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New crowdfunding site helps students raise money for tuition costs

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New crowdfunding site helps students raise money for tuition costs
Toronto startup Scolaris.ca takes crowdfunding to the classroom by allowing students to raise money towards the cost of college and university tuition.
7/5/2012 By: Christine Wong

Mauleesan says all students registered to crowdfund on Scolaris.ca must provide proof they are enrolled in a post-secondary education institution, such as acceptance letters, a university or college student I.D. number, or a tuition invoice from the school. “As long as you're going to an accredited (school) and can prove you're a student or are going to be a student…(there's) no way to come to Scolaris.ca and try to scam donors to try to rip them off,” Mauleesan says. In addition, all funds raised on the site go into a lump sum account administered by Scolaris.ca rather than directly to the students. If students want to use some of the money they've raised on the site to pay for their tuition, they must provide Scolaris.ca with an official tuition invoice from that school, which Scolaris.ca then pays by transferring the funds to that institution. Students can never directly access the funds themselves. “That way the donors know the money went to (the) school and not anywhere else,” Mauleesan says.

What about a student who raises money through Scolaris.ca and then drops out of school? That's something the company is still working through during this beta testing stage. “All universities have their own withdrawal policies (for full or partial refunds) so we're still working with our lawyers to make sure that doesn't happen,” Mauleesan says. Scolaris.ca has received accreditation from Crowdsourcing.org, an American organization that acts as a de facto regulatory body to police the growing sector for fraud or other unethical practices. Scolaris.ca won the accreditation after a lengthy questionnaire and audit of its Web site, team and business plan, Mauleesan says. “It gives users and donors some level of trust that it's not just some flyby-night scam.” There are other crowdfunding sites targeting the education niche. U.S.based Takeashine is non-profit and Educationgeneration, also a U.S. non-profit, limits donations to $20 each and only raises money for students recommended by certain schools. Another American site, GradeFund, raises scholarship money but funding is based on students attaining certain marks. To really differentiate itself from the field, Scolaris.ca has applied for a U.S. provisional patent “covering our specific business model and claims around it,” Mauleesan says. And what about Mauleesan's medical education that put pressure on his parents' pocketbook and inspired him to start Scolaris.ca? He's officially Dr. Mauleesan, M.D. since graduating from medical school in the Caribbean nation of Dominica, but is now focused more on being a patient entrepreneur than diagnosing patients.

Summary
Toronto startup Scolaris.ca takes crowdfunding to the classroom by allowing students to raise money towards the cost of college and university tuition.

Description
Scolaris.ca founder and CEO Mark Mauleesan says all students registered to crowdfund on Scolaris.ca must provide proof they are enrolled in a post-secondary education institution, such as acceptance letters, a university or college student I.D. number, or a tuition invoice from the school.

“As long as you're going to an accredited (school) and can prove you're a student or are going to be a student…(there's) no way to come to Scolaris.ca and try to scam donors to try to rip them off,” Mauleesan says.

Tags: Crowdfunding, Crowdsource, Crowdsourcing, education, Mark Mauleesan, Scolaris.ca, students, tuition

Posted by Benjamin Fossel

Jul 06, 2012 04:27 am GMT Viewed 1133 times

Author: Christine Wong Source

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