Site lets students 'bid' on education

For many prospective college students, choosing a school involves weighing many factors, such as location, size and major. But for some students the most heavily weighted factor is the cost of higher education and the possibility of receiving financial aid or scholarships.

The financial aid application process can often be tedious and complex for students and their parents, said Tedd Kelly, founder of the two-week-old eCollegebid.org., an Internet service whose home page states that "Going to college is smart. Paying too much is not."

Kelly's service allows students and their families to literally "bid for a college education" by posting on the Website the amount of money they are able to pay for tuition annually. Schools participating in the service can then decide how much of a tuition discount a student can be offered through scholarships, grants, loans or work-study assignments.

eCollegebid essentially matches students with colleges, Kelly explained, allowing families who are on a budget to save time in the application process by letting them know well in advance which colleges they can afford.

"It enables students to find out from member colleges quickly, at the beginning of the application process," he said, adding that many families first want to know

know if they will be able to pay for college before making the effort to apply.

Kelly said the service is geared toward middle-income families, who often get caught in the financial aid trap, where students are "not affluent enough" to attend the school of their choice, but "not impoverished enough" to be eligible for financial aid packages.

The service has nearly 10 colleges and universities signed up as members, Kelly said, including both public, private, large and small academic institutions, and he said "well over 200 students have bid already."

While eCollegebid has gained national attention in recent weeks, critics of the bidding service - including Joyce Smith, executive director of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling - caution against students limiting their higher education options because of financial worries.

"What happened to the educational part of the process?" Smith questioned, adding that while she understands Kelly's viewpoint of family empowerment, eCollegebid "gives the wrong message about the financial aid process.

"I'm concerned about students and families who may be hurt in the process" because they neglected to do any scholarship research or fill out financial aid applications, Smith said.

She said she urges families who use the service to also fill out the traditional financial aid applications, too.

Smith added that a committee currently is exploring whether eCollegebid is a violation of the NACAC ethics code because she said she believes students should be accepted to college before finding out about financial aid.

"Will you be basing your decision on where to apply after knowing your financial situation?" she asked.

eCollegebid's Website states that families who use the service have a responsibility to fill out all necessary financial aid forms, and Kelly emphasized that the service does not gloss over admissions procedures or factors in any way.

"It is not an attempt to get around financial aid," he said. "It's not just money. It's the whole package a student has to offer the institution ... colleges and students will be working from a more definable outcome from the start."

LSA junior Abby Barefield said that although money was not a deciding factor in her decision to attend the University, "some people just have to settle and go to the school they can afford" - even if it isn't their first choice.

But Barefield said she doesn't think it would necessarily limit a student's options. "People can get opportunities wherever they go," she said.

10-11-99