Think Ahead merges into StudentAid.com

SACRAMENTO
December 8, 2009 7:39am

Student aid advisory and estimation company StudentAid.com of Sacramento and net price calculator firm Think Ahead LLC, of Portland, Me., are merging, with StudentAid the emerging company.

The deal, which unites two college net price calculator sellers, is expected to be finalized in January and will accelerate the release of a new generation of net price calculators, the companies say.

Financial terms were not released.

Bill Smith, president of Think Ahead, will become a director of product development for StudentAid.com “and take a leadership role in sales and marketing,” the companies say. Think Ahead’s employees also are expected to join StudentAid.com.

“The combined strength of Think Ahead’s 13 years of experience and our multi-million dollar technology investment will greatly benefit post-secondary institutions, as well as prospective college students and their families,” says Craig Carroll, founder and chief executive officer of StudentAid.com.

Think Ahead’s net price calculators are installed on the websites of Amherst College, Arcadia University, Lake Erie College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, St. Xavier University, Trinity College, the University of New Haven, Williams College, and Yale University. The two companies say they have reached agreement or are currently in negotiations to provide net price calculators to other post-secondary institutions.

The market may be a fertile one for the larger company. All 6,800 higher education institutions receiving Title IV funds in the U.S. must install a net price calculator on their websites by Oct. 29, 2011.