May 28, 2019
Read time : 4 min

What does it take to win the Up to Us Campus Competition? Ask one of the 20 student teams that have been selected as finalists! 

Up to Us participants hold an information tabeling event.

This year’s finalists were carefully chosen from a cohort of more than 125 student teams and include a diverse group of students from universities across the country. Using the tools and resources they gained through Up to Us webinars and training, student teams designed and implemented fiscally-driven awareness campaigns on their campuses.

Year after year, students surprise us with their creative ideas around the issue of the growing national debt and the long-term fiscal challenges they will inherit. This year’s finalists are no different. They represent the next generation of talented leaders who understand the importance of being civically engaged and working across party lines in order to address one of our nation’s most pressing challenges: fiscal sustainability.

In being selected as a finalist, the 20 teams are participating in an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. for three days of briefings, meet-and-greets and events around the district. The agenda includes a meeting at POLITICO; working group sessions with policymakers and thought leaders; and recognition at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s annual Fiscal Summit on June 11.

Up to Us participants hold a sign.

In addition, this year for the very first time, three students will be awarded scholarships to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute’s prestigious Leadership and the American Presidency (LTAP) program. The scholarships are being offered through Up to Us and its new partnership with the Reagan Foundation.

The complete list of 2018-2019 Up to Us Campus Competition finalists include:

  • Barnard College 
  • Binghamton University
  • Boston University
  • Chapman University
  • Claflin University
  • Kennesaw State University
  • Lynn University
  • Miami Dade College – Wolfson Campus
  • Oakland University 
  • Oklahoma Christian University
  • Pitzer College
  • San Francisco State University
  • Schoolcraft College
  • Southwestern University
  • State University of New York, Oswego
  • University of Alaska Anchorage
  • University of California, Irvine
  • University of California, Los Angeles
  • University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
  • University of Illinois at Chicago 

Follow Up to Us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to keep-up with news about this year’s winning team, and to learn about what the Year 7 finalists are experiencing in Washington. To learn more about how to get involved in the movement, visit www.itsuptous.org.