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Ph.D.s start up online tutoring business
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by Ken Harris
Monday, February 18, 2008
College students can now receive tutoring from Ph.D.s anytime during the day or night, making late-night cramming just a little bit easier.
Harvard University graduate student Syed Adil Hussein and a few of his friends launched www.uProdigy.com last week after their business plan won a prestigious award from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology worth $100,000.
Hussein said he and his associates surveyed 800 students to find how much they would pay for a round-the-clock tutoring service. The group ultimately decided on $15 per hour.
According to Hussein, he first came up with the idea for the site when he was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. He said people with Ph.D.s on campus would charge him and his classmates up to $80 per hour for more advanced topics.
“I felt the pain of the consumer,” Hussein said.
Hussein added the tutors available on the site will mostly be in India and other Asian nations, which is what enables uProdigy to provide tutors late at night in the U.S. He said uProdigy has a “pretty extensive recruiting process,” and advertises in many elite publications in India.
“We’re going to make sure we always have a batch of tutors who will charge affordable rates,” Hussein said.
He added it is important to provide choices for customers because the competition among tutors is “the only way you can ensure quality tutoring.”
According to Hussein, all tutor candidates are put through a seven-step process to guarantee they are qualified to teach U.S. students. He said they must take a timed and randomly generated English grammar test that is impossible to cheat on. They are also interviewed and trained to understand the needs of American students.
Hussein said there are many things about the website that will be updated soon. He said the hourly rate may give way to a system that allows proven tutors to set their own rates. However, Hussein added there will always be enough competition on the site to ensure low prices because the company will be constantly recruiting and hiring new talent.
The site currently requires students to book a session 12 hours in advance, Hussein said, adding instantaneous, on-demand tutoring will be available by the fall semester.
University of Wisconsin freshman Brady Cavanaugh said he thinks the idea is a great one.
“A lot of people need tutors late at night because they don’t start doing their homework until after midnight,” Cavanaugh said.
UW sophomores Brenna McCabe and Wynne Moss, however, said the site would probably not be good for subjects that require more than typing and need a face-to-face interaction.
McCabe said she believed prices for in-person tutors at UW are comparable to the rate of the site. They both said they agreed the site would come in handy during cram sessions.
“I’d pay $15 an hour if it was a last-minute emergency,” Moss said.
UW currently offers free tutoring for students through the Greater University Tutoring Service, a registered student organization that connects students with volunteer tutors.
GUTS is supported by segregated fees and provides assistance with academic courses, study skills, conversational English and intercultural exchange. Drop-in tutoring sections take place at either College Library or Steenbock Library.
Anonymous (February 18, 2008 @ 3:56pm):
Or you could just go to TA or Professor office hours for free : ) Don't procrastinate! LOL
Anonymous (February 18, 2008 @ 7:32pm):
This is a great idea. India has pulled itself up by the bootstraps in the high tech area. Our college kids can use some help in math and science, even english, from the Indians, who after all invented Zeros and Ones, and the decimal numbering systems we use in the west today. And the price seems right too. As an added bonus our students get lessons in the old fashioned way, where the basics are drilled. U are a genius, uProdigy!
Kelly Adamson (February 29, 2008 @ 11:47am):
There is a lot of demand for affordable tutoring 24hrs a day and it's great for students to have access to tutors around the world. This sounds like what GlobalScholar.com is doing - they have 300 freelance tutors on the site (including tutors located in India)available for live tutoring and homework help. Student and tutor can talk through the platform via the voice-enabled interactive whiteboard. These are exciting times for online learning!
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