Andrea Pellegrini

Champaign, Illinois andreapellegrini.info
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Education

Expected May 2026In Progress

PhD, Educational Psychology

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Concentration: Cognitive Science of Teaching & Learning

Dissertation: Goal Framing & Visualizations' Influence on Self-Regulated Learning of Compound Interest: An Explanatory Mixed Methods Study

Advisors: Dr. H Chad Lane & Dr. Robb Lindgren

2012

EdM, Human Resource Development

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Certificate in Business Administration, May 2011

Fabac-Tomlinson Award Recipient
2008

BS, Psychology

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2006

AA, Psychology

Richland Community College

Research Interests

Financial literacy & decision-making · Cognitive science in financial education · Visualizations for education including self-regulated learning · Instructional design & user experience · Program assessment & evaluation

Professional Experience

2011–PresentCurrent

Assistant Director, University Bursar

University of Illinois System, Student Money Management Center
  • Provide strategic leadership for financial education across the University of Illinois System (Urbana, Chicago, Springfield), targeting approximately 101,000 students, their families, employees, alumni, and community members.
  • Design and implement IRB-approved empirical research studies on financial education effectiveness using experimental and quasi-experimental methodologies.
  • Conduct quantitative and qualitative needs assessments using surveys, focus groups, interviews, observations, and data analysis (Excel, R, Tableau).
  • Create and manage the University of Illinois Financial Literacy Badges Program, connecting over 20,000 participants internationally since 2014.
  • Supervise up to 16 staff and interns per semester; collectively supervised over 150 undergraduate and graduate student interns and employees.
  • Recruit and collaborate with external partners (U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Illinois Lt. Governor's Office, Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation) on statewide educational outreach.
  • Oversaw performance analysis for DialogueFlow-based chatbot on University Bursar's website (2020–2024).
  • Recruited to the BursarBot implementation team to consult on training and testing an AI-based chatbot for the University Bursar's website (2025).
2019–2021

Director of New Initiatives

Higher Education Financial Wellness Alliance
  • Served on HEFWA Directorate (board) overseeing strategic development initiatives.
  • Designed, implemented, and managed the inaugural Alliance Coaching Experience, a year-long structured mentoring program for financial wellness professionals.
2010–2011

Money Management Mentor

University of Illinois System, Student Money Management Center
Designed, coordinated, and facilitated financial education interventions.
May–July 2011

Research Assistant

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, College of Education
Assisted in curriculum development for an undergraduate course on digital game-based learning environments.
2009–2011

Substance Abuse Treatment Technician

Prairie Center Health System
Coordinated services for outpatient and inpatient substance abuse treatment.
2009

Mental Health Technician

Pavilion Behavioral Health System
  • Coordinated client care and participated in team-oriented crisis intervention.
  • Facilitated group sessions and life skills training for adolescents.

Educational Outreach, Teaching & Curriculum Development

  • Created 5 courses in Moodle LMS aligned with U.S. Department of Treasury financial core competencies, including 35+ online educational modules covering student loans, investing, credit, budgeting, compound interest, taxes, and other personal finance topics.
  • Trained and supervised 150+ graduate and undergraduate student interns and employees in data analysis, marketing communications, and experiential financial education (2011–Present).
  • Developed and delivered financial education for undergraduate and graduate populations in-person and virtually across three universities (2011–Present).
  • Coordinated and co-facilitated the statewide Get Savvy: Grow Your Green Stuff webinar series (2013–Present), with 150+ recorded webinars reaching hundreds of live participants annually and thousands through YouTube.
  • Co-host of Making Cents of Money, a podcast with 100+ episodes produced through a partnership between Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation and University of Illinois System's Student Money Management Center (2020–Present).
  • Mentored undergraduate students through the Illinois Leadership Center certificate program (2011–2021).

Research & Program Evaluation

  • Led data analysis projects implementing data mining and machine learning techniques (2012–Present), including analysis of participation patterns in the Financial Literacy Badges Program (Spring 2020) and evaluation of educational interventions for UIC students (Fall 2019).
  • Created an AI-enabled chatbot to conduct qualitative interviews using Python, building off research by Geiecke & Jaravel (2024), as part of mixed methods dissertation study (2025).
  • Evaluated multi-year student loan education effectiveness with embedded vs. disconnected visualizations using administrative data and survey responses across several intervention periods (2018–2023).
  • Conducted needs assessment using enrollment, financial, and demographics data for past due students (2016–2017).
  • Conducted analyses of UISAVES outreach, including savings competition participation (2012–2021).
  • Analyzed 5-year outcomes of financial literacy requirement for past due students, finding no consistent improvement in payment behavior (2010–2015).

