Anyone who has attended college knows that it is an expensive business. Every year several students graduate with debts that amount to thousands of dollars. The credit crunch has made it even more difficult to bag scholarships or education loans. This situation has given rise to a new concept called peer to peer lending.
Brothers Michael and Matthew Kopko have started GradeFund that is aimed at helping students pay their way through school and college. No, it does not offer scholarships or loans. There are no killer interest rates or pay back deadlines. The only thing you have to do is score good grades.
The concept behind GradeFund is simple. Students can use the gradefund.com website to create a profile like that on Facebook. They can then use templates to send out invitation to their friends and family, asking them to sponsor some money in exchange for good grades. For instance, you can ask you family to sponsor say $10 for an A grade in Biology. Several companies and philanthropists have also come forward to sponsor students who care capable of scoring good grades.
Sponsors do not have to come up with hefty amounts. They can choose to pay as little as $5 for a specific grade. For instance, your sponsor can offer to pay $5 if you get a B+. Sponsors can also choose to donate by subject area. For example, a sponsor can offer to donate money to students who ace certain subjects like chemistry or zoology. As a matter of fact, GradeFund’s first corporate sponsor is ZooToo.com. They pledged $15 for 100 students who excel in veterinary medicine.
The GradeFund website permits students to upload their transcripts. You will have to enter your classes and corresponding grades. The company then verifies the transcripts and collects money from sponsors. Once you have accumulated $100 in donations, GradeFund will send you a check. You can withdraw amounts less than $100 for a $5 fee. GradeFund also has a facility wherein they send the money directly to your school if your sponsors permit it.
By signing up for GradeFund you also increase your chances of being found and hired by companies on account of your good performance and excellent academic record.
It takes just a few simple steps to get a donation, however small it may be to help pay your college expenses. Simply create an account at GradeFund, invite sponsors, upload your marks transcript and receive funds.
If you are not a student, you can encourage students to excel academically by offering to sponsor them in GradeFund. Every time you sponsor an A grade student through GradeFund, it will donate five cents to the One Laptop per Child mission. That way, you can help educate children all across the world.
As of now, GradeFund has over 15,000 users. The company and the concept behind it have been appreciated by students and sponsors alike. After all, it is a great way to reward students for academic excellence and also to find good students to perform for companies and organizations.
