Press Release

With American troops deployed around the globe, the world's leading provider of higher education to the U.S. military is joining with the nation's oldest consumer finance company to create the Household Military Financial Education Resource Center. The site is scheduled to go online in May at www.umuc.edu.

Household's $2 million sponsorship, including $500,000 to establish the Household Military Family Scholarship Fund, was announced yesterday during a reception celebrating UMUC being awarded Department of Defense (DoD) contracts to continue delivering courses and programs to U.S. troops and their dependents in 28 foreign countries. Last year alone, UMUC served more than 53,000 active-duty military personnel and their dependents worldwide.

"Our relationship with the military has been crucial to our development," said UMUC President Gerald Heeger.

"Since 1947 this relationship has strengthened our adult focus and helped UMUC become the world leader in adult education and an institution organizationally and culturally adaptive to new technology in providing educational programs to working adults. Now, thanks to this partnership with Household, our military students will have new opportunities for academic scholarships and for improving their financial management skills," Heeger added.

"For more than a century Household has been helping people in all walks of life improve their finances and make their dreams come true. We consider it a privilege to help create this exciting new initiative on behalf of our nation's men and women in uniform," said Household Chairman and CEO William F. Aldinger.

"For many service members and their families with limited finances, the college scholarship assistance included in this partnership will help make the dream of a college education possible," Aldinger added.

The Household Military Financial Education Resource Center is only one example of the company's long standing commitment to the military. For example, any regular Household employee who is a member of the reserves or National Guard and is called for emergency service continues to receive the difference between their full salary and benefits, including incentive, and any military pay, as long as they are on active duty.

While the majority of U.S. service members overseas still take courses at U.S. military bases throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, an increasing number take UMUC courses online and rely on the university's online student services, such as library/information services with more than 90 databases.

The Household Military Financial Education Resource Center will complement and expand on DoD "New Social Compact" initiatives developed in response to President Bush's directive, "Improving Military Quality of Life." One important DoD initiative is to improve knowledge of financial matters.

The free site will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to anyone with Internet access. It will offer real-world lessons in financial management, as well as a variety of financial management tools and examples that can be used to apply lessons learned. Modules will cover basic budgeting skills, credit and loans, employment benefits, major home and automobile purchases, insurance, and investment skills. Financial structures, such as savings and investment alternatives, financial and credit sources, and money markets, stocks, and annuities will be included, as will online exercises in cash flow statements, balance sheets, and personal budgets, and estate planning.

According to Heeger, the online Household Military Financial Education Resource Center also presents opportunities down the road to tailor modules for other UMUC student constituencies, such as firefighters and other first responders.

Household is a leading provider of consumer loans, credit cards, auto financing and credit insurance, with more than 50 million customers in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. In the United States, Household's largest business, founded in 1878, operates under the two oldest and most widely recognized names in consumer lending - HFC and Beneficial.

To learn more about UMUC or Household International, visit the organizations' Web sites at www.umuc.edu or www.household.com.