Vermont Colleges Choose SMARTHINKING to Help Students

WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 5, 2004 — Beginning in January, the 5 colleges of the Vermont State Colleges System will offer their students around-the-clock tutoring and academic support online in math, writing, statistics, accounting, economics and chemistry.

College students are busy. Many hold down a job, support a family, or are simply involved in numerous extracurricular activities. “Our students need help that fits their busy schedules. Live, online, 24/7 math assistance and a writing lab with twenty-four-hour turnaround for feedback on essay drafts will help us increase student success and retention and save money,” says Eric Sakai, Director of Learning Technologies for the Vermont State Colleges. “Online tutoring is an opportunity to improve services to all of our students.”

“Every post-secondary system in the country is seeking ways to save money while maintaining or improving services. Aggregating student support services in core subjects and skills makes economic and educational sense,” says Burck Smith, CEO of SMARTHINKING.

Through the SMARTHINKING website, students may ask questions of trained, qualified e-structors™ (tutors) by “dropping-in”, submitting questions for next day response, and pre-scheduling sessions. In addition, all interactions are saved, permitting on-demand review and analysis by the student or institution. In the past two years, SMARTHINKING has provided over 210,000 online tutoring sessions to over 51,000 students from over 300 schools.

About SMARTHINKING (www.SMARTHINKING.com)
SMARTHINKING provides live, online, tutoring to high school and college students at anytime, from anywhere. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, SMARTHINKING’s clients include schools, colleges, education companies, individuals, and anyone seeking to increase student achievement

About the Vermont State College System
The Vermont State Colleges (VSC) is a system of five public colleges located throughout Vermont. The VSC includes Castleton State College, Community College of Vermont, Johnson State College, Lyndon State College and Vermont Technical College. Together the colleges serve more than 11,500 students and 120,000 Vermonters each year, through 60 statewide locations including campuses, community college sites, workforce education and training offices, and interactive television studios.

Immediate Contact: Kaitlin Lutz
(202) 543-5034 x 237
klutz@smarthinking.com