States simplify college search via Web

In West Virginia, wvapply.com has been running for five years, but the state's higher education policy commission wants to beef up what's offered.

The trend of one-stop college Web sites began in California in 1996 when the 23-campus California State University system saw a need to fill in the gap left by a shortage of college counselors in high schools. Allison Jones, assistant vice chancellor of academic affairs for the Cal State system, said csumentor.edu cut down on the red tape involved in applying to college and reduced the amount of paper required to admit students.

CSU now only prints 100,000 applications, compared with the several million before the Web site. Close to 98 percent of the 500,000 applications received are through the site, he said.

California also has developed a statewide site called californiacolleges.edu that gives a comprehensive look at all the colleges in the state rather just one system.

Liz Dietz, CEO of the Xap Corp., which has created many of the sites across the country, said they are especially popular in the South where states are trying to revive their economies.

"It speaks to a change in economics, moving from agrarian or manufacturing to knowledge based," Dietz said. "Those high-paying agricultural and manufacturing jobs just don't exist any more."

Wright, whose daughter, Kristen Shackelford, is a freshman at LaGrange College in Georgia, said gacollege411.org was especially helpful in finding financial aid.

"We were looking for major scholarship opportunities," she said. "It was hunt and peck in different places, where this was everything in one spot."

MORE FROM TECH AND GADGETS

Tech and gadgets Section Front

Dumbest Facebook quizzes ever! Google narrows book copyright deal Facebook message frees NYC robbery suspect YouTube to support 1080p high-definition videos Clicker launches a TV guide for the Internet Facebook, Wikipedia brief Vatican on Web Britney’s Twitter, MySpace accounts hacked Twitter undermines Canada election rules Newsweek: Can Apple avoid mistakes of the '90s? Microsoft brings more Web data to Bing results Tech and gadgets Section Front   Add Tech and gadgets headlines to your news reader: