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Iowa High School Seniors Awarded Scholarships by Nonprofit

25 Students Receive $2,000 for Demonstrating Financial Understanding

April 26, 2022

Twenty-five Iowa high school seniors each earned a $2,000 scholarship for college through the 2021–2022 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 demonstrating understanding of important college financing and planning concepts.

More than 3,200 Iowa high school seniors registered for the scholarship from November 2021 through March 11, 2022. Of those, more than 1,000 completed two online financial literacy tools and a related assessment to be considered for one of the 25 college scholarships.

"The scholarship program allows us to reinvest directly in the futures of 25 deserving Iowa students," said Christine Hensley, board chair for ISL. "Each year, we reach so many of the college-bound high school seniors in the state, who are first attracted to the scholarship but then find value in the process by experiencing our online tools."

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 senior 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.

"It's important to our nonprofit mission for as many students as possible to benefit from our online tools" said Steve McCullough, president and CEO of ISL. "These tools are designed to be useful to students regardless of their situation. We are pleased to financially reward a portion of those who take the initiative to learn about financial responsibility."

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

Details are not yet finalized for the 2022–2023 Iowa Financial Know-How Challenge: Senior Scholarship. Interested families should watch for information about the program at www.IowaStudentLoan.org/SeniorScholarship.

The following students each earned $2,000 for college through the 2021–2022 program:

  • Hannah Albrecht, Le Mars High School
  • Lilou Beachy, Mid-Prairie High School
  • Alyssa Bohr, North Fayette Valley High School
  • Kylee Cogdill, Woodbine High School
  • Lexie Fager, Dike-New Hartford High School
  • Adam Hasan, Northwest High School Waukee
  • Lauren Hughes, Carlisle High School
  • Trey Jungers, Newell-Fonda High School
  • Shrey Kapoor, Linn-Mar High School
  • Gavin Keeney, Liberty High School
  • Jake Khamphanh, Sheldon High School
  • Samuel Lindgren, Johnston High School
  • Jenna Maifeld, Waukee High School
  • Ellen McDonough, Roosevelt High School Des Moines
  • Amanda Mohr, Maquoketa Valley High School
  • Elliot Norris, Linn-Mar High School
  • Spencer Paulsen, Northwest High School Waukee
  • Elizabeth Quam, Mount Vernon High School
  • Connor Richmond, Isaac Newton Christian Academy
  • Drew Roemen, Dowling Catholic High School
  • Samantha Roth, Home-School
  • Jace Schrick, Central Lyon High School
  • Jacob Schulmeister, Home-School
  • Kelly Stoakes, Webster City High School
  • Justine Weir, Home-School

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Media Contact

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