2008 Woodie Awards
Web site tutors students 24/7
Kimmy Barker
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: News
It's the night before the algebra exam and half of the study guide is still confusing. The choice comes down to a good night's sleep or a good grade on the next day's test. At this point, it's one or the other.
Almost every student experiences a moment of panic like this during the college experience. Now, students have a source to turn to for help during these desperate times.
For the first time, students have a tutoring service that's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's called uProdigy, and it's an online service that connects students with English-speaking tutors in South Asia. All of the tutors have Ph.D's or master's degrees, and some are professors.
The site launched after a Harvard graduate student proposed an executive summary plan for uProdigy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. From more than 100 entries, uProdigy was one of eight student-managed companies chosen as winners on Feb. 11.
Syed Adil Hussain, CEO of uProdigy, was inspired to create the company based on his experiences as a student. During his senior year at the University of Michigan, Hussain said it was too difficult and expensive to get help from qualified tutors for his advanced math courses. He said tutors with Ph.D's charged $60 to $70 an hour, a rate that definitely didn't fit into a college student's budget.
Hussain said he knew that there were tons of people with Ph.D's around the world and that people from anywhere could connect immediately through the Internet. He said he realized there was no reason why a student at the University of Michigan couldn't connect with someone in a different country and get significantly cheaper tutoring.
Hussain said about 25 percent of the site's customers need help in math, 20 percent need help in science and most others need help with essays and additional subjects.
The uProdigy site charges $15 an hour for live online tutoring sessions from a staff of more than 100 tutors. To attract new users, the company is offering the first hour of tutoring for free.
Almost every student experiences a moment of panic like this during the college experience. Now, students have a source to turn to for help during these desperate times.
For the first time, students have a tutoring service that's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's called uProdigy, and it's an online service that connects students with English-speaking tutors in South Asia. All of the tutors have Ph.D's or master's degrees, and some are professors.
The site launched after a Harvard graduate student proposed an executive summary plan for uProdigy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. From more than 100 entries, uProdigy was one of eight student-managed companies chosen as winners on Feb. 11.
Syed Adil Hussain, CEO of uProdigy, was inspired to create the company based on his experiences as a student. During his senior year at the University of Michigan, Hussain said it was too difficult and expensive to get help from qualified tutors for his advanced math courses. He said tutors with Ph.D's charged $60 to $70 an hour, a rate that definitely didn't fit into a college student's budget.
Hussain said he knew that there were tons of people with Ph.D's around the world and that people from anywhere could connect immediately through the Internet. He said he realized there was no reason why a student at the University of Michigan couldn't connect with someone in a different country and get significantly cheaper tutoring.
Hussain said about 25 percent of the site's customers need help in math, 20 percent need help in science and most others need help with essays and additional subjects.
The uProdigy site charges $15 an hour for live online tutoring sessions from a staff of more than 100 tutors. To attract new users, the company is offering the first hour of tutoring for free.