Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest

With more than 90 years of experience, JA offers financial literacy, college & career readiness, and entrepreneurship education to more than 161,000 students in grades K-12 this past school year.

JA empowers students to make a connection between what they learn in school and how it can be applied in the real world, thereby enhancing the relevance of their classroom learning and increasing their understanding of the value of staying in school.

The mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Seven key content areas are stressed: financial literacy, business citizenship, economics, entrepreneurship, ethics/character, and career development. They include four JA Capstone programs (JA BizTown, JA Finance Park, JA Titan and JA Job Shadow) where the theory of classroom-based economic curriculum is applied in a simulated real world environment.

Community and business volunteers and deliver the programs to students during a multiple sessions in the classroom. students are significantly more likely to aspire toward college and are more likely to hold higher career aspirations. JA students are more likely to enter college immediately after high school.