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H&R Block awards Michigan high school senior with $120K scholarship

Seventeen-year-old Sean Lawrence earned a $120,000 college scholarship through theH&R Block Budget Challenge- a financial literacy program that rewards high school students for mastering personal finance - the company announced Monday.

The St. Clair, Michigan, senior was deemed the "most real-world ready" out of more than 93,000 high school students that competed in the budgeting simulation during this academic year.

The scholarship was presented at St. Clair High School during a school celebration. After his $20,000 scholarship was presented, Lawrence got a shock when he learned he was actually the competition's top winner, receiving a grand total of $120,000. Lawrence's mastery of personal finance knowledge, behavior, and skills during the simulation earned him the honor.

"Our goal with the H&R Block Budget Challenge is to arm teens with the personal finance skills and confidence they need to succeed when they're out on their own," stated Bill Cobb, H&R Block president and chief executive officer. "This program is an investment in all of our futures, and we couldn't be more proud of Sean and all of the other students who participated and excelled in this real-world challenge."

Lawrence told H& R Bloch that he plans to use the scholarship to cover tuition at a Michigan university to study chemical engineering. When asked what he learned in the Budget Challenge, Lawrence said he found a method for managing money and paying bills that he will put to use in the future. "Learning about money management before going into the real world allows teens to make the right choices and have the correct knowledge so they don't end up with mountains of debt," said Lawrence.

A new season of the H&R Block Budget Challenge will launch this September. More details will be available atwww.hrbds.org

For the full list of this year's Budget Challenge winners, head to H&R Block's sitehere.

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