Young people aren’t being taught practical knowledge until it’s already a problem.

College is a place where people learn, challenge their own beliefs, and challenge the beliefs of others. This is great, but when it comes to finances, it would appear that most college graduates are lacking in practical experience.

Sallie Mae released a “major in money” survey in order to determine what portion of college graduates understand the basics when it comes to money. It turns out that most college grads don’t know very much about money, and about a quarter of them know almost nothing at all. The four questions followed basic ideas in finance, such as how interest works. The four simple questions were given alongside 3-5 multiple choice answers. The results shed light on a few things.

The first question was about interest, and asks the respondent if they had $100 in the bank, with an annual interest rate of 2%, how much would you have after 5 years if you let the money grow? The multiple choice answers were not specific, as the first answer was “more than $102”, which was the correct one. 83% answered correctly, but it only goes downhill from here. The most disturbing figure was the number of people who don’t understand how payment behavior affects the amount of interest you pay. Only 54% of respondents understood that if you don’t make minimum payments on your credit card, you will pay more interest than someone who pays their minimums, or their balance in full.

We don’t want to judge young people too harshly. The real problem with this data is that it shows that many young Americans don’t understand financial concepts that will rule their life going forward. The repercussions of not understanding these ideas will bite many people hard in the future, and it will, of course, affect the broader economy. This is especially true seeing as the student debt crisis is still growing further out of control.