Preparing Students to Become Leaders in all Selling Arenas

State Farm has renewed its $10,000 grant for University of Central Florida students enrolled in the school’s national championship Professional Selling Program. This is the seventh year State Farm has provided scholarships to the nationally recognized program that prepares students to become leaders in all selling arenas.

“Scholarships provide an essential source of education funding for many of our students,” said Associate Lecturer of Marketing Bill Steiger, who leads the 10-time national champion PSP program. “The partnership with State Farm is both educational and an important financial benefit.”

State Farm granted six scholarships to PSP students who competed in the State Farm PSP Competition on Oct. 4. Competitors were asked to develop a plan to help a family with insurance and financial needs in a role-playing scenario. Marketing seniors Kaylee Duong, Carlo Gonzales, Madison Igdalsky, Edan Shettian and Maliha Versi, as well as finance senior Alexander Cooper, each earned a $1,500 scholarship.

“We wanted to help prepare students to be more life-integrated ready, so they can use those skills when those first paychecks start coming in and they can help others on this journey,” said State Farm agent Justin Bauknight. “So, we a created a scholarship to challenge them. As part of the competition, students are asked a lot of questions regarding what should you do when you’re trying to reach your dreams and still meet all of your needs.”

The Professional Selling Program is scheduled to compete in a handful of competitions this semester, including the World Cup of Sales (Oct. 30-Nov. 2) and the Northeast Intercollegiate Sales Competition (Nov. 8-9). To learn more about UCF’s PSP, visit business.ucf.edu/professional-selling.