From Budgeting to Big Dreams: Universal Studios Hollywood Opens a New Career Pathway at JA Finance Park
July 16, 2026
What if learning how to balance a budget could also help you imagine your future career?
That’s exactly what students experienced at Junior Achievement of Southern California’s JA Finance Park this summer as Universal Studios Hollywood and Discover A Star unveiled a brand-new storefront designed to bring financial literacy and career exploration together.
The new Universal Studios Hollywood space is the result of a three-year partnership with JASoCal and creates another opportunity for students to connect what they’re learning in the classroom with the real-world decisions, careers, and opportunities that await them.
JA Finance Park is designed to make financial literacy feel real.
Students step into an assigned adult persona, complete with a career, income, family situation, and financial responsibilities. They then navigate a simulated month of life—making decisions about housing, transportation, food, utilities, savings, credit, and other expenses.
It’s an experience that asks students to think beyond, “What do I want?” and start asking, “What can I afford?”, “What choices will affect my future?”, and “How does my career impact the life I want to build?”
The new Universal Studios Hollywood storefront adds another layer to those conversations.
As students move through the simulation, they can explore career possibilities across the entertainment, hospitality, and tourism industries while seeing how career choices connect directly to income, lifestyle, and long-term financial goals.
That connection matters.
JASoCal’s JA Finance Park experience is built around personal financial planning and career exploration, helping students understand that the decisions they make about education and careers can have a lasting impact on their financial futures.
A Storefront Built to Inspire
The new space isn’t just a branded storefront.
Universal Studios Hollywood Team Members played an active role in bringing the space to life, using their expertise and creativity to create an environment designed to spark curiosity about the many careers behind one of the world’s most recognizable entertainment destinations.
An employee of the Universal Studios Hollywood Team stands near his career placard on the career pathway wall inside the storefront.
One of the standout features is a career pathway wall, showcasing Universal Team Members and the wide range of roles that contribute to creating memorable guest experiences—from creative and production positions to the many careers students may not realize exist behind the scenes.
For students, seeing real people represented in those roles can turn an abstract idea—“I could work in entertainment someday”—into something much more tangible.
As Universal Team Member Eric Cooper shared during the opening, seeing himself featured on the career wall was a proud moment—and one that can help young people envision themselves achieving their own goals.
Bringing Learning to Life Through Volunteers
The magic of JA Finance Park doesn’t come from the storefronts alone. It comes from the people who help students make sense of the experience.
Corporate and community volunteers serve as guides throughout the simulation, sharing their own professional experiences while helping students work through real-world financial decisions. JASoCal’s volunteer model is intentionally designed to bring authentic workplace perspectives into the learning experience.
During the Universal Studios Hollywood storefront opening, 85 local high school students had the opportunity to work alongside Universal Team Member volunteers who shared career insights, helped students navigate budgeting challenges, and encouraged them to think about what their own futures could look like.
That interaction can be just as powerful as the lesson itself.
A student may walk into JA Finance Park knowing very little about what goes into creating a theme park experience. They may leave understanding that entertainment isn’t just about what happens on-screen or in front of guests. It’s also about design, production, technology, operations, hospitality, business, management, communications, and countless other careers.
Why Partnerships Like This Matter
For more than 70 years, Junior Achievement of Southern California has worked alongside businesses and community partners to give young people access to experiences that prepare them for the real world.
Today, JASoCal reaches more than 50,000 students annually through learning solutions focused on financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship.
JA Finance Park is an important part of that work.
In the 2023–2024 school year alone, more than 5,200 students participated in JA Finance Park, with students reporting increased understanding of budgeting, saving, and how career choices can affect their financial futures.
Partnerships with organizations like Universal Studios Hollywood and Discover A Star make these experiences possible—and help students see that financial literacy isn’t simply about numbers.
It’s about opportunity.
It’s about understanding the connection between the choices we make today and the lives we want to build tomorrow.
And sometimes, it’s about seeing a career pathway on a wall and realizing:
Maybe I could do that, too.
A Partnership Built for the Future
The new Universal Studios Hollywood storefront marks the beginning of a three-year partnership focused on supporting experiential financial literacy education and creating meaningful opportunities for Universal Team Members to engage with students.
Together, Universal Studios Hollywood, Discover A Star, and JASoCal are helping students explore the intersection of money, careers, and possibility—and giving them a chance to practice making the decisions they’ll face long before they have to make them on their own.
Read the full story from Universal Destinations & Experiences:
Universal Studios Hollywood and Junior Achievement of Southern California Open New Space to Inspire Future Careers
Want to Help Students Build Their Futures?
JA Finance Park is powered by partnerships with businesses, educators, volunteers, and community leaders who believe every young person deserves the opportunity to understand their financial future and see what’s possible for their career.
Learn more about JA Finance Park and how you can get involved. JA Finance Park | Junior Achievement of Southern California
