The HigherEdPoints Story
After meeting hundreds of students who needed help funding their higher education, Suzanne Tyson decided she would help them find new and innovative ways that they could pay.
While Suzanne knows better than most that there are millions of dollars of “free” money out there for students-lots of scholarships for the brainiacs and uber-humans among us (10%-20% of students) and ample funds for those in dire financial need (10%-20% of students), the pickings are slim for all the rest. The “Middle Sixty”, as Suzanne has dubbed them, have a hard time winning academic scholarships and they can’t qualify for financial need-based awards. Where was there a source of “socialistic” funds? The kind that everyone could access, without writing an essay or submitting an application? Funds that didn’t come with a ball and chain?
Then one day Suzanne opened her wallet and counted eleven (11!) Loyalty Program membership cards she regularly used. “What if,” she thought, “what if the Loyalty Program points she and 90% of her fellow Canadians collected could be used to help students – their own children, children of family members, the children of close friends – to pay for school?” And so the journey began.
HigherEdPoints.com wasn’t built in a day or by a single person. Suzanne was supported and encouraged by scores of friends, colleagues, cheerleaders, helpful networkers, and heavy lifters. Because of them, the vision is now a reality. Thank you to everyone who helped along the way. It really does take a village to launch a business, n’est ce pas?