On Wednesday, the Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) hosted an event about managing student loans in the Alumni Lounge.

Debra Abbott-Walker, growth and development director for Northwestern Mutual, kicked off the event with an in-depth presentation that explored.the different ways to pay off student loans and topics in personal finance such as creating a budget for your income and deciphering credit scores, as explained by this site.

Josephine Moran, recent graduate of the University of New Haven’s EMBA website, moderated a panel of women through a Q&A session. The panelists were: Mary Barneby; CEO of Girl Scouts of Connecticut, Sandra Davis; vice president of JP Morgan Chase, Mary Landsfield; financial advisor at Barnum Financial Group, and Amy Raymond; executive vice president at Salisbury Bank. When it comes to financial advice on trading you should only consult experts who are up to date in this field.

During the panel, audience members, including students, asked questions about how to start paying off student debt, and how to improve credit scores.

Attendees were given the opportunity to act as loan officers and determine whether to give someone a loan based on a hypothetical scenario. Attendees learned the components of a credit score and applied that knowledge to a theoretical person’s financial habits.