If a student does not feel comfortable in either department, both will inevitably worsen. We talked with Ruth Kinyua from SMU PALs about their academic services and how they help SMU students. Ruth also talked about her experience with President's Scholars and what she did to qualify for the prestigious scholarship.This podcast was

November is National Scholarship Month! To celebrate we talked with Sergio Gonzalez, a representative from Sallie Mae, about using a scholarship database. Once a student finds a scholarship that suits them, we talk about writing an essay, crafting an essay, making sure it is not a scam and how to receive scholarship money.This podcast was created, produced and led by SMU Financial