Professional Service

2020–Present
System Office Wellness Committee
University of Illinois System
2019–Present
IT Accessibility Liaison
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2021–Present
Cybersecurity Champion
University of Illinois System
2023
Manuscript Reviewer
Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning

Publications

2025

Pellegrini, A., & Beckler, K. (2025). Making financial education accessible through cross-sector partnership: A podcast case study. In A. Betz-Hamilton (Ed.), 2025 AFCPE Symposium Proceedings. AFCPE.

2024

Pellegrini, A. (2024). Review: 2D visualizations to support engagement, interest, and self-regulated learning in financial education. In A. Betz-Harlton (Ed.), 2024 AFCPE Symposium Proceedings (pp. 171–189). AFCPE. ↗ PDF

2023

Pellegrini, A. (2023). Exploratory study on use of visualizations in informal student loan borrower education. In A. Betz-Harlton (Ed.), 2023 AFCPE Symposium Proceedings (pp. 30–41). AFCPE. ↗ PDF

2021

Pellegrini, A., Nalubega-Booker, K., & Hoyle, M. (2021). Familial roles and financial habits of international students studying in the United States. In A. Betz-Harlton (Ed.), 2021 AFCPE Symposium Proceedings (pp. 160–178). AFCPE. ↗ PDF

2012

Pellegrini, A., & Shroyer, J. (2012). A clear path to payment. Business Officer Magazine. ↗ Article

Perry, C., Jasper, I., Pellegrini, A., Alban, K., & Huffman, W. (2012). Financial literacy on campus: Raising awareness, creating and developing programs, and improving effectiveness [White paper]. COHEAO. ↗ PDF

Conference Presentations & Invited Speaker Events

2025

Pellegrini, A. (2025, November 18–20). Making financial education accessible through cross-sector partnership: A podcast case study [Virtual presentation]. AFCPE Research & Training Symposium, Phoenix-Glendale, AZ, United States.

Pellegrini, A., & Beckler, K. (2025, November 18–20). Making financial education accessible through cross-sector partnership: A podcast case study [Virtual conference presentation]. AFCPE Research & Training Symposium, Phoenix-Glendale, AZ, United States.

Pellegrini, A. (2025, November 18–20). Shifts in student loan education over 5+ years for 1 program [Poster presentation]. AFCPE Research & Training Symposium, Phoenix-Glendale, AZ, United States.

2022

Burcham, L., Hernandez, C. A., Smith, S., & Pellegrini, A. (2022, July 17–19). Tackling tough topics: Taxes & investing [Conference presentation]. Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit, Knoxville, TN, United States.

2021

Pellegrini, A., & Hoyle, M. (2021, November 15–19). Familial roles and financial habits of international students studying in the United States [Conference presentation]. AFCPE Research & Training Symposium, Virtual.

2020

Pellegrini, A., Conway, C., Kaus, J., Goebel, P., Smith, S., & Cowherd, H. (2020, July 20–22). Two heads are better than one: Creating a meaningful mentoring experience [Conference presentation]. Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit, Virtual.

2019

Pellegrini, A. (2019, November 19–21). International students & financial well-being: Implications for education & outreach [Poster presentation]. AFCPE Research & Training Symposium, Portland, OR, United States.

Pellegrini, A. (2019, July 14–16). International students & financial well-being: Implications for education & outreach [Conference presentation]. Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit, Bloomington, IN, United States.

Rome, M., Pellegrini, A., Hartman, J., & Ho, L. (2019, April 3–5). 20 tips for effective integration of interns [Conference presentation]. University of Illinois WebCon, Champaign, IL, United States.

Uhlman, C., & Pellegrini, A. (2019, March 23–25). Are you reaching Gen Z? Understanding and engaging with iGeneration [Conference presentation]. Annual Conference on Financial Education, Denver, CO, United States.

2018

Pellegrini, A. (2018, July 15–17). Utilizing academic internships: Making the case for non-finance majors [Conference presentation]. Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit, Portland, OR, United States.

2017

Pellegrini, A. (2017, November 15–17). Using gamification (digital badges) to structure financial education programming across a university system [Poster presentation]. AFCPE Research & Training Symposium, San Diego, CA, United States.

Pellegrini, A. (2017, July 21). Using gamification (digital badges) to structure financial education programming across a university system [Conference presentation]. College Changes Everything, Tinley Park, IL, United States.

