Wharton sophomore Steve Cymerman has more than just an academic incentive to earn good grades - he's getting paid for his A's, too.
Cymerman is one of about 13,000 users of GradeFund, a Web site launched two months ago through which students can ask family, friends, corporations and even strangers to "sponsor" their grades at school.
Similar to how many marathons operate, students can receive more pledged money by improving their grades.
"One of my neighbors is giving me $5 per A and $3 per A minus that I get," said Cymerman, who created a profile on the Web site for the current semester and plans to use the money towards food and small out-of-pocket expenses.
GradeFund was launched in response to the economic turmoil, which has made it harder for students to receive financial aid through traditional sources like increasingly more competitive scholarships and high-interest loans.
"We thought, how can we help students afford education and change the way they learn at the same time?" said Jonathan Beck, business development manager of the five-employee company.
Similar companies have emerged recently that follow the "peer-to-peer lending"-or P2P- model, including GreenNote, which allows students to ask for student loans through social networking, and Fynanz, which charges students a small sum to use its credit-based auction marketplace for loans.
In return, lenders earn interest on their money while helping students pay for school.
"Our genesis was based on social networking and microfinance - lending within small communities - applied to the student market," said Eric Reusch of GreenNote.
The extra cash may be useful for some students, though University President Amy Gutmann reaffirmed Penn's plans to spend the money required to maintain its no-loan financial aid commitment.
On GradeFund, which distinguishes itself by using donations instead of loans, money goes to the student, though some programs stream the funds directly into the student's tuition.
Harvard and Princeton graduates and brothers Michael and Matthew Kopko, GradeFund's creators, also founded DormAid, which runs popular personal services at colleges such as room cleaning and laundry plans.
And college students aren't the only ones benefiting from such services. Last December, Chicago began running a "Green for Grades" pilot program in 20 of its public high schools, paying students $50 per A, and 28 Washington, D.C., middle schools launched a similar program.
Of course, some parents and administrators have questioned whether using money as an incentive for non-college students constitutes bribing. But on the university level, GradeFund and similar programs have been met with mostly optimism.
The current recession also means that lenders and corporate sponsors are pulling back, but the Web sites have seen a jump in student sign-ups.
Said Cymerman of the P2P programs, "I think the service will take off."
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