My College Dollars Connects Students to Aid Through Facebook

Feb. 2012

Advocacy

The College Board has partnered with MTV and Get Schooled to launch “My College Dollars,” a Facebook application that utilizes information from a user’s Facebook profile — including age, gender and state — to connect students with targeted financial aid opportunities.

This new application brings this important news to students by integrating the media and messengers that they are most likely to turn to. It takes advantage of the world’s largest social media platform to meet students where they already spend a lot of time. The app connects them to information, guidance and tools that will enable them to make smart decisions about paying for college.

A few of the top features of My College Dollars:

• Connects students with the nearly $6 billion in available scholarship aid and $45 billion in federal and state grants;
• Features video tutorials from talent and other influential experts on how to get the financial aid students need;
• Connects students to existing social networks for support, guidance, and sharing and tracking each other’s progress;
• Integrates a calendar to help students track important dates and milestones; and
• Features a dynamic “Ask the Experts” FAQ, in which selected user questions will be answered by a panel of experts on a regular basis.

The tool is integrated into a larger campaign taking place within hundreds of high schools across the country to encourage college preparation and FAFSA completion.

My College Dollars was originally conceived by Devin Valencia, a recent graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and developed by the College Board and MTV, with additional support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The idea for the application won Valencia the “Get Schooled College Affordability Challenge,” a national competition that asked students to reimagine the financial aid process.

"One of the greatest barriers to college completion is the rising cost of a degree,” said Gaston Caperton president of the College Board. “But now, thanks to the ingenuity and creativity of young Devin Valencia, millions of students will have access to critical financial aid information that can break down this formidable barrier and create a new generation of college-going Americans. I am incredibly excited and proud, and I look forward to seeing My College Dollars at work.”

To promote the use of My College Dollars, musicians, actors and athletes will inspire students and inform them about the campaign.

Find more information and check out the application here.