HigherEdPoints.com hits $500,000 educational funding milestone through conversion of miles or loyalty points

HigherEdPoints.com helps students and families fund tuition and repay student loans using Aeroplan Miles and TD Points

TORONTO, Nov. 30, 2016 /CNW/ - On the third anniversary of its launch, www.HigherEdPoints.com has crossed the half a million dollar mark in helping students and families fund tuition and repay student loans. The exciting part? Every dollar was converted from miles or loyalty points: Aeroplan Miles or TD Points.

"Converting loyalty points into tuition had never been done before, so we weren't 100% sure if people would choose to use their hard-earned points to fund education," said Suzanne Tyson, Founder & CEO of HigherEdPoints Inc. "We've been thrilled with the enthusiasm and repeat use by members—especially parents and grandparents. Over 75% of our redemptions have been from relatives of the enrolled student."

It's not just students and parents who have jumped on board. HigherEdPoints launched in late 2013 with just two Participating Institutions: University of New Brunswick and Centennial College. Today, there are over 100 institutions from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island (http://www.higheredpoints.com/participating-institutions/) that have proactively added the Program to the funding options available to students and families. The Ontario and Alberta provincial student loan programs are also participating.

"With the addition of the provincial loan programs, we've seen members who used HigherEdPoints to fund tuition now using the Program to pay back their student loans," said Tyson. "That's exciting, because it means we've become a part of those families' funding solutions for higher education. Helping to reduce and eliminate student debt faster was one of our core objectives."

There's also been an increase in small business owners using their corporately earned miles for a child's education or to fund employee scholarships. "This is hugely relevant for loyalty programs from a new member acquisition and retention perspective," said Tyson. "We had a lovely UBC parent express his appreciation for the help in funding his children's tuition. He also said this: 'I use my credit card as a preferred mechanism to incur company spend (I travel a lot for work)... so that's another way that loyalty programs for credit card companies can see increased traffic [for] their products.'"

For Tyson, it's the win-win-win for all parties that's the most satisfying part of creating HigherEdPoints: "We're helping students and parents fund the most important investment of their lives. Schools and the government are able to offer a new source of no-cost funding to increase educational access and attainment. Aeroplan and TD Points have created tremendous goodwill with members, while increasing their loyalty. It's very rewarding on all levels."

About HigherEdPoints.com
HigherEdPoints, through partnerships with like-minded Canadian corporations, is dedicated to finding innovative ways to help students and families fund higher education. After all, it takes a village to raise a mind™

SOURCE HigherEdPoints.com

Image with caption: "HigherEdPoints.com (CNW Group/HigherEdPoints.com)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20161130_C7207_PHOTO_EN_828727.jpg

To contact HigherEdPoints or Suzanne Tyson: Email: [email protected], Phone: [phone]