CollegeNET.com Provides $10,000 Scholarship to Motel Family on Dr. Drew's Lifechangers
Scholarships from CollegeNET.com Help to Repay Student Loan Debt
Portland, OR, November 23, 2011
CollegeNET.com, the social network through which students create topics, write or video-cam about them, and vote to determine who will win scholarship money, today provided a $10,000 scholarship to a special guest on the television show, Dr. Drew's Lifechangers, which airs on the CW. The money will help pay off the guest's student loan debt and bring awareness to CollegeNET.com as a website that helps students and adults limit or avoid student loan debt.
The Lifechangers show, which aired on November 23, 2011, profiled six-month pregnant Tiffany, her partner and their two children who have been living together in a one-room, North Hollywood, Calif. motel. Tiffany, the family's mother, lost her job during the Great Recession. Unable to continue in college because of her outstanding tuition debt, Tiffany began to lose hope. CEO and Founder Jim Wolfston represented CollegeNET.com on the show, awarding Tiffany a $10,000 scholarship to be paid directly to Tiffany’s student loan lenders. CollegeNET.com's gift empowers Tiffany to pay off her student loan debt so that she may resume her college studies and obtain a degree.
"CollegeNET.com is the first scholarship provider to help both current students making tuition payments and college graduates paying down student loan debt. Unlike traditional scholarships, which require numerous essays and paperwork, CollegeNET.com awards are based on participation and a peer voting system, which encourages participants to think, frame, write and video-cam on interesting topics. Students learn from each other as they become involved in interactive discussions and advocacy," said Jim Wolfston, CEO and founder, CollegeNET, Inc. "Two-thirds of the students graduating from college today carry student debt, with the average debt load now $24,000 and growing. We are pleased to help Tiffany and her family to get out of a living situation that dramatizes the growing problem of student debt."
CollegeNET.com awards a weekly scholarship up to $10,000 each week that can be applied either to tuition payments or tuition debt. Participants on the site win scholarships by proposing interesting topics, writing and speaking about them, and earning votes from other participants. So far, CollegeNET has awarded more than $900,000 in scholarships on the site.
To participate in CollegeNET.com forums and qualify for the weekly scholarship, students can sign up for a free account at http://www.collegenet.com/elect/app/app.
"Like" CollegeNET.com on Facebook or follow CollegeNET.com on Twitter.
Media Contact:
Schwartz MSL
Allison VanNest
415.512.0770
CollegeNET@schwartzcomm.com
About CollegeNET, Inc.
CollegeNET's www.collegenet.com is a social network through which students create topics, write or video-cam about them, and vote to determine who will win scholarships. This site has become one of the Internet's most popular destinations for college-bound students. The company also builds web-based, on-demand technologies that help colleges, universities and other institutions improve operational efficiency, enhance communication with constituents and save money. The company's systems are used by more than 1,300 organizations worldwide for event and academic scheduling, prospect and admissions management, web-based tuition processing and alumni development.
The company is headquartered in Portland, Ore.