Princeton Review launches online finance center

Internet Strategies for Education Markets: The Heller Report, March, 2002

Back in the early 1990s, The Princeton Review (New York; www.review.com) made a business decision. By helping families make it through the financial quagmire of going to college, the pool of students who might eventually need their services would grow. Paying For College without Going Broke and The Scholarship Advisor, published by Princeton Review, hit bookstores soon after. Now, twelve years later, they've taken the financial aid 'aide' strategy online.

This January, Princeton Review launched two new online areas: the Financial Center and the Lending Center. "It's a natural extension for the kinds of things we offer," explains Patricia E. Vance, executive vice president and general manager of the admissions services division. Vance has been with the company since October 2001, and one of her jobs will be to spearhead the development of Review.com's new financial sections, and to oversee integration of the recently acquired Embark.com, Inc., a leading provider of online college applications and tools.

More than nine million visitors wander through Review.com each year, searching the database of 1,600 plus colleges and universities seeking a good match. But finding your perfect school isn't much good if you don't have the cash to pay for it. Though the site does provide some information about saving for a college education, Vance notes that by the time families are looking at Review.com, it's usually a little late to start a savings plan. So, the thrust of the Financial and Lending Centers is to give parents a clear picture of the options available for financing junior's college degree.

Everything You Need to know...but Were Afraid to Ask about FAFSA

According to Vance, the first place families usually turn when thinking about financing higher education is toward federal loans. Review.com features what Vance calls the only interactive online worksheet for the FAFSA application, the government's Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. (The official FAFSA form can only be filled out at the government's site, www.fafsa.ed.gov.) The Review.com FAFSA worksheet includes every question you'll find on the FAFSA forms. A 'Lost' button 'wizard' gently guides users through the mind-numbing battery of forms necessary to complete the application. What's more, because the Financial Center has federal aid information, private lender materials, and links to college's own 'preferred lenders', Vance claims that Review.com is now the most robust, customized spot online for parents to get a handle on all their financial options.

"We're really the first in our space to really grab hold and to provide the kind of customized help that parents and students need," Vance enthuses.

So far, Vance has signed up three groups for the Lender Center: Citizens Bank, Charter One Bank and Access Group, which specializes in loans to graduate students. Two additional, undisclosed lender partners have signed on and will debut shortly, according to Vance. "We're still new," she explains," but I will tell you that the lenders really like this."

There's a lot for lenders to like. The business model is simple, and similar to the rest of the Review.com site. The company charges for semi-exclusive sponsorships -- in this case, Vance guesses they'll stick at five financial partners. Families researching how to pay for college on Review.com find direct links to loan areas on sponsors' sites. But wait, there's more, as the Ginzu knife guys say. Right at the top of the Pay for College sub-vertical is a big red banner that explains the "critical steps for prospective college students." Number one on the list is an 'opt in' button that allows lenders to contact the student with loan offers.

Taking it Offline?

At the moment, Vance says that helping families manage the financial process and offering tools and resources for Princeton Review field offices is the main goal of the Financial and Lending Centers. But she's not averse to using or re-purposing the interactive materials in new ways going forward. For instance, the financial worksheets and background articles might make a good distance learning course in the future, or be re-publishable in book form. "Although I wouldn't want to confirm that we're getting into business in financial aid offline," she cautions, "certainly, we're looking at all sorts of ways to leverage this expertise."

The launch of Princeton Review's Financial Aid Center has been touted as the next step in the company's mission to create the largest online educational community around. Vance says that The Princeton Review has been experiencing an up tick in business ever since the economy began to tank. By helping moms and dads manage what little is left in their pocketbooks, the company may have found a magic formula for reaching its lofty goals.

"(The Financial Center) is just a natural," explains Vance. Then, she laughs. "I don't know why we didn't think of it earlier!"

Company Snapshot:

Company Name: The Princeton Review