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More than 1,000 current and college-bound students nationwide answered the call during the 2009 ""Foreclosure.com"":http://www.foreclosure.com scholarship program, submitting essays on ""How to Solve the Foreclosure Crisis."" The Florida-based[IMAGE]company awarded a total of ""$9,000 in scholarships to five students"":http://www.foreclosure.com/scholarship for their innovative ideas on how to curb the distress in the housing market.
Andrew Dewar, a senior at Kennesaw State University located in Kennesaw, Georgia was voted to the head of the class by the panel of judges, winning the $5,000 top prize. ""Dewar's paper"":http://www.foreclosure.com/education/scholarship/winningEssay1.html outlined a plan for subsidized and streamlined short sales to replace underwater mortgages with positive equity, performing loans.
""It's been thrilling to hear the news -- I'm so thankful that Foreclosure.com put this together,"" said Dewar, a former
[COLUMN_BREAK]business owner. ""I have some personal experience with [foreclosure]. So this was just a natural extension of trying to solve my own mini housing crisis.""
The program, which ran from September 1 to December 31, 2009, also awarded four $1,000 scholarships to contest semifinalists from Hofstra University School of Law, Oakland University, Tufts University, and Princeton University.
In addition to the five cash prizes in the form of scholarships, ""the students' plans"":http://www.foreclosure.com/scholarship will be sent to Congress and to President Barack Obama.
""The suggestions that were laid out in the essays were well thought out and I would hope that Congress and President Obama will take notice,"" said Linda Yates Foreclosure.com's director of education. ""This crisis will affect the next generation so it is important to get their fresh perspectives on such an important issue.""
Luanne Bryant, who coordinated the scholarship effort for Foreclosure.com, added, ""We were extremely impressed with the variety of ideas and concepts submitted by all the students. From the far-fetched to the exceptionally insightful, we received the full gamut of solutions to the foreclosure crisis. Based on the success of this program, we will attempt to find other ways to keep it alive in 2010 and beyond for the benefit of college students, and struggling homeowners, throughout the nation.""
