FastWEB eases financial aid search
Campus Times
March 12, 1999
College students, college-bound students and their parents, as well
as those who have recently graduated, may be eligible for a number of opportunities
for scholarships, grants, loans and internships through fastWEB.com.
FastWEB is an internet service, which, according to an informational
packet, provides students with "premier tools -- free of charge --
to locate and apply for" such financial assistance. With its database
of more than 400,000 available scholarships worth an estimated $1 billion
in all, fastWEB makes the financial aid search more efficient and convenient
for its clients.
Chris Hulst, director of student services with the Chicago-based company,
said fastWEB has proven successful for the company, its providers and those
registered with the service. Hulst has been an active part of the service
for the past two years. FastWEB itself has been in existence for about four
years.
"It's great ... saves scholarship companies money because they
no longer have to pay postage," Hulst said in regards to the costs
these providers must pay in order to notify applicants as to whether or
not they are eligible. "It leaves more money for the companies, and
more money they can provide for the scholarships."
Hulst also said that fastWEB is funded through advertiser revenues,
and that it is operated by an advisory board made up of financial aid counselors,
admissions counselors, scholarship providers and guidance leaders from across
the nation. Together, this team advises one another on how to improve the
Internet service and often discusses upcoming scholarship or other financial
assistance availability.
Included in its values are the objective to create and maintain the
"most comprehensive, up-to-date scholarship database," according
to general information about fastWEB. The service is geared to help make
the college experience more affordable and less confusing, helping to ensure
that scholarships for which students who are most qualified are made available
to those students.
Scholarship sponsors update an individual's eligibility database on
a day-to-day basis, reminding him or her of the new opportunities for which
he or she may qualify.
"We have an in-house research team that does nothing but add new
scholarships to the system and update information regularly," said
Hulst. He also said that fastWEB offers a unique service which makes the
scholarship search and applications process more convenient for prospective
recipients.
Said Hulst, "We also have something that's really neat, where
the applications are available online.
"We currently have about $100 million -- which is about 10 percent
of all our scholarships -- available through online applications. That number
is growing very quickly."
For the most part, Hulst said that fastWEB's postmasters are reliable
in reminding students of new financial aid opportunities. The postmasters
send messages via electronic mail to those students who are eligible for
the updated scholarships.
From that point, awards for which students may no longer apply or those
which have expired are automatically removed from a student's fastWEB mailbox.
Those which are more current, on the other hand, are posted as "NEW!"
under the mailbox. In some instances, service providers notify students
of scholarship opportunities about six months in advance.
The informational packet also said that representatives maintain the
mailboxes in this manner in order to assure that students "can develop
aggressive and long-term scholarship strategies" in applying for these
opportunities.
"We are the clearing house for scholarships. We let the students
know about them and have a fairly close relationship with scholarship providers
such as as the Coca Cola Scholars Foundation and the Hispanic Scholarship
Fund," said Hulst.
To register for this service, a student may access fastWEB at http://www.fastweb.com. At that point, he
or she can create a personal fastWEB mailbox and access it thereafter with
a personal passcode.
The registration process takes an estimated 20 minutes to complete,
and some of the information which the service requests includes personal
data such as family income and extracurricular activities. Like most financial
assistance applications, an individual's cultural background is also requested,
though such information if often optional.
Hulst said the service has been largely successful since its birth,
and that numberous students send thank-you letters to fastWEB representatives
and scholarship providers on a daily basis. As a whole, fastWEB is committed
"to helping students locate the scholarships they need to make college
a reality."
"The beauty of fastWEB and the benefit of having it online is that
we match you with the scholarships for which are specifically qualified,"
said Hulst. "And it doesn't cost a student anything."
