Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Osazuwa Okundaye [Click to enlarge]

In elementary school, parents provided some kind of incentive to get good grades, like candy, a new toy, games or sometimes, if the grades were really high, money.

Technology and cash incentives have merged into a Web site called GradeFund.com, which will do just that - give money to students for getting good grades.

GradeFund was started in November 2008 by brothers Michael and Matthew Kopko to give students an alternative way to finance school.

"The GradeFund started as a result of a friend of one of our team members and her dilemma with funding her college education," said Stephanie Stein, a GradeFund executive.

Lee DeBoom, a junior computer engineering major and worker at the Student Computing Center, said he had heard of Web sites that paid students for good grades.

"I heard things of it and that it is there," he said. "They [the SCC] don't tell us about them. I heard of it at home."

All students students can participate, whether they are from a university, a community college or in high school.

"All students from anywhere in the world can participate," she said. "For students under 13, the parents have to be the contact and control the account."

Stein said requirements for the Web site vary, but that there is not one set criteria.

"This is what differentiates us from scholarships that are very specific in their eligibility requirements."

The Web site runs off a sponsorship basis. A student will get sponsored and receive money. The sponsor can be anyone, from family members to outside sponsors who have not met the student. Sponsors can support a specific person or a cause.

Stein said, depending on the sponsor's preference, students receive the money or it would go directly to paying for education.

More than 14,000 people are registered on GradeFund.com. Students have to create an account, which does not take long, then invite sponsors.

Students have to upload their transcripts to the Web site. This can be done by entering in the classes and grades. An official transcript is needed if a student is seeking assistance from corporate sponsors, who can invest money for certain educational causes. Finally, just sit back and see what money sponsors have given you to help on your road to higher education.

Some say the added money incentive is not for them.

"The way I look at it, is it works for some and some not," DeBoom said. "It doesn't for me though."

Caitlin Shields, sophomore communication major, said she would not use the Web site service.

"I detest people buying and selling things especially if I'm the product," she said. "It was a good incentive for some to get good grades."

Stein said schools have not had a problem with the Web site. Students from high schools, colleges and graduate schools can join the site and try to receive money.

GradeFund can help students network because there are corporate sponsors on the Web site. Some sponsors support specific causes and students who are involved in that cause can be contacted by those sponsors. This could help lead to an internship or job opportunity.

What is GradeFund?
"The GradeFund is a community-based revolutionary approach to student education financing that encourages academic success. Imagine a world where family, friends, philanthropists, corporations, and other organizations join together in the mission of rewarding students for performing well in school."
GradeFund.com

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