Craig Carroll left hometown Sydney with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1991. He worked in Boston and the far east for Bain and Company through 1997. After earning an MBA from Harvard in 1999, he began an entrepreneurial career that is going strong. He believes he's invented the Cadillac of college cost calculators.
Why did you choose the college marketplace in which to start three businesses in succession?
I'm impressed with the impact higher education has had on my life and the lives of my colleagues. Professionally, I see opportunities for technology to produce needed solutions for the college marketplace.
How successful have you been?
eGrad was my first business, now owned by JPMorganChase, it serves 100-plus alumni associations, helping graduates get a good start after graduation. College Publisher was my second business, and now owned by Viacom; it serves 600 college and university newspapers.
Is U.S. higher education becoming a consumer-driven industry?
As the cost of college continues to increase and family incomes do not, college shopping will include ever more careful evaluation. The consumer disclosures required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act are part of the trend. As a matter of fact, all Title IV campuses must offer and publish a net cost calculator by the end of 2011.
Is that a favorable or unfavorable development?
It will be positive if students and parents make better college choices.
What structural impediment exists in the way of college shoppers?
True cost comparisons are difficult. Often, the cost of going to the same college is different from one student to another, due to aid packaging and tuition discounting. There are as many as 8,000 student aid varieties in the college marketplace. How does a shopper know he or she is making the best choice? Applying for college today is like applying to buy a house with little knowledge of how much to bring to closing, and what the monthly payment will be.
What does your firm intend to do about it?
We've spent two years writing more than three million lines of code to produce the Cadillac of net cost calculators. College shoppers will be able to access it on our website and in social media locations. We'll also be licensing the technology to colleges and universities for their own websites.
Why would a U.S. college or university want to do business with you?
Our service is communicating with the same audience higher education is seeking. We keep our database of 6,500 colleges up to date. We can insure compliance even when the calculator is customized. Priced under $15,000 with installation/customization as low as $5,000 we hope to be serving a growing number of schools by year's end.
How important will college sticker prices be two years from now?
Some students actually pay the sticker price today. There's a paradigm shift coming though. Net cost will be universal throughout the marketplace.
Does tuition discounting have a future?
I don't see it going away soon.