Therefore, focusing economic education and financial literacy efforts and best practices for young people ages 8 through 24 is of utmost importance. 3. Authorization for funding the establishment of centers of excellence in financial literacy education (a) In general The Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, in consultation with the Financial Literacy and Education Commission established under the Financial Literacy and Education Improvement Act, shall make competitive grants to and enter into agreements with eligible institutions to establish centers of excellence to support research, development and planning, implementation, and evaluation of effective programs in financial literacy education for young people and families ages 8 through 24 years old. (b) Authorized activities Activities authorized to be funded by grants made under subsection (a) shall include the following: (1) Developing and implementing comprehensive research based financial literacy education programs for young people— (A) based on a set of core competencies and concepts established by the Director, including goal setting, planning, budgeting, managing money or transactions, tools and structures, behaviors, consequences, both long- and short-term savings, managing debt and earnings