Education Loans Company Sallie Mae Drops Mystery Boxes and Free Money for National Scholarship Month
Whether you’re tall, left-handed, play with puppets, do a damn good duck call, or love potatoes, there are scholarships out there that celebrate the amazing things that make you unique, and Sallie Mae is determined to help you find them.
Just in time for National Scholarship Month, Sallie Mae is bringing students new ways to find free money first, before they turn to loans.
First, Sallie Mae has launched a revamped, free-to-use scholarship tool, designed to help students – at any point during their college journey (not just incoming freshman) – discover monies that match with their unique talents, activities or interests. And there’s a LOT to discover, with around $100M in unclaimed scholarship funds typically left on the table (!!!) every year.
Then, in looking to streetwear’s hype model, in partnership with lead agency GYK Antler, each week in November Sallie Mae will be dropping one of five ‘fffound’ mystery boxes filled with unique prizes and free money, giving followers the chance to win simply by registering for the free scholarship tool at sallie.cc/free.
GYK Antler are offering totally ironic, TikTok-worthy prizes inspired by some of the most unique, weird, fun or unexpected scholarships available, like:
- Drop #1: hundreds of tiny rubber left hands + $1,000 (for a Left-Handed Scholarship)
- Drop #2: a custom ragmop & goose puppet + $1,000 (Study Abroad for Puppeteers Scholarship)
- Drop #3: some custom gear fit for foodies + $1,000 (Culinary Art Design Scholarship)
- Drop #4: a banana duck + $1,000 (Duck Calling Scholarship)
- Drop #5: a bronzed version of our favourite childhood potato plaything + $1,000 (National Potato Council Scholarship)
The drops will be promoted across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, with the team working with influencers like Jessie and Gus (@ragmopandgoose), who recently helped Sallie Mae get eyes on UNIMA’s National Puppeteer Scholarship and will share word with their extended family of puppets about the mystery boxes, custom zig zag puppet prize, and scholarship search tool.
These initiatives and many others are all part of Sallie Mae’s purposeful shift from a student financial services company to a student support system, as they work to ensure the students they serve are put first and have access to the resources they need to build confidence along their educational journey, whatever that might look like.
