University of Florida students receive SIFE Awardfor Financial Literacy Challenge
The Financial Literacy Challenge is a series of competitive online quizzes designed to increase high school students’ knowledge about personal finance. Students learn as they navigate through select websites as they prepare to take short multiple-choice quizzes trying to win, scholarships for college, prizes and the National Trophy for their school.
The program was developed in 2007 at the University of Florida through Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), a business student organization in the Warrington College of Business. The project was led by Jebi Mathew, a former Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation (CKSF) winner and intern. Before attending the University of Florida, Jebi interned with CKSF where he learned the mechanics that drive CKSF and created his first CKSF scholarship called “Trendy Technology” which was a unique success.
While at the University of Florida Jebi joined SIFE and once again partnered with CKSF to create a program to help educate high school students in the Gainesville, Florida area about financial literacy. The first Financial Literacy Challenge scholarship was awarded in fall 2007 to Kyle Kraft from Bucholz High School.
Based on the lessons learned from the first implementation the program was modified and re-launched as a national program in 2008. Open to any high school student in the United States, the program was recognized as the best financial literacy project in the nation by SIFE for innovation, exceptional reach and the ease at which it can be replicated. It was also recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative as 2009 Outstanding Commitment to Action.
In 2009 the Financial Literacy Challenge was submitted to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School for consideration as part of the Management 100 program. As part of this partnership the program will once again evolve as it becomes part of the CKSF Team Scholarship program.
Jebi Mathew receiving the first National FBI Common Knowledlge Scholarship
Gainesville, FL high school student receives the first SIFE Financial Literacy Award