Deal Will Accelerate New Generation Net Price Calculators

(BLACK PR WIRE) (December 8, 2009) SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Student aid advisory and estimation specialist StudentAid.com and net price calculator provider Think Ahead, LLC, of Portland, Maine, today announced plans to merge. Think Ahead, a developer of college financial planning tools since 1996, currently provides net price calculators to colleges, universities, and higher education agencies throughout the nation.

The deal, which unites two college net price calculator providers, is expected to be finalized in January and will accelerate the release of a new generation of net price calculators.
Think Ahead’s experience in providing colleges with online net price calculators is unparalleled, said Craig V. Carroll, founder and chief executive officer of StudentAid.com. The combined strength of Think Ahead’s 13 years of experience and our multi-million dollar technology investment will greatly benefit post-secondary institutions, as well as prospective college students and their families.

Think Ahead’s net price calculators are installed on the websites of Amherst College, Arcadia University, Lake Erie College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, St. Xavier University, Trinity College, the University of New Haven, Williams College, and Yale University. The two companies have reached agreement or are currently in negotiations to provide net price calculators to numerous other post-secondary institutions.

The scale and depth of StudentAid.com’s technology, as well as their extensive investment in student aid resources and databases, will enable us to offer a new generation of net price calculators, said Bill Smith, president of Think Ahead. The combination of our respective technologies will allow us to maintain and improve our standard of service to colleges as more schools outsource financial aid calculators to meet the net price calculator requirement. Now with more than 15 people dedicated to product development we’ll be able to offer colleges not only the best net price calculator available, but also be able to respond quickly to support their needs.

Smith will become a director of product development for StudentAid.com and take a leadership role in sales and marketing. Think Ahead’s employees also are expected to join StudentAid.com.
In October, StudentAid.com announced the Student Aid EstimatorTM, a customizable net price calculator to help colleges meet the federal mandate of providing consumers greater cost transparency. Last month, the company also announced former Sallie Mae executive Jeff Whorley as president.

Student Aid Estimators suite of technologies, databases on all the major student aid programs in the nation (including state grant programs in all 50 states), and depth of expertise in estimating student aid using both Federal Methodology and Institutional Methodology provides institutions with a calculator that goes well beyond just meeting the federal requirement, serving as an important admissions and enrollment tool as well, Carroll said.

All 6,800 higher education institutions receiving Title IV funds must install a net price calculator on their websites by Oct. 29, 2011. StudentAid.com offers demonstrations of its Student Aid EstimatorTM on campuses and via Webinars. Contact 1-877-987-5079 to schedule an appointment.

About StudentAid.com
StudentAid.com, Inc. provides net price calculator technologies to post-secondary institutions. With operations in Sacramento, CA and Boston, MA, the company has spent almost three years coding the student aid algorithms of all nine federal aid programs as well as all the major state aid programs, and developing leading-edge student aid estimation technologies that can be customized for any college or individual student. The company also provides the first personalized, side-by-side comparison of the net costs of college and student aid eligibility to help students and their families choose colleges that fit their career goals and bank account, years before applying. StudentAid.com is a private company headquartered in Sacramento, CA. www.studentaid.com/colleges