Higher One Recognizes Spokane Falls Community College Student for Peer-to-Peer Money Management Video

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Higher One, a leading provider of financial services and data analytics to more than 1,900 colleges and universities across the U.S., has selected Spokane Falls Community College student Thien Nguyen as the second-place winner of its Money on My Mind contest. To enter, students were asked to submit a two-minute video that addressed questions about money management-related challenges, strategies and recommendations to fellow students.

In his video, Thien describes his own struggle with saving money and details how he tries to ensure he stays on top of his finances, including budgeting to know how much money he has at any given time, tracking recurring and upcoming expenses, and refraining from spending more than needed. The questions posed to students as part of the contest were aligned with his own challenges, he said. “The Money On My Mind contest was an amazing opportunity—what inspired my video was how the questions [relate to] everyday predicaments,” said Nguyen. His winning video can be viewed here.

“Our Money on My Mind contest encourages students to share personal experiences and advice in a peer-to-peer format, which is a very helpful and engaging way to share financial knowledge,” said Mary Johnson, Financial Literacy and Student Aid Policy Director at Higher One. “This year we received nearly 450 contest entries—and Thien's submission did a great job of highlighting applicable strategies students can implement to save money while in college and the importance of establishing a bank account.”

Further, Nguyen recalled from personal experience how important it is for students to learn money management skills when entering into college.

“It is important for college students to have money management skills so they have stability in their future—I was unclear on how it was going to be such a big responsibility to become an independent college student,” said Nguyen. “[Financial literacy] is important because many incoming college students aren't fully aware of how costly items and expenses in their budget can be.”

About Higher One

Higher One ONE partners with colleges and universities to lower their administrative costs and to improve graduation rates. We provide a broad array of payment, refund disbursement and data analytics and management tools to institutions that help them save money and enhance institutional effectiveness. And for students, we offer financial literacy programs and convenient, flexible and affordable transaction options to help them manage their finances. Higher One's products and services support more than 1,900 schools and approximately 13 million enrolled students. More information about Higher One can be found at www.higherone.com.