For the past 5 years, NGPF has hosted the annual PAYBACK Challenge, which allows students to play the most popular game in the NGPF Arcade to learn about the types of choices they will need to make to get to college, through college and to repay student loan debt after college.

After playing PAYBACK, students chose between writing an essay or creating a video in response to the following prompt:

After playing PAYBACK, you have a better idea of what to expect in college. But, COVID-19 has changed the way college looks and feels. How will your college decision-making change because of the pandemic? Refer to relevant excerpts from the PAYBACK game to enhance your key points.

With nearly 1,200 submissions, choosing just 2 National Award Winners was tough! Congratulations to the following 2 students who will receive a $2,500 award from NGPF to be used for educational purposes:

• Caleigh Hurley of Brighton High School (Brighton, MI)
• Dhruv Bansal of De Pere High School (De Pere, WI)

Enjoy these excerpts from each of the National Grand Prize Winners:

A range of options may seem nice,
Until you see the total price,
Don’t make choices you’ll regret,
When you check your student loan debt.
Online courses during your summer,
Or a job, may seem like a bummer,
Until you see that you owe less,
And then you feel a drop in stress.

After playing Payback, I now see,
That balance is key to getting my degree,
Each choice I make may appear to be small,
But can impact me for the long haul.

–Caleigh Hurley of Brighton High School (MI)

 (Transcript of excerpt below.)

Dhruv: I have to make sure that I try to minimize my debt by avoiding frequent dine-outs or going on vacation super often. Those kinds of things aren’t really necessary but they cost a lot.

Dad: Yea, I suppose that makes sense. What kinds of costs will you have to cover though?

Dhruv: Well, some of my essential costs besides tuition will be food, housing, and maybe textbooks as well.

Dad: Say I were an irresponsible dad who had spent some -- all -- of your college money on gambling (and obviously this is a very, very hypothetical situation)... how would you pay for your debt then?

Dhruv: Well, that’s where loans and scholarships can come in really handy and I can also work to pay off my debt. Also, please tell me you’re kidding?

Dad: Yea… I kinda wish that was a joke. Anyway son, I’m really looking forward to you going to college so I can be free - I mean you can be free! And yea, did you mow the lawn?

Dhruv: Um. No.

Dad: SON!

–Dhruv Bansal of De Pere High School (WI)

In addition to the National Grand Prize Winners, an additional 65 students were recognized as Honorable Mention Award recipients with each receiving a $1,000 scholarship for educational pursuits. Click here to learn more about all of the 2021 scholarship winners.

As part of our commitment to Financial Equity and Empowerment (FEE grant), 15 of those awards were specifically granted to students from FEE grant districts, where a majority of students attending identify as Black and Brown.

Below are excerpts from a selection of FEE grant district winners:

I can safely say that college life in the 21st century isn’t about any single factor such as academics or who you’re friends with. Instead, it’s more about giving enough attention to each and every part of your life. If you give your all into making friends by joining a frat, your finances and grade will take a hit. If you put all of your eggs in the basket of studying, you won’t have any left to make an omelet with all of your buddies. 

-Moises Aguila-Rojo of Reagan IB High School (Milwaukee, WI)

The PAYBACK game showed me to really evaluate my options before committing to a college. Sometimes the “best” school isn’t the best option for you financially, and making a financially sound decision will be extremely beneficial in the long run since you won’t have to worry about tens of thousands, or potentially hundreds of thousands, of dollars of debt.
–Sophie Bolt of West Career and Technical Academy (Las Vegas, NV)

In one of my runs I admit I intentionally chose the most ridiculous or most expensive choices along with the self-sabotage of the crucial mini games. Don't worry! I won't make these decisions in college. I only did so for the sake of knowledge - and just to know the outcomes of these poor decisions. In my runs where I stayed out of debt by a longshot I stuck to the strategy of going cheap in scenarios such as my job interviews and buying a laptop. These decisions were the most logical, but resulted in slight setbacks such as losing happiness and focus.
–Logan Pritchard of Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School (Miami, FL

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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 currently the most popular in the NGPF Arcade.

About the Author

Yanely Espinal

Born and raised by Dominican, immigrant parents in Brooklyn, Yanely is a proud product of NYC public schools. She graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 2007 before going on to receive her bachelor's degree at Brown University in 2011. As a Teach For America corps member, Yanely taught third and fourth grade in Canarsie, Brooklyn. She received her master's degree from Relay Graduate School of Education in 2013. She spends her spare time making YouTube videos about personal finance on her channel, MissBeHelpful. Yanely also loves to dance, sew, paint, listen to podcasts, and babysit her 10 nieces and nephews!