Three students win $17,500 in scholarships in U.S. Bank sweepstakes

Nursing student at Boise State and future teacher at University of Nebraska are among first-half winners in the U.S. Bank Student Scholarship program

Haylee Vigil decided to pass the time on a lengthy flight earlier this year in a way that turned out to be a financially savvy move in more ways than one.

Vigil, a sophomore at Boise State University, knocked out more than 100 financial education lessons during the plane ride that were part of the U.S. Bank Student Scholarship Program, a sweepstakes that students can enter by completing Zogo’s in-app financial education modules. Entrants who complete at least 25 modules become eligible for a scholarship and those who complete a minimum of 100, like Vigil, can be entered into the drawing for the $10,000 first place scholarship prize.

“I was packing up this summer to return to school when I got the email telling me that I won, and I almost didn’t believe it,” said Vigil, a first-generation college student who lives in Elko, Nevada, and plans to be a nurse anesthetist. The $10,000 scholarship is the equivalent of covering her rent for the entire school year.

Vigil’s scholarship is one of three awarded from the U.S. Bank Student Scholarship program so far this year, totaling $17,500. The winners are drawn twice a year, with the second entry period ending on October 30, 2024, when there will be the additional grand prize of $20,000.

Another winner from the first-half 2024 entry period is Tanith Miske, a first-year student at Utah Valley University. Miske won the third-place award of $2,500, which nearly covers her $3,300 in tuition. Her parents had offered to help her cover the cost of her college education, but her father learned he lost his job just before she left for school.

“It was a huge relief for me and my parents to hear I’d won this scholarship,” she said.

Miske is a former competitive gymnast who started the sport at age 2 and had to give it up last year due to an injury. At Utah Valley University she joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, and found she loves the teamwork and ability to use her athletic and problem-solving skills. She’s planning to study criminal justice to become a military police officer in the National Guard after she graduates.

The U.S. Bank Student Scholarship program has been running for more than 12 years. In addition to being entered into the sweepstakes, students can receive gift cards for completing modules. Each module is a short lesson on topics ranging from savings strategies to how insurance works that take only a couple of minutes to complete.

Chloe Burrows, a sophomore at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln who won the second-place prize of $5,000, said she particularly valued the lessons on how to buy a home – which is one of her long-term financial goals.

“This program helps (college students) learn in a simple way that everyone can understand,” said Burrows, who is studying to be a special education early childhood teacher and working at the university’s daycare center to help fund her way through college. “College is the time when young adults become more independent, and really need the help learning how to provide for themselves and their future families.”