Sharing your smart strategies for saving and paying for college during April’s Financial Literacy Month, gives you a chance to win $10,000 in this year’s Tuition Tales contest from Upromise by Sallie Mae. Parents and college students (current and former), all it takes to compete is a 30-second video on your tips that will help others plan, save or pay for higher education expenses.
“Winning Upromise’s Tuition Tales made my first year so much easier financially… I can actually sleep at night! This is such a great opportunity for students to use their creativity, both in making the video AND in finding ways to rack up the votes! Thanks again to Upromise for helping students just go for it!” said Chris Rehmann, of Gulfport, MS, a $10,000 2009 Tuition Tale winner and freshman at NYU.
Currently in its third year, Tuition Tales was developed to jumpstart national conversations about saving and paying for college. Now through May 5, 2010, Upromise members can upload entries revealing their savvy college planning, paying or saving strategies at www.upromise.com/tuition-tales. Upromise will award two grand prizes — $10,000 for higher education – to contestants who submit the best video in the Saving-for-College Strategies and Paying-for-College Strategies categories. Those two winners and eight other finalists will also win a $500 Bank of America® Visa® Gift Card. Official rules and entry materials are available at www.upromise.com/tuition-tales.
“Saving for or paying for college can be daunting,” said Edward Scannell, director of Upromise and hobbyist director and filmmaker who helped create this year’s program. “Tuition Tales encourages people across the country to think about and share their creative strategies to invest and succeed in higher education.”
Videos will be judged on quality, fit to theme and creativity. Accepted video entries will be viewable online so that the general public may cast votes. Both online voting and a panel review will determine the top 10 finalists in each category. The public will determine, via online voting May 12-26, who wins the two $10,000 grand prizes.
Upromise by Sallie Mae is a free program designed to help families and students plan, save and pay for college. The money earned from everyday spending with Upromise partners goes directly into a Upromise account where members can choose to invest their earnings in a high-yield savings account or tax-deferred 529 plan; use it to pay down a student loan; or request a check that can be used for college or other expenses.
