NEWARK, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Ten high school students will learn what share of the $40,000 prize they’ll be taking home as Sallie Mae, the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company, reveals the winners of the “Make College Happen Challenge,” on Facebook Live on Thursday, April 20, at 6 p.m. EDT. The first-place winner will receive $15,000; the second-place winner will receive $10,000, and the third-place winner will receive $8,000. Each of the other seven finalists will receive $1,000.
More than 1,100 students from across the country entered the “Make College Happen Challenge,” with creative entries that included videos, rap songs, poems, essays, and other creative forms. A panel of judges narrowed the field to 10 finalists based on creativity, effective communication, and potential of the plan. Voting was then opened to the general public who cast more than 35,000 votes for their favorite entries.
Top online vote-getters, combined with judges’ scores will determine the winners. Here are the 10 finalists, listed in alphabetical order by home state:
- Jasmine Chan of Alhambra, California
- Gabriel Gaurano of San Diego, California
- Sarah Wouters of Port St. Lucie, Florida
- Madison Stano of Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Amy Wieland of West Des Moines, Iowa
- Benjamin Trimpi of Greenville, North Carolina
- Vincent Marchi of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
- Blake Takushi of Sugar Land, Texas
- Adriena Pew of Shaw Island, Washington
- Amy Wisegarver of Sammamish, Washington
| WHO: |
Ten high school students from across the country will learn what share of the $40,000 prize they’ll be taking home as Sallie Mae, the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company, reveals the winners of the “Make College Happen Challenge,” on Facebook Live. The first-place winner will receive $15,000; the second-place winner will receive $10,000, and the third-place winner will receive $8,000. Each of the other seven finalists will receive $1,000. |
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| WHAT: | More than 1,100 students entered the “Make College Happen Challenge,” a contest that asked students to creatively describe how they plan to pay for college. The finalists will join Sallie Mae on Facebook Live to find out if they are the big winners! | |||
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WHEN AND |
Thursday, April 20 |
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Join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #MakeCollegeHappenChallenge. For complete contest rules, visit MakeCollegeHappenChallenge.com/rules. The contest ended on Dec. 31, 2016.
For more information about saving, planning, and paying for college, visit www.SallieMae.com.
About Sallie Mae
Sallie Mae (NASDAQ: SLM) is the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company. Whether college is a long way off or just around the corner, Sallie Mae offers products that promote responsible personal finance, including private education loans, Upromise rewards, scholarship search, college financial planning tools, and online retail banking. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.
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