Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Scholly – the App Bringing Millions of Dollars to College Students in Need, and Encouraging Educational ‘Opportunity for All’

Christopher Gray found that each year $100 million in scholarships go unclaimed while students drown in debt.  He confirmed that there is a lot of scholarship money out there and through hard work and diligent searching, he landed himself a whopping $1.3 million in scholarships.

Gray came up with the idea for a mobile app to make things easier for other students seeking scholarships. He later teamed up with Nick Pirollo and Bryson Alef to become co-founders of what is now known as Scholly and what will forever be known as encouraging ‘Opportunity for All’.

Gray made an apperance on the ABC’s “Shark Tank” to convince a panel of financiers to back his business and was able to secure $40,000 in capital. Within hours of the episode airing, the Scholly site was bombarded with 80,000 requests. Since then, 850,000 users have downloaded the app—and it has connected students with $50 million in scholarships. 

Gray has met with Bill Gates, been honored by Oprah Winfrey, invited  to the White House twice. As well as Steve Case, the AOL co-founder, awarding a $100,000 competitive grant to Scholly.

Aware of the app’s potential, some users have bought the app for other students. Such as Karen Starks, a teacher who recently used her own money to purchase the Scholly app for all 600 seniors in her school.  Then there are people like Edmund Ford who organized a successful citywide fund-raising drive that enabled Memphis, Tennessee to become the first city in the U.S. to have Scholly for its school system.

To determine the various scholarships that a student is eligible for, Gray’s app asks for simple background information on the student's : 1) gender, 2) race, 3) current location, 4) citizenship, 5) GPA, 6) grade level, 7) degree sought, 8) preferred colleges, 9) major/ field of study, 10) whether application is based on need, and/or merit, and 11) miscellaneous – a list of multiple questions to find out background, health, and other factors (e.g., whether a veteran dependent) that could make a student eligible for some of the many scholarships out there.

To access the “full story” on Gray’s app, please click here and also here; and to check out the app and confirm that the needed investment (the one-time fee now stands at $2.99) is worth it, please click here.



Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi

Sunday, November 20, 2016

The Big List: 153 Places To Educate Yourself Online at No Cost

Marc and Angel Chernoff are truly amazing people who share a great passion for inspiring others to live to their fullest potential. They have shared over 800 self-improvement articles on the internet, with regard to education, Marc has compiled a list of places on the internet where anyone can educate himself or herself for free – 153 websites altogether, divided into 13 sections as follows:

·         Science and Health (21 websites)
·         Business and Money (12 websites)
·         History and World Culture (14 websites)
·         Law (10 websites)
·         Computer Science and Engineering (13 websites)
·         Mathematics (9 websites)
·         English and Communications (8 websites)
·         Foreign and Sign Languages (6 websites)
·         Multiple Subjects and Miscellaneous (19 websites)
·         Free Books and Reading Recommendations (20 websites)
·         Educational Mainstream Broadcast Media (9 websites)
·         Online Archives (8 websites)
·         Directories of Open Education (4 websites)

Those who have viewed Marc’s list referred to it as “great, super, very useful and helpful, fantastic,brilliant, priceless, invaluable,absolutely amazing,” etc.  A viewer wrote that Marc now has no need to do another good deed for humanity as his “list” has got him covered.  Another viewer commented that the currently available options for free education leaves us with no excuse to remain ignorant. To view and explore Marc’s list, please click here.



Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi 

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

“No Excuse List” – A website that composes lists offering free education

“No Excuse List” suggests that anybody with internet access has no excuse for remaining unskilled or for not having any academic training.

The “No Excuse List” website is a doorway that leads online explorers to other doors offering free education.

The various sections of the “No Excuse List” include:

·         Academics – List of twenty (20) websites covering a great number of courses offered by various universities, colleges, and other institutions
·         Art – ten (10) websites
·         Computer Programming / WebDev – ten (10) websites
·         Cooking – eight (8) websites
·         eBooks – eight (8) websites
·         How To + DIY – eight (8) websites
·         Languages – eight websites
·         Music – seven (7) websites
·         Other – seven (7) websites

To explore the “No Excuse List” and confirm that you really do not have any excuse, please click here.

NOTE
Link to University of Reddit (not your usual university), under Academics section of the “No Excuse List”, may not be working. Please enter University of Reddit by clicking here.


Posted by Dr. Nat Tuivavalagi