NGPF Announces Winners of 7th Annual PAYBACK Challenge

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), a nonprofit committed to ensuring all students graduate high school having taken a semester of personal finance, is pleased to recognize two students as National Grand Prize winners in their 2023 PAYBACK Challenge.

NGPF's annual PAYBACK Challenge gives high school students across the country a chance to win a $2,500 Grand Prize for their educational pursuits while developing an understanding of what college life will be like.

NGPF is pleased to recognize the National Grand Prize Winners  of the 2023 contest:

Priscilla Guerra of Impact Early College High School (Baytown, Texas)
Yra Climaco of Castaic High School (Castaic, Calif.)

An interview with the winners is available on NGPF's podcast. Their winning submissions can be read on NGPF's website.

Thirty students were recognized as Honorable Mention Award recipients, each receiving a $1,000 scholarship for educational pursuits.

And as part of NGPF's commitment to increase access to financial education within school districts serving majority Black or Hispanic students, another four $1,000 awards were specifically given to students from participating NGPF grant districts: Fulton County Schools, Long Beach Unified, New York City Public Schools, and Prince George's County Public Schools.

View a full list of scholarship winners.

Each student participating in the NGPF Payback Challenge played PAYBACK, an award-winning college simulation game, and then chose between writing an essay or creating a video in response to the following prompt:

Compose a letter to your future self, referencing specific experiences from your PAYBACK journey. How will these lessons guide you when facing real-life decisions about finance and college?

Submissions were evaluated based on creativity, clarity, and demonstration of an understanding of key concepts learned from playing PAYBACK.

"While the enduring wage premium of higher education underscores its value, the escalating costs of college necessitate careful planning and strategies to mitigate these financial burdens," said NGPF co-founder Tim Ranzetta. "Playing PAYBACK opens students' eyes to the trade offs they will need to make as they navigate higher education and build a foundation for their future."

PAYBACK was played nearly 200,000 times during the contest period and over 850 teachers nominated the best student essay from their classes.

PAYBACK has received Webby Awards for best Social Impact game and best Educational Game and has also been featured in the New York Times. It is a free game and one of the most popular in the NGPF Arcade.

About Next Gen Personal Finance
Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) is a nonprofit committed to guaranteeing that all high school students receive a personal finance course prior to graduating. NGPF has become the number one source for more than 90,000 educators looking for free high-quality, engaging personal finance curriculum to equip students with the skills they need to thrive in the future. NGPF invests in teacher professional development with live Virtual Professional Development, 10 Certification Courses, and 40+ asynchronous On-Demand modules. NGPF has been recognized by Common Sense Education as a "Top Website for Teachers to Find Lesson Plans" and "Best Business and Finance Games" and also named NGPF a "Selection for Learning." Visit ngpf.org for more.

Media Contact:
Hannah Rael
Marketing Communications Manager
Next Gen Personal Finance
[email protected]

SOURCE Next Gen Personal Finance