Prep Innovator Achieves New Heights
Harvard first-year student Zachary Hamed (XXVI/Collegiate '10, Harvard) is this year’s Harvard College Innovation Challenge top award winner in the Social Startups category. His online college financial aid tool, Aid Aide, won a $10,000 grant along with office space for a year, a mentor, and legal advice for the business. Hamed is the first college freshman to win the prize and he was the only single-person team among his 25 competitors. He plans to use the award money to have Aid Aide programmed for bank-level security.
Teams applying to the competition were judged for creativity, entrepreneurial leadership, and potential. Judges included professors, lawyers, consultants, and business people. A total of 222 students submitted proposals to the competition, out of which 84 teams were selected; 26 teams went on to compete in the semifinals.
Aid Aide is designed to simplify the financial aid process for students with step-by-step instructions on forms, a calendar of deadlines, private consultation with financial aid professionals, and even translation for students and parents unable to read English.
An inveterate programmer, Hamed completed two graduate-level computer programming classes at Harvard summer school after his sophomore year at Collegiate.
In a press release by Harvard, Hamed stated that 3 in 10 student FAFSA applications are denied due to mistakes on the form. “Not all students can receive the personalized attention that Prep provided to me. Aid Aide will hopefully bring that type of assistance to any student who needs it.”
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