CollegeNET.com Opens Popular Social Network to Independent Scholarship Providers
Students Flock to Scholarship Site in Down Economy; Unique Opportunity for Advertisers to Engage with Targeted Demographic
San Francisco, CA and Portland, OR, April 13, 2009
CollegeNET.com, the first social network through which students create topics, write about them, and vote to determine who will win scholarships, today announced it will extend the benefits of its popular social network to scholarship foundations, private/public entities and corporations of all sizes. Now organizations can engage directly with highly active students and award scholarships via CollegeNET.com's unique social networking, peer-voting model. CollegeNET.com is also now working directly with advertisers to provide opportunities to interact with its growing student community.
One of the Internet's most popular sites for researching and applying to college, CollegeNET.com offers an alternative to the traditional essay-based model of awarding scholarships by providing more than 250,000 unique students per month with an open forum to discuss their opinions on current events, trends, college-related topics or other issues. Sponsored awards are available to all CollegeNET.com student users, or may target a qualifying sub-demographic dependent on the sponsoring entity's criteria.
"As the need for college funding grows with the weakening economy, scholarships are becoming an important resource for students across the country," said Michael Garcia, who attends the University of Alabama, Huntsville. "I've written countless scholarship application essays about a variety of topics, but CollegeNET.com was the first scholarship resource that I've found that really allows students to talk about issues that are important to them while connecting with others who are participating in the same process."
Unlike traditional scholarships where applicants are blind to the selection process, CollegeNET.com's scholarship election system encourages students to actively learn from each other as they make collective decisions about who will win monthly scholarship money. CollegeNET.com scholarship forums are organic, fun and transparent, encouraging a dedicated student user base that actively engages with the website for longer-than-average periods of time.
"CollegeNET.com is a thriving social network that has placed the scholarship topic and selection process into the hands of students," said Jim Wolfston, founder and president, CollegeNET.com. "No other method of awarding scholarships has garnered this kind of uptake, participation and engagement from such a large group of students. We are looking forward to extending participation in this social network to other organizations seeking to help qualified students in this turbulent economy."
Media Contacts:
Schwartz Communications, Inc.
Allison Bedard
415-512-0770
CollegeNET@schwartz-pr.com
About CollegeNET, Inc.
CollegeNET, Inc. builds Web-based, on-demand technologies that help institutions improve operational efficiency, enhance communication with constituents and save money. The company's systems are used by more than 1,300 organizations worldwide for event and academic scheduling, prospect and admissions management, Web-based tuition processing, IT change management and alumni development. In 2007, CollegeNET created the first social network through which students create topics, write about them, and vote to determine who will win scholarships. Today, this site—www.collegeNET.com—is one of the Internet's most popular destinations for college-bound students. The company is headquartered in Portland, Ore.