‘Finance maze’
courtesy of ‘RambergMediaImages’
Grammy-Award winner John Legend spoke to Howard University students about education inequality today on Howard’s District campus.
According to The Washington Post, Legend’s appearance kicked off a partnership between the College Board and MTV that addresses the challenges students currently face when applying to receive financial aid.
Over two million college students a year fail to apply for the $70 billion in government financial aid made available on an annual basis. Not only that, but almost two-thirds of current students find that the process of applying for financial aid isn’t easy.
That’s not entirely true. Hence Legend’s involvement.
“I was one of the lucky ones,” Legend said regarding his opportunity to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated from in 1999. “Too many other kids don’t have that opportunity today. We need all hands on deck to tackle this problem.”
What’s the problem? Students don’t realize that they have access to funding for higher education. The “Get Schooled College Affordability Challenge”, co-created by MTV and the College Board, is a chance for students to tackle that problem and raise awareness among their fellow classmates throughout the country.
All students are encouraged to submit their ideas for simplifying the financial aid process online by the December 17 at MTV’s website.
Rachel moved to DC in the fall of 2005 to study Journalism and Music at American University. When she’s not keeping up with the latest Major League Baseball news, she works on making music as an accomplished singer-songwriter and was even a featured performer/speaker at TEDxDupont Circle in 2012. Rachel has also contributed to The Washington Examiner and MASN Sports’ Nationals Buzz as a guest blogger. See why she loves DC. E-Mail: rachel@welovedc.com.
