Charlotte, N.C. (December 5th, 2023) – With the world facing high levels of inflation and financial instability, more students than ever applied this year for the Sound Money Scholarship, the only known gold-backed scholarship program worldwide.
Roughly 150 applicants across 3 continents, a half dozen countries, and 35 states competed for $13,500 in funding – with nine high school, undergraduate, and graduate students ultimately earning a scholarship check for their outstanding applications.
Launched in 2016, the Sound Money Scholarship is an annual essay contest organized by Money Metals Exchange, the U.S. precious-metals dealer ranked "Best Overall" and the Sound Money Defense League, a national public policy group at the forefront of sound money legislative battles across the country.
These groups endowed their scholarship fund by setting aside 100 ounces of physical gold with the stipulation that it be used to reward exemplary students who display a thorough understanding of economics, monetary policy, and sound money.
This year, student essays addressed topics such as the problems of the Federal Reserve System, how a monetary system based on sound money could be restored, Central Bank Digital Currencies, and how a growing BRICS trade alliance might impact the United States.
"Americans are suffering under the policies and decisions of Washington DC politicians and Federal Reserve central bankers that have drained the dollar of its value – and students are certainly among the victims," said Stefan Gleason, Chief Executive Officer of Money Metals Exchange.
"For almost a decade, we've provided an opportunity for students to further their understanding of sound money through our annual scholarship competition, while helping the most outstanding of those students pay the ever-increasing costs of attending college," continued Gleason.
The 2023 Sound Money Scholarship winners are as follows:
High School Winners:
- First place ($2,000): Maanas Irukulapati, Olentangy Orange High School
- Second place ($1,000): Mosammad Khanom, Stuyvesant High School
Undergraduate Winners:
- First place ($2,500): Louis Manzella, University of Tampa
- Second place ($2,000): Nicole Huete, University of Maryland
- Third place ($1,500): Samuel Peterson, Grove City College
- Fourth place ($1,000): Scott Cross, Grove City College
- Fifth place ($500): Weston Pierce, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Graduate Winners:
- First place ($2,000): Benjamin Seevers, West Virginia University
- Second place ($1,000): JoElla Kleinhesselink, London School of Economics
A blue-ribbon panel of judges helped select the finalists:
- Judge Andrew Napolitano, Former Fox News Analyst, Best-selling author and commentator
- Dr. Peter St. Onge, Economist, Heritage Foundation
- Dr. Robert Wright, American Institute for Economic Research
- Dr. Thomas Hogan, American Institute for Economic Research
"The overwhelming interest in the 2023 Sound Money Scholarship was deeply heartening. At a time not only of high inflation and bank instability but also when states are advancing dozens of sound money bills, this fundamentally important issue is reaching an inflection point," said Jp Cortez, executive director of the Sound Money Defense League.
The deadline to submit applications for consideration next year is October 31, 2024. For more information, visit moneymetals.com/scholarship or email [email protected].