Ferguson, L., Pellegrini, A., & Sweedler, K. (2017, July 29–August 1). Motivating and encouraging individuals to save [Conference presentation]. Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, United States.

Wilson, S., Sheehy, J., Schott, J., McElwee-Roach, C., Pellegrini, A., & Blondin, M. (2017, July 29–August 1). Marketing your program: From logo to promo [Pre-conference workshop]. Higher Education Financial Wellness Summit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, United States.

2016

Pellegrini, A., & Sweedler, K. (2016, June 15–17). Using gamification (digital badges) to structure financial education programming across a university system [Conference presentation]. National Summit on Collegiate Financial Wellness, Columbus, OH, United States.

McMillan, M., Harrington, C., Holthaus, G., House, A., Monday, E., Pellegrini, A., Pierson, J., & Tallman, B. (2016, June 15–17). A dialogue to identify practitioner research concerns [Pre-conference workshop]. National Summit on Collegiate Financial Wellness, Columbus, OH, United States.

McMillan, M., Drabik, B., Brooks, M., Cohen, M., Pellegrini, A., & Goebel, P. (2016, June 15–17). The start-up institute [Pre-conference workshop]. National Summit on Collegiate Financial Wellness, Columbus, OH, United States.

2015

Ferguson, L., Boylan, D., Pellegrini, A., Johnson, N., Villa, C., & Bradley, L. (2015, December 15). America Saves Week 2016: Academic institutions [Webinar]. Consumer Federation of America.

2014

Pellegrini, A. (2014, October 26–29). Default & financial literacy [Conference presentation]. MN Collections Network Mega Conference XXII, Bloomington, MN, United States.

Pellegrini, A. (2014, May 7–8). Financial literacy: maximizing efforts on campus [Conference presentation]. KASRO Conference, Barren River State Resort Park, KY, United States.

Pellegrini, A. (2014, April 14–15). Financial literacy: maximizing efforts on campus [Conference presentation]. WASBOPA Conference, Wisconsin Dells, WI, United States.

2013

Pellegrini, A., & Sharp, R. (2013, July 13–17). Student financial literacy strategies that work [Conference presentation]. NACUBO Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, United States.

Pellegrini, A., & Shroyer, J. (2013, July 11). Six strategies of communication to increase tuition payment and student retention [Conference presentation]. College Changes Everything Conference, Tinley Park, IL, United States.

Pellegrini, A., & Shroyer, J. (2013, October 30–31). Six strategies of communication to increase tuition payment and student retention [Conference presentation]. Scaling Up Conference, Bloomington, IL, United States.

Pellegrini, A., & Earnst, N. (2013, September 24). Financial literacy panel [Conference presentation]. ISLA Annual Conference, Lisle, IL, United States.

Pellegrini, A., & Hernandez, C. (2013, March 21–23). A Web 2.0 approach to college retention: Using social media & financial education to promote degree completion [Conference presentation]. Education Policy Institute International Forum on Education & the Economy, Orlando, FL, United States.

2012

Sweedler, K., Pellegrini, A., Barany, G., & Shockey, S. (2012, November 8). America Saves webinar: Using competition to motivate college students to save [Webinar]. Consumer Federation of America.

Sweedler, K., Pellegrini, A., & Frizzell, T. (2012, November 14–16). Going beyond sports competition: College campuses compete [Poster presentation]. AFCPE National Conference, St. Louis, MO, United States.

Pellegrini, A., & Flink, J. (2012, July 22–25). Beyond the piggy bank: A new approach to financial literacy on campus [Conference presentation]. NASFAA National Conference, Chicago, IL, United States.

Certifications & Professional Training

Personal Financial Management Certification (CPFM)Inceptia · 2015
Google Data Analytics CertificateCoursera · 2023
UX Design and Prototyping for Educators CertificateAdobe Education · 2018
IRB Core TrainingCITI Program · 2023

Additional certifications and training available on LinkedIn.

Skills

Research & Data Analysis
ExcelTableauR StudioSQLQuantitative MethodsQualitative MethodsExperimental DesignIRB Protocols
Educational Technology
MoodleCanvasInstructional DesignUX DesignE-Learning DevelopmentGamificationAssessment Design
Design & Multimedia
Adobe Creative SuiteCanvaProcreateVisual & Graphic DesignVideo EditingPodcast Production
Leadership & Management
Strategic PlanningBudget ManagementTeam SupervisionProject ManagementCross-Institutional Collaboration