in this issue....
• Groups learning management tool
• Free train-the-trainer events
• Workbooks now available
• New rewards offered
in other news....
$2,500 College Access
Scholarship
Visit Education Cents beginning Jan. 1, 2011, to apply for the College Access Scholarship. These $2,500 scholarships are offered to help students access and complete higher educationand will be awarded to 250 eligible students to use toward their 2011-2012 higher education expenses.
Qualifications include attending college at least part-time for the 2011-12 school year as a degree-seeking student, completing the 2011-12 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and qualifying for the Federal Pell Grant
Applicants will also be required to complete all 10 Education Cents personal financial education courses.
This is a fantastic opportunity for the students you work with - please use this flyer to help us spread the word!
It's FAFSA time! Make sure you're prepared.
The 2011-12 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will open on January 1st again this year. It's always important to complete the FAFSA as early as possible, before colleges priority deadlines for financial aid, so that students can get the most financial aid available.
Make sure that your students know the ins and outs of the financial aid process and FAFSA completion by inviting the Colorado Department of Higher Education's College Access team to present at your school or organization. Visit www.educationcents.org/request to request a presentation.
Also, don't forget about College Goal Sunday - free events offered state-wide to help families and students complete the FAFSA. This year College Goal Sunday is February 13. For more information visit www.collegegoalcolorado.org.
Partner Spotlight
The Education Cents program is very flexible, allowing for many different applications. Through our partner newsletter, we’ll provide examples of how some of our partners are using the program.
Completing a financial education class is a graduation requirement for BVSD high school students. Beginning in the 2010-11 school year, these students may complete the Education Cents online curriculum to fulfill their requirement. "Education Cents is a perfect fit with our financial education standards," said Kurt Levasseur Director for Career and Technical Educational and Online Learning for BVSD. "The product fits our needs and is easy to use, effective and free."
CollegeInvest is working closely with BVSD high school counselors and administrators to provide training and support to make this program successful. We also hope to see BVSD classroom teachers utilize the program with their students.
Rewards Program
Scholarship Winner Spotlight
April 2010 - $1,000 scholarship
Katherine Roehrich, Junior at Metropolitan State College of Denver
"Young adulthood is a critical point in every person's financial planning. As we have seen in recent years, irresponsibility and a sense of entitlement encompass many at this stage in life. Being solely responsible for the financial burden of my higher education has given me the opportunity to develop good spending habits and even better saving practices."
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Partner News
CollegeInvest’s free Education Cents financial education program has been met with great enthusiasm from partners at high schools, colleges, pre-collegiate programs and other non-profits around the state. We are so pleased that the program is helping students and families become more financially savvy and reach their higher education goals.
Through ongoing collaboration, we continue to improve the program including the website’s online curriculum, www.educationcents.org, our presentations and training, and our materials. Thank you for your partnership and assistance in making the Education Cents program a success!
What's New?
Education Cents Groups
The Groups functionality allows teachers and other group leaders to track student progress in the Education Cents online curriculum. Using this learning management application, teachers and other group leaders can create groups of students for which they can track program usage, scores on assessments and more. A few of the features of the Groups functionality:
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Reports – Pull real-time reports on your group members’ activity in the website. Reports are available by individual student and also aggregated for your full group. We’ve created several reports based on partner feedback and are happy to consider creating additional reports. Just let us know what kind of report you need!
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Communication – Group facilitators can post messages on a message board, moderate threaded discussions and create polls for their groups.
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Resources – You’ll find fantastic presentations and worksheets, a cross-walk to the CDE standards and other learning facilitation tools in the "Facilitator Resources" section.
To start using the Groups functionality, just log in to www.educationcents.org and click on the "Groups" link in the upper right navigation. Complete the facilitator application to tell us a little about how you plan to use the program with your students and we’ll send easy-to-follow instructions to help you get started!
Train-the-Trainer Events
We held several train-the-trainer events around the state over the past several months – the feedback has been great! These day-long events provide information on using the Education Cents program and teaching personal finance. If you are interested in attending a train-the-trainer event or hosting an event in a computer lab, please let us know. We publish a list of upcoming train-the-trainer events as they are scheduled, in the "For Partners" section of www.educationcents.org.
We are currently scheduling a series of trainings next Spring. Look for an invitation after the first of the year! If you would like to host a train-the-trainer event, email Katie Powell at kpowell@collegeinvest.org.
Workbooks
The first editions of the Education Cents workbooks are now available! We’ve developed different versions for high school and college students to meet these groups’ unique needs. We are also working on high school and college versions in Spanish, which we hope to be able to offer in early 2011.
To view PDFs of the workbooks visit www.educationcents.org/Workbook. Education Cents group facilitators can order printed copies of the workbooks by clicking on "Workbooks" in the "Facilitator Resources" section of the facilitator dashboard. Or, visit www.educationcents.org/request.
Rewards Program – Partnering with Colorado Credit Unions
We are excited to announce an expansion of the program through a partnership with several credit unions around the state. Our credit union partners will offer rewards that will help encourage students and families to create a relationship with a trusted financial institution – an important step in financial fitness! Users will only see these new rewards if they fall within one of our credit union partners’ service areas. Our credit union partners are Air Academy Federal Credit Union, Arapaho Credit Union, Boulder Valley Credit Union, Denver Community Credit Union and Weld Schools Credit Union. We are hoping to expand our partnerships to cover the majority of the state over the coming year. To learn more about this program, log in to www.educationcents.org and visit the "My Rewards" page.
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