Contacts: Ed Tate, 609-734-1616, [email protected]
Sue Brooks, 609-243-9111 (ext. 225), [email protected]
ETS Teams Up With Peterson's on Web-Based Services
Princeton, N.J. (July 15, 1998) -- Educational Testing Service and Peterson's, both leaders in their worldwide market sectors, have launched their first joint venture.
A recently signed contract formalizes their alliance, which will focus initially on developing and distributing a new Web-based admissions service for graduate business schools.
GradAdvantage/MBA, set to debut Aug. 1 and sponsored by the Graduate Management Admission Council, is the first electronic admissions service that can send institutions applications with official, confidential test-score reports attached.
"This unique alliance of ETS, Peterson's and GMAC will harness the power of Web technology to help improve the admissions process for both institutions and students," said Sharon Robinson, ETS senior vice president and chief operating officer.
"With this contract signing, we are making the sometimes daunting task of applying to graduate and professional schools much easier for millions of students," said Peter W. Hegener, Peterson's president and chief executive officer. "We will draw on the expertise of our organizations to help admissions officers streamline the job of managing inquiries and applications, and make the process less time-consuming."
The service, which is designed to be affordable for a wide range of graduate programs, provides institutions with the ability to manage and analyze admissions information about applicants plus the means to communicate with them via e-mail.
GradAdvantage/MBA will be a convenient tool for students, including those overseas, who are applying to graduate business schools in the United States and around the world.
ETS officials describe the contract with Peterson's as a long-term agreement, wherein ETS will provide product development, student customer service, and database capabilities. Peterson's will handle technology development, marketing and customer service.
Beyond this first project, ETS will be working with its other major graduate testing clients, such as the Graduate Record Examinations, to explore the possibility of expanding GradAdvantage into other sectors of graduate and professional education.
Both ETS, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and Peterson's, which was founded 32 years ago, are headquartered in Princeton, N.J.
ETS is the world's premier educational measurement institution and a leader in computer-based testing and educational research. The nonprofit organization develops and administers achievement, occupational and admissions tests, such as the SAT for the College Board, for clients in education, government and business. ETS annually administers 9 million tests in the United States and 180 other countries. The address for ETS's Web site is www.ets.org.
Peterson's is the nation's largest educational and career information/communications company, providing the academic, consumer and professional communities with books, software, and on-line services in support of lifelong education access and career choice. Among its products are Peterson's annual guides to graduate and professional programs, colleges and universities, private schools, summer programs, financial aid and international study, as well as a full line of books and software offering career guidance and information for adult learners.
Peterson's Web site at www.petersons.com is one of the Internet's most popular education sites. It carries all of Peterson's fully searchable major databases and includes financial aid sources, test-prep help, job postings, direct inquiry and application features and specially created Virtual Campuses for every accredited academic institution and summer program in the U.S. and Canada, which offer in-depth narratives, announcements, and multimedia features.
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