NGPF Announces Scholarship Winners in 5th Annual PAYBACK Challenge

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Jan 27, 2022, 05:00 ET

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), a nonprofit committed to ensuring ALL students graduate high school with personal finance skills, is pleased to recognize 2 students as National Grand Prize winners in their 2021 PAYBACK Challenge.

Congratulations to the following students who will receive a $2,500 award from NGPF to be used for educational purposes:

Caleigh Hurley of Brighton High School (Brighton, MI)
Dhruv Bansal of De Pere High School (De Pere, WI)

After playing the award-winning game, PAYBACK, students were asked to submit a video or essay in response to this prompt:

After playing PAYBACK, you have a better idea of what to expect in college. How has the game changed your impression of what college life will be like in the 21st century? Refer to relevant excerpts from the PAYBACK game to enhance your key points.

"Over 500,000 students played PAYBACK in the duration of the challenge!" noted Yanely Espinal, NGPF's Director of Educational Outreach. "Our team is incredibly grateful to the educators across the nation who brought PAYBACK into their classrooms and facilitated critical conversations after playing the game."

Excerpts from the National Winners:
"Don't make choices you'll regret,
When you check your student loan debt.
Online courses during your summer,
Or a job, may seem like a bummer,
Until you see that you owe less,
And then you feel a drop in stress.

After playing Payback, I now see,
That balance is key to getting my degree,
Each choice I make may appear to be small,
But can impact me for the long haul.
–Caleigh Hurley of Brighton High School (MI)

"Dhruv: I have to make sure that I try to minimize my debt by avoiding frequent dine-outs or going on vacation super often. Those kinds of things aren't really necessary but they cost a lot.

Dad: Yea, I suppose that makes sense. What kinds of costs will you have to cover though?

Dhruv: Well, some of my essential costs besides tuition will be food, housing, and maybe textbooks as well.

Dad: Say I were an irresponsible dad who had spent some -- all -- of your college money on gambling (and obviously this is a very, very hypothetical situation)... how would you pay for your debt then?

Dhruv: Well, that's where loans and scholarships can come in really handy and I can also work to pay off my debt. Also, please tell me you're kidding?

Dad: Yea… I kinda wish that was a joke.

–Dhruv Bansal of De Pere High School (WI)

Additionally, 65 students were awarded Honorable Mention scholarships of $1,000 each. Curious to see the full list of winners from around the country? Check out NGPF's blog for more and view slides of the winners here!

NGPF is committed to Financial Equity and Empowerment. A minimum of 25% of all awards were intentionally granted in districts serving a majority of Black and Brown students.

PAYBACK received a Webby Award for best Social Impact game in 2017 and has been featured in the New York Times. The game is free and available for anyone to play at ngpf.org/arcade.

About Next Gen Personal Finance
NGPF is the "one-stop shop" for nearly 60,000 financial educators looking for relevant and engaging curriculum. High-quality live and on-demand professional development training is available at no cost via ngpf.org. Over 78% of U.S. students attend a high school where a teacher uses the NGPF curriculum. Common Sense Education named NGPF a "Top Website for Teachers to Find Lesson Plans."

Media Contact: Christine Yoo, [email protected]

SOURCE Next Gen Personal Finance