New York, NY – April 26, 2022

Working in Support of Education (W!se), a national nonprofit, celebrated the 10th anniversary of its ranking, the “100 Best W!se High Schools Teaching Personal Finance” during a virtual ceremony sponsored by Voya Financial®. The first place distinction was given to Academies of West Memphis in West Memphis, Arkansas. Hurley High School from Virginia place­­­d second. High School for Math, Science, and Engineering at CCNY in New York City placed third. High Technology High School located in New Jersey placed fourth. Richmond Community High School in Virginia placed fifth.

The “100 Best W!se High Schools Teaching Personal Finance” is the first and only national ranking in high school financial education, recognizing excellence in personal finance instruction within W!se’s national network of schools participating in its Financial Literacy Certification program.

Angela Harrell, senior vice president, Chief Diversity & Corporate Responsibility Officer and Voya Foundation President opened the ceremony. “I think it is so important for students to graduate financially literate, it is the foundation for life. The W!se programs enables us to start young and to make sure that they get the skills they need to be financially literate adults,” said Angela.

The 100 Best schools being honored today earned their achievement. They had 91% of their students certified Financial Literate. Moreover, the top ten schools ranked had an amazing 99% of their students certified with an average test score of 91%. Congratulations to all.” said Phyllis Perillo, Founder, President and CEO of W!se. “As I think about the future, I am truly optimistic about personal finance education.”

The “100 Best” schools all participate in W!se’s Financial Literacy Certification program that provides instructional resources and assessments, including the W!se Financial Literacy Certification Test. Students passing the Test become Certified Financially Literate™ (CFL), a nationally recognized credential. Through the program, now offered in 49 states, more than one million students have graduated from high school financially literate. Metrics for the “100 Best” schools ranking includes the average Test score from each school with consideration given to the number of test takers and the socio-economic background of the students at each school.

For the complete list of this year’s 100 Best schools, click here.

About Working in Support of Education (W!se)
Working in Support of Education (W!se) is a leading educational nonprofit based in New York City with a mission to improve the lives of young people and at-risk adults through programs that develop financial literacy and readiness for college and the workforce. For more information, visit wise-ny.org. Follow W!se on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @wisenewyork.

About Voya Financial®
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.8 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $7.5 billion in revenue in 2019. The company had $657 billion in total assets under management and administration as of Sept. 30, 2020. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time — Voya’s vision is to be America’s Retirement Company®. Certified as a “Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work® Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible. Voya has been recognized as a 2020 World’s Most Admired Company by Fortune magazine; one of the 2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere Institute; as a member of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index; and as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” on the Disability Equality Index by Disability:IN. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on FacebookLinkedIn and Twitter @Voya.

About Voya Foundation
Voya Foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life in communities where Voya Financial operates and its employees and customers live. Voya Foundation provides grants and establishes signature partnerships in the areas of financial literacy and children’s education and fosters employee engagement to deepen our positive impact on the community. For more information, visit www.VoyaFoundation.com

Media Contact
Samantha Spina
Working in Support of Education (W!se)
sspina(at)wise-ny.org

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