About REP4

Rapid Education Prototyping, REP4, is a national program that aims to gather fresh ideas from young students to improve equity and remove some of the barriers to college. REP4 puts the power and incentive of establishing new, equitable systems for public higher education in the hands of those who have the most at stake. Learners lead change by designing agile solutions that can be tested and quickly scaled up when they prove to be successful. Backed by powerful networks of regional and national education, industry, and technology leaders, REP4 will reignite and recreate public education as we know it.

GVSU is the founding member for REP4, one of seven U.S. colleges participating and the only one in Michigan. The others are San Diego State University, Amarillo College (a community college in Texas), Boise State University, Fort Valley State University (a historically Black institution in Georgia) and Shippensburg University (Pennsylvania), and Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, a system of 17 public colleges and universities.

REP4 takes the position that young voices are critical to helping reform the college landscape. During the summer of 2021, a group of selected high schoolers developed an idea to improve the college experience, including an app idea to help students feel more connected with their peers and an empathy robot that helps students feel at ease. The students proposed the FAB App idea, a one-stop shop to help students feel safe communicate their feelings, questions and concerns about college life, finances, or academics. Students would use the app to connect to peers, with the option to speak anonymously.

GVSU President Philomena Mantella is committed to transform learner-inspired ideas into tangible solutions, programs and products that impact the student experience. She has commissioned a group of faculty and staff, led by Shorouq Almallah, Director for the Richard M. and Helen DeVos Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, to carry forward the students’ idea to drive the design and execution of a comprehensive financial literacy program. 

After almost two years of product and market research, customer voice discovery, planning, positioning, roadmap development, and prototyping, Financially Lit was created. This innovative and unique solution offers a multi-media platform that leverages students as creators and creates a learn and earn model to empower young and college students to reimagine and transform their financial education journey.