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New Website lets students set their price for college

Students can bid for just about anything on the Internet these days - cars, houses and term papers to name a few.

Now, thanks to a new on-line service, a college education has been added to that list.

ECollegebid.org, a Web site that's been in the works since early spring, will allow students to place a bid on a college education.

"Basically, we felt there was a disparity between the way students price college, and the way colleges price college," said Atilla Kocsis, database manager for eCollegebid.org.

Students calculate how much they can pay for their education, make a bid and let colleges make their offers based on the students' financial situations, grades and standardized test scores.

Universities have 10 days to make an offer to which students must respond within 30 days.

"It's in response to a need that many middle-income families are in the position where they don't qualify for financial aid, and the student isn't broad enough to get scholarships," said Tedd Kelly, executive director of the Web site. "A lot of good colleges can be found for families."

The service is free to students, but subscribing colleges must pay $2,000 per year.

The site aims to attract colleges and universities that are "not household names, but offer excellent academics."

Although no universities have subscribed to the site yet, Kelly said about six schools have expressed interest.

While the site may sound attractive to high school students, it won't land them a spot at the University of Arizona.

Anne DeLuca, the UA's associate director of admissions, said the university would not subscribe to the new Web site because the level of student interest is already high.

But she added that the site may help students find universities within their price range.

"Students need to look at what they can afford, so this would be a good way to start," she said.

John Nametz, the UA's director of Financial Aid, agreed that the UA would not be interested in such a program.

"If it has an effect it would attract students to schools that are willing to bid on them," Nametz said. "The UA doesn't bid on students. We don't do business that way."

Nametz said students need to consider more than just price when deciding where to attend college. Despite a college's standard price, most schools offer financial aid packages, making the school more affordable to students, he said.

"It's important for a student if they're considering several schools to look at financial aid offers," Nametz said. "You may be surprised."

While the site will not begin pairing students with prospective colleges until Nov. 1, more than 100 students have already made bids.

Applications are only seen by institutions that subscribe to the site, which adheres to the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, Kelly said.

While Kelly admitted that some students may lie on their applications, he said he is not worried that it will impede a school's ability to evaluate students' applications.

"Students will fudge a little bit, but there are very few C students who will say they're A students," Kelly said. "It would be so rare that that would happen."