Online educational bargains

Cut through the bureaucratic admissions process
The cost of education is rising
Wheeling and dealing for a college education isn't new

It's a college education at a discount. Just name your price. Do I hear $5,000? $5,000 once, $5,000 twice. Sold! Sounds bizarre, but parents and students across the country, and around the world, are starting to dabble in the bidding war for their offspring's education. If your bid is accepted you could get a degree at bargain basement prices.

Cut through the bureaucratic admissions process

Ecollegebid.org could cut through the bureaucratic admissions process and make finding the right college - and the right price for tuition -- as easy as logging on to your computer. Although the site is relatively new, eCollegebid.org has the potential to give students more power in the tuition-negotiating process.

Launched in mid-September, the service was designed to make the process of choosing a college a whole lot simpler, by allowing parents to bid up front on the amount of money they can or are willing to pay for their child's education. The site is open both to US students and international students wanting to study in the US.

Here's how it works: Students and parents log on and make a bid for the amount of money they can afford for one year of college. They include any additional resources like financial aid or scholarships as well as providing a variety of information, including standardized test scores, grade-point average and class rank in high school, intended major and desired geographic location.

After reviewing the students' grade point average and test scores, school officials then can accept or reject offers from the bidders bidding on the applicant's education by determining whether it's a fair offer given the student's attributes.

If a college finds the bid acceptable, it responds to the applicant within 10 days. An applicant can accept or decline an offer or press to negotiate further, but is asked to respond within 30 days. The service is free for families, and member colleges pay $2,000 annually for the service.

Any college accepting a bid promises to assemble a financial-aid package that meets all the applicant's costs for attending college.

The cost of education is rising

While the Greek philosopher Epictetus may have said: “Only the educated are free” the cost of education is rising. A student from a middle-income family applying to a group of private colleges that cost roughly $20,000 per year may find that virtually all of them believe that the parents are capable of contributing $10,000 per year or more to college costs.

If the student does not qualify for many grants, the colleges --through their standard financial-aid procedures --may ask the student to make up most of the difference by taking out loans. A family using eCollegebid might say that it is willing to pay $10,000 and nothing more.

The model is in many ways similar to that of Priceline.com, a company that fills customers' requests for discounted travel tickets by working with airlines that have flights with excess capacity.

Tedd Kelly, the Web site's founder, has spent the last three decades advising colleges and universities on enrollment and recruiting issues. He says he came up with the idea for the Web site after years of witnessing parents and schools struggle with tuition costs.

"It was obvious to me from the beginning that the largest obstacle most students had to overcome was the price," Mr Kelly said. "You have to get around that somehow. When you get right down to it, families don't want to take out loans, and that's where the problems have been in the past. Some colleges want students so badly that they'll give whatever aid is necessary to get them"

The types of colleges and universities Kelly hopes the site will attract “are mostly private colleges that are not 'household names' and do not often make the 'rankings' found in the popular media," he said.

"They are, however, colleges that offer challenging academic programs of study, excellent athletic programs, and active student/social activities. Many of these colleges are simply not known outside their region."

Wheeling and dealing for a college education isn't new

Web-based bidding might be new, but wheeling and dealing for a college education isn't. Discounts for desirable students in the form of scholarships, grants and other forms of financial aid have risen at several colleges and universities.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, some private colleges now give back to students as much as 40 percent of their tuition income in the form of scholarships and financial aid.

A new survey by College Board says that the average tuition at a four-year private college in 1999-2000 is $15,380, a 4.6 percent increase over the last year. That's twice the rate of inflation. Average room-and-board costs are $5,959, up 3.6 percent from last year. Depending on the subject, a four-year degree can set you back $100,000 or more.

While the new site may encourage students to consider schools they wouldn't have otherwise, many college admissions officers caution that it's unwise to start a college search by focusing solely on cost, especially given that many private schools offer financial aid packages significantly cutting the price of tuition.

They also encourage students to consider the entire spectrum of an institution's offerings before deciding whether to attend.

Not surprisingly, eCollegebid.org has already attracted some criticism from the education establishment. In an interview with The Boston Globe, Joyce Smith, executive director of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, viewed the eCollegebid concept as exploitation of anxiety about the high cost of college education.

“That there are college that are so desperate to get a body with some money is the wrong message to send about education,” said Ms Smith. “One would hope that a college is recruiting a student to come because they are a good match, an academic environment, something that suggests a student should be there other than 'I can afford to pay.”

The site's true impact probably won't be felt for three to five years, experts say. Some predict that if Mr Kelly can get enough colleges to sign on, other will follow for fear of losing top students.

By: Lindsay Wood

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