In the article "Top 5 Trends of 2009/2010" in the August 12, 2009 issue of the Alliance of Children and Families Newsletter, Jeff Faulkner, President of Ways to Work in Milwaukee, said the following:

"Financial education is more critical than ever. Data suggests that even in the sub-prime market, homebuyers with significant prehome purchase counseling were extremely unlikely to default. The power of financial eduation has really been proven during this mortgage debacle. It's virtually impossible without some degree of financial literacy to impact your credit score and avoid financial traps. Predatory check cashers, title/loan stores, conventional banks and even credit unions have become increasingly sophisticated in how they gain revenue from you."

and

"Credit scores are more important than ever. From an economic trend standpoint the hyper power of a credit score to be a determiner has dramatically increased."