Texas Tech is offering, for the first time this fall, a new curriculum that will train students to do pro bono financial planning.

Developed through a grant from the Foundation for Financial Planning to the university’s Red to Black program, the Apple Seed curriculum is intended to help educators prepare students to be pro bono financial planners on their campus and in their local communities. The curriculum is new at Texas Tech, but the university's students previously have done pro bono planning.

Texas Tech’s Red to Black program is an outreach of the Personal Financial Planning department that provides free, confidential, financial counseling and planning services to students.

“The curriculum is called Apple Seed because students will be using their classroom skills to “plant” seeds of knowledge to help participants grow financially,” said Dorothy B. Durband, professor and Red to Black director in a prepared statement.

Incorporated into the existing financial planning curriculum at Texas Tech, Apple Seed consists of seven units: pro bono culture and structure materials, meeting materials, presentation materials, cash management, debt management, planning for major purchases and using financial services.

The first three units are the building blocks for pro bono financial planning services. The last four units are basic overviews of information or refreshers of topics that student pro bono planners may face with potential clients.

The Foundation for Financial Planning also is offering the Apple Seed curriculum to all colleges and universities with CFP-Board registered programs to add to their curriculum.

According to the Foundation for Financial Planning, since 1995 it has provided over $5 million in grants to more than 175 organizations to connect financial planners with underserved communities to provide pro bono financial advice. The grants are awarded to support the underserved, which includes military members, veterans, victims of disasters, low- to moderate-income families and many others.