More than 4,000 student-athletes took advantage of GradeCheck.net's services last year and it's looking to pump up that number into the five figures in 2009.
Last year those clients were able to leverage more than $2 million in college scholarships. The 10,000 clients are expected to bring in well over $3 million this year.
GradeCheck.net focuses on making sure student athletes, mostly at the high school level, keep up their academics so they can qualify for college and possible scholarships. It also helps these student athletes take steps so they don't fall through cracks.
"They see us as being a tool they can implement so they can improve their student’s educations," says Sheila McBride, founder and CEO of GradeCheck.net.
Such a fate almost befell her son in the 1990s because he was concentrating on sports more than school. She laid out out his academic record and where needed to improve. He ended up getting a college scholarship.
McBride turned this into a business in 2005 and student athletes from around the world are now taking advantage of it. She launched it on a national level in late 2007 from TechTown. Today it employs three people and five independent contractors, along with 1-2 interns each year. It hopes to hire 1-2 more people by the end of the year.
"We're really getting a lot of great support from TechTown," McBride says.
Source: Shelia McBride, founder and CEO of GradeCheck.net
Writer: Jon Zemke
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