Et cetera : College Scholarship Program Provides Funding & Financial Lessons

Thirty $2,000 college scholarships, plus valuable tips on college planning and financing, available to Iowa high school seniors   Registration continues through Feb. 22 for a scholarship that offers Iowa high school seniors a chance to receive one of 30 scholarships worth $2,000 for college while learning important financial literacy skills. In addition, each recipient’s high school will receive a corresponding $250 award.   High school seniors may register for the Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge: Senior Scholarship at www.IowaStudentLoan.org/SeniorScholarship between now and Feb. 22. Iowa Student Loan® will award $2,000 scholarships to 30 students who complete two online financial literacy tutorials and score highest on a related assessment. Registered students also receive emails highlighting financial literacy tips, such as the importance of early career and college planning and ways to reduce student loan indebtedness.   After registering for the scholarship, students receive emailed instructions for completing the three required online components. The two tutorials — Student Loan Game Plansm and the ROCI Reality Check — were developed by Iowa Student Loan to help students understand the consequences of college borrowing and discover how to maximize their return on college investment, or ROCI.   A related multiple choice assessment will check students’ understanding of the concepts in the tutorials. The 30 high school seniors who score highest on the assessment test will each receive a $2,000 scholarship that will be sent directly to their colleges in fall 2019. If top-scoring students tie, those students will be asked to complete a separate component so that 30 final recipients can be determined.   Each scholarship recipient’s high school will also receive a corresponding $250 award to be used toward scholarship and financial literacy programs.   After completing the qualification steps, Forest City High School senior Sarah Hovinga expressed her appreciation for the material covered. “I just wanted to say thanks because [the information] was very helpful. Definitely a reality check I needed and I know that what I learned will help me in the future.”   “I learned a lot from the Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge,” said Ote Albrecht, a recipient of the 2017–2018 Senior Scholarship and a 2018 graduate of Le Mars High School. “It showed me how much student loans could really cost me and how I can be financially responsible.”   “We strive to reach out to students and families before they need to take out their first student loan,” Christine Hensley, Iowa Student Loan board chair, said. “We are adept in ways to minimize and manage potential student loan debt, and we are pleased to see so many Iowa students benefitting from our programs and tools.”   The Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge: Senior Scholarship is open to legal U.S. citizens who are seniors at an Iowa high school during the 2018–2019 school year and attend college in fall 2019. It is a no-purchase-required program, and full rules and details are available atwww.IowaStudentLoan.org/SeniorScholarship.