Get Schooled College Affordability Challenge Winner Announced at Clinton Global Initiative University

Photo: From left to right: Christen Pollock, Vice President, Advocacy & Policy Center, The College Board; Marie Groark, Executive Director, Get Schooled Foundation; President Bill Clinton; and Devin Valencia, Get Schooled College Affordability Challenger winner.

The College Board and MTV are pleased to announce Devin Valencia as the winner of the Get Schooled College Affordability Challenge! Devin and her winning idea were announced by President Bill Clinton during an April 2 plenary session at the Clinton Global Initiative University 2011 (CGI U).

The College Affordability Challenge, sponsored by the College Board and MTV, was created to encourage current and aspiring college students to design innovative digital tools to re-imagine and simplify the financial aid process. Three finalists – Larissa Simpson from The New School; Dekunle Somade from the University of Maryland in College Park; and Devin Valencia, a recent graduate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas – were selected in January from over 200 submissions, representing 48 states across the nation.

In February, each of the finalists spent one week in workshops with frog design, a global innovation firm, to refine their ideas. Online voting for the winning idea took place over a two-week period in March at MTV.com, where close to 6,000 votes were received.

MTV, the College Board and the Get Schooled Foundation plan to work with an interactive agency and subject matter experts to build and launch the dynamic social media app before the end of 2011. A development budget of $100,000 has been set aside to bring the tool to life and help promote its launch. This tool represents the first-ever social media tool purpose-built to help students finance their education all the way to college completion. The tool will match students with scholarships and financial aid information based on demographic information already provided through Facebook. It will also support students through the financial aid process by leveraging their existing social network. The tool will launch on or before January 2012 and will offer aspiring college students an innovative digital tool to navigate the financial aid process.

As the winner of the College Affordability Challenge, Devin will also receive a $10,000 award. Congratulations to Devin!

Press Releases

• President Clinton Announces MTV and College Board Collaboration on First-Ever Social Media Tool for Financial Aid

News Articles

• Financial Aid Facebook App? Program Promises to Help You Find Money For College, The Consumerist
• Facebook App To Automatically Match College Students With Financial Aid, HuffPost College
• Graduate uses Facebook to find financial aid, Reuters
• Bill Clinton Helps Students Find Funds on Facebook, NBC Bay Area
• Coming Soon: A New Way to Find Student Financial Aid By Vanessa Richardson & Daily Finance, Fox Business
• Coming Soon: A New Way to Find Student Financial Aid, AOL WalletPop
• Former President Clinton, MTV and College Board Team Up to Launch Social Media, US News and World Report (University)
• Bill Clinton Helps Students Find Aid On Facebook, AllFacebook
• Coverage to run beginning on April 8-10, NPR Marketplace