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Impact of Debt Management Education on Personal Debt-Management Skills among Accounting Education Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Personal debt management is an important financial competency among students because effective management of borrowing, repayment obligations, interest costs, and personal financial commitments may influence financial stability and responsible financial behaviour. Accounting Education students are expected to possess financial knowledge that enables them to understand credit arrangements, evaluate borrowing decisions, manage repayment obligations, and maintain appropriate personal financial records. However, some students may have limited practical knowledge of debt planning, debt assessment, repayment strategies, interest implications, and responsible borrowing. Debt Management Education provides an opportunity to improve students’ understanding of personal debt and develop practical skills for managing existing and potential debt obligations. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of Debt Management Education on personal debt-management skills among Accounting Education students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Financial Literacy Theory, Theory of Planned Behavior, and Social Cognitive Theory. Financial Literacy Theory explains how financial knowledge and understanding contribute to individuals’ ability to make informed financial decisions and manage financial resources effectively. The Theory of Planned Behavior explains how attitudes toward borrowing, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and behavioural intentions may influence students’ debt-related decisions. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes observational learning, self-efficacy, personal experience, reinforcement, and environmental influences in developing responsible financial-management behaviours. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how Debt Management Education may influence students’ personal debt-management skills. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The population will comprise Accounting Education students enrolled in selected Nigerian universities and polytechnics. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select institutions, departments, levels of study, classes, and eligible students. Debt Management Education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to debt-management lessons, understanding of personal borrowing, types of debt, sources of credit, loan terms, interest rates, repayment obligations, debt affordability, credit costs, responsible borrowing, debt risks, debt planning, repayment strategies, debt prioritization, budgeting for debt payments, debt monitoring, credit evaluation, loan comparison, financial goal setting, emergency borrowing, debt consolidation, refinancing, credit-card or digital-credit use where applicable, digital lending risks, predatory lending awareness, loan scams, hidden charges, late-payment consequences, default risks, financial contracts, repayment schedules, debt records, and access to reliable financial information. Students’ personal debt-management skills will be assessed using indicators such as ability to identify debt obligations, evaluate borrowing needs, distinguish between essential and non-essential borrowing, assess loan affordability, compare loan terms, calculate repayment obligations, understand interest costs, identify additional charges, prepare debt-repayment plans, prioritize debts, incorporate debt payments into personal budgets, monitor outstanding balances, maintain debt records, make timely repayments, evaluate borrowing alternatives, avoid unnecessary borrowing, recognize high-cost credit, identify predatory lending practices, detect misleading loan offers, assess digital lending risks, recognize loan-related scams, understand consequences of default, communicate with lenders appropriately, review financial agreements, maintain repayment schedules, set debt-reduction goals, track progress toward debt repayment, manage multiple debt obligations, respond to unexpected repayment difficulties, seek appropriate financial guidance, and make responsible borrowing decisions. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, debt-management knowledge tests, practical financial scenarios, personal budgeting exercises, loan-comparison tasks, repayment-planning exercises, case studies, and pre-test and post-test assessments. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students’ demographic and academic characteristics, financial experiences, debt-management knowledge, borrowing patterns, and personal debt-management skill levels. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the impact of Debt Management Education on personal debt-management skills. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, personal debt-management skill scores before and after exposure to the educational intervention may be compared with those of a control group receiving conventional financial education or no structured debt-management intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that Debt Management Education has a significant positive impact on personal debt-management skills among Accounting Education students in Nigeria. Students exposed to structured debt-management education are expected to demonstrate improved ability to evaluate borrowing decisions, understand loan costs, plan repayments, monitor debt obligations, and avoid inappropriate borrowing. Education on personal borrowing may improve students’ understanding of when borrowing may be appropriate and when it may create unnecessary financial pressure. Lessons on types and sources of debt may strengthen students’ ability to distinguish between different credit arrangements. Loan-term education may improve students’ understanding of repayment periods, interest rates, fees, penalties, and other borrowing conditions. Debt-affordability exercises may strengthen students’ ability to determine whether prospective repayment obligations are consistent with available income and expenditure. Loan-comparison exercises may improve students’ ability to evaluate alternative borrowing arrangements. Interest-cost exercises may strengthen students’ understanding of the financial implications of borrowing over time. Repayment-planning activities may improve students’ ability to establish realistic schedules for reducing outstanding obligations. Debt-prioritization exercises may strengthen students’ ability to determine which obligations should receive greater repayment attention. Budgeting-for-debt activities may improve students’ ability to incorporate repayment obligations into personal financial plans. Debt-monitoring activities may strengthen students’ ability to track outstanding balances and repayment progress. Credit-evaluation exercises may improve students’ ability to assess borrowing options before accepting credit. Financial-goal-setting activities may encourage students to consider how debt obligations affect short- and long-term financial objectives. Education on emergency borrowing may strengthen students’ ability to distinguish genuine financial emergencies from discretionary borrowing needs. Debt-consolidation and refinancing education may improve students’ awareness of possible strategies for managing multiple or expensive obligations, while emphasizing the need to assess associated costs and conditions. Digital-credit education may strengthen students’ understanding of risks associated with online and mobile lending platforms. Predatory-lending awareness may improve students’ ability to identify potentially exploitative credit arrangements. Loan-scam education may strengthen students’ ability to recognize fraudulent borrowing offers. Hidden-charge education may improve students’ ability to identify costs that may not be immediately apparent in advertised loan terms. Default-risk education may strengthen students’ understanding of the consequences of missed or delayed repayments. Financial-contract exercises may improve students’ ability to read and interpret borrowing agreements. Repayment-schedule activities may strengthen students’ ability to organize debt obligations systematically. Debt-recording activities may improve students’ ability to maintain accurate information on amounts owed, repayment dates, and outstanding balances. Debt-reduction goal-setting may encourage students to establish measurable objectives for reducing personal obligations. Progress-monitoring activities may improve students’ ability to evaluate changes in their debt position over time. Multiple-debt management exercises may strengthen students’ ability to coordinate several repayment obligations. Unexpected-repayment-difficulty scenarios may improve students’ ability to consider appropriate responses when financial circumstances change. Financial-guidance activities may strengthen students’ awareness of appropriate sources of reliable debt-management information. Responsible-borrowing exercises may improve students’ ability to make informed credit decisions. However, the effectiveness of Debt Management Education may be constrained by students’ limited income, rising living costs, peer influence, social pressure, easy access to digital loans, aggressive lending practices, financial emergencies, limited practical financial education, misinformation, inadequate access to reliable financial information, cultural attitudes toward borrowing, limited parental or institutional financial guidance, and students’ existing financial obligations. The study therefore expects practical, evidence-based, accessible, and sustained Debt Management Education to contribute significantly to improved personal debt-management skills among Accounting Education students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on Debt Management Education, personal debt-management skills, financial literacy, responsible borrowing, personal finance, credit management, student financial behaviour, financial education, debt repayment, budgeting, loan evaluation, digital lending, financial decision-making, financial planning, and Accounting Education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education, universities, polytechnics, Accounting Education departments, accounting educators, financial institutions, financial-technology organizations, student-support services, financial-literacy organizations, policymakers, and other stakeholders regarding strategies for strengthening students’ personal financial-management competencies. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating practical Debt Management Education into Accounting Education programmes, strengthening students’ understanding of borrowing and repayment obligations, improving loan-evaluation and debt-planning skills, promoting responsible use of digital credit, increasing awareness of predatory lending and financial scams, strengthening personal budgeting and debt-monitoring practices, providing realistic debt-management scenarios and practical exercises, and promoting financially responsible decision-making among Accounting Education students in Nigeria.

Keywords: Debt Management Education, personal debt-management skills, financial literacy, debt management, responsible borrowing, credit management, loan repayment, personal finance, financial education, budgeting, digital lending, financial decision-making, Accounting Education students, Nigerian universities, Nigerian polytechnics, Nigeria.