BRAINTREE, Mass., June 2, 2006—Nellie Mae, a top originator of student loans and a leader in helping students borrow responsibly and manage debt, today announced the completion of the third round of its EDvisor scholarship drawings. Nellie Mae’s Debt Management EDvisor is a free tool offering worksheets, calculators, and tips for undergraduate and graduate, full- and part-time, and traditional and non-traditional students. Nellie Mae is awarding $500 scholarships to four randomly selected borrowers who have completed the EDvisor tutorials as an incentive to practice sound fiscal management. The scholarship winners are:
- Gregory Nuckols, Pacifica Graduate Institute
- Jill Bargmeyer, Kennesaw State University
- Christina Millares, University of Miami
- Chanana Banjot, Columbia University
Three of the four winners received a $500 check payable to their school, to be credited toward their financial aid package. One winner is in her final year of enrollment and therefore received a $500 principal reduction on her Nellie Mae Stafford loan.
"I was very excited when I found out my name had been drawn for the scholarship—after all, that's $500 I won’t have to worry about when I get out of school," said award winner Jill Bargmeyer, a student at Kennesaw State University. "Using Nellie Mae’s EDvisor debt management tool was its own reward, though—I learned a lot about how to plan for and manage my student loan debt."
Debt Management EDvisor allows students to complete tutorials confidentially and conveniently online. The tool helps students identify spending pattern vulnerabilities, cost-reduction opportunities, and budgeting and saving strategies. A Nellie Mae survey found that 76% of undergraduates in 2004 began the school year with credit cards; therefore, EDvisor also helps the student examine his or her credit card usage and provides recommendations for responsible use of credit.
Debt Management EDvisor offers college financial aid officers a number of benefits, as well. By helping to improve their students’ current and future financial standing, aid officers may be able to upgrade their school’s student loan repayment statistics. Financial aid officers may customize the tool with local salary and cost-of-living data, the school’s cost of attendance, the school’s logo, tips, articles and Web links, and request to receive automatic e-mail notification when a student completes a tutorial. For more information, www.nelliemae.com/edvisor.
About Nellie Mae Since 1982, Nellie Mae has focused exclusively on providing education financing for undergraduate and graduate students and families. Programs include Federal Stafford, PLUS and Consolidation Loans, as well as private loans. Online services include loan pre-approval, a loan information center, and debt-management tools to help students before and after college. Visit www.nelliemae.com for more information. Located in Braintree, Mass., Nellie Mae is a wholly owned affiliate of Sallie Mae, the nation's largest provider of education funding. SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States.
The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, achieves its mission-to increase access to a post secondary education for America's children-by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education, prepare families for their investment, and bridge the gap when no one else can. For more information, visit www.salliemaefund.org.