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Iowa High School Seniors Awarded Scholarships by Nonprofit

50 Students Receive $1,000 After Learning About College Financing

April 26, 2023

Fifty Iowa high school seniors each earned a $1,000 scholarship for college through the 2022–2023 Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge: Senior Scholarship. The program is sponsored by ISL Education Lending, the name under which the nonprofit Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation provides college funding programs. Students qualified for the scholarship by completing online tools to understand financial planning for college expenses.

Nearly 4,000 Iowa high school seniors registered for the scholarship from November 2022 through March 31, 2023. Of those, more than 1,000 completed two online financial literacy tools to be included in monthly drawings for the 50 college scholarships.

"This program has allowed us to help Iowa students directly with more than $500,000 in college costs over the past decade," said Christine Hensley, board chair for ISL. "But, more importantly, the knowledge gained through qualifying for the scholarship has helped thousands of high school seniors understand how they can reduce the need to take on student loan debt to pay for their college educations."

Henry, a participant in this year's program, left a comment on the Trustpilot review site that said, "I really like how informative it was. I love how much the company cares about teaching the youth about student loans."

Another participant, Maggie Vonnahme, left a Trustpilot review that stated, "My experience was great because I learned more about what my college funds will look like. It puts into perspective the long-term money management that goes into college."

Participating students completed Student Loan Game Plan and the Return on College Investment tool, both of which are always available to the public at www.IowaStudentLoan.org. The tools help students create strategies to reduce college debt and maximize the financial returns of an investment in higher education.

Between 8% and 12% of Iowa's high school seniors annually participate in the program, which was introduced in 2014. Registered students represent high schools in all of Iowa's 99 counties. The scholarship has no requirements for GPA, test scores or income but is open to any Iowa high school senior who is a legal U.S. resident and intends to attend an eligible college, university or program the following fall.

"This program brings our free online tools to the attention of many high school seniors," said Steve McCullough, president and CEO of ISL. "The students can use them to develop a financially sound plan to pay for college, with an amount of debt that can be reasonably repaid."

Scholarship funds are sent directly to each recipient's college in time for fall expenses.

Families interested in future award programs from ISL Education Lending should watch for details at www.IowaStudentLoan.org/Scholarships.

The following students each earned $1,000 for college through the 2022–2023 program:

  • Grant Anderson, Central Lee High School
  • Annabelle Andrew, Indianola High School
  • Max Berdovich, Northwest High School
  • Joziphene Broomhall, Mount Vernon High School
  • Gracie Carlton, West Marshall High School
  • Brady Carr, Ankeny Centennial High School
  • Ryan Carter, Roland-Story High School
  • Nile Christensen, Marshalltown High School
  • Kaitlin Doyle, Cedar Falls High School
  • Hannah Evans, Valley High School
  • Emma Goff, Ankeny Centennial High School
  • Natalie Goodman, East Mills High School
  • Clayton Gradert, West Sioux High School
  • Justyn Hamm, Spirit Lake High School
  • Carter Hartman, Urbandale High School
  • Grace Helle, Beckman High School
  • Ella Hertz, Cedar Falls High School
  • Kareyna Holmes, East High School Des Moines
  • Sydney Hudson, Iowa City High School
  • Olivia Joensen, Ankeny Centennial High School
  • Emma Keiper, Prairie High School
  • Matthew Kerschke, Waukee High School
  • Georgia LaBounty, Waukee High School
  • Eli Lasley, West High School Waterloo
  • Libby Leraas, Le Mars High School
  • Aaron Lursen, St. Edmond Catholic School
  • Kelsey McCuddin, Sheldon High School
  • Tyler McDowell, St. Edmond Catholic School
  • Erica McMullin, Williamsburg High School
  • Maxwell McSweeney, Cedar Falls High School
  • Lejla Mehmedovic, Cedar Falls High School
  • Kyle Melcher, Ankeny Centennial High School
  • Grant MisiagBeckler, Hempstead High School
  • Karissa Moeller, Central Lee High School
  • Leah O'Connell, Newman Catholic High School
  • Brianna Panosh, Prairie High School
  • Sydney Peterson, Spirit Lake High School
  • Nora Rasmussen, Pella Community High School
  • Dalia Rivera Andrade, Storm Lake High School
  • Makhani Scearcy, North High School Des Moines
  • Autumn Schaller, Decorah High School
  • Olivia Schanbacher, Belle Plaine High School
  • Delaney Scherf, Central Elkader Community High School
  • Devin Simon, Cascade High School
  • Hayden Sinclair, Ames High School
  • Rebecca Spinler, Albia High School
  • Austin Stierman North Polk High School
  • Anabel Stock, East High School Waterloo
  • Aiden Stoltz, Pella Christian High School
  • Keiran Sullivan, Kennedy High School

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Media Contact

Christopher Weishaar, Digital PR Specialist, (515) 273-7102, cweishaar@studentloan.org