RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Koofers, Inc. today announced it acquired the assets of five college media properties to augment its nationwide social learning network. The five properties acquired serve the student communities at Michigan State University, University of Georgia, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Middle Tennessee State University and Drexel University. With these acquisitions, Koofers further solidifies its position as the top social learning platform for college students in the U.S. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
Traditionally, each semester, college students have been forced to blindly register for classes knowing little about professors’ teaching style or grading behavior. This has spurred a grassroots effort to build online forums to share unvarnished opinion. Through the five acquisitions, Koofers unites islands of insight and connects them to its nationwide social learning community.
“These are the most widely used ‘go-to’ sites for college students at these five universities. They visit them every semester to plan their schedule, prepare for their exams and interact with other students,” said Gio Hunt, CEO, Koofers. “Acquiring these sites is an important development for Koofers as we continue to expand our library of resources and customize the student experience. Our mission is to build an intercollegiate network for academic collaboration. And we will continue to evaluate additional sites serving other universities to integrate into our social learning platform.”
Through the acquisitions, Koofers will add over 100,000 professor reviews and ratings, 22 semesters of grade distribution data and 300,000 class discussions. Collectively the acquired websites serve 126,000 students across these five campuses. The acquired sites are still live and will eventually be integrated into the Koofers.com experience in the second half of 2011.
Koofers leverages the power of social networks like Facebook to attract almost 400,000 college students who use the service to prepare for class, study more efficiently and save money. By using social media and the “social graph” – a map of people and how they're related on the web – Koofers can create a rich learning opportunity for college students by connecting them to relevant educational content and to one another.
The Koofers service is completely free for students and provides:
Academic Course Materials: Much like preparing for the SAT, Koofers lets students study for exams by practicing with previous ones. In addition, students can access academic videos, notes, study guides and other resources.
Course and Professor Ratings: Based on hundreds of thousands of reviews, students can find the right classes, professors and teaching styles that fit them.
Historical Grade Distribution: Koofers makes millions of grading histories available by department, course and professor.
Digital Flashcards: Koofers allows students to study on-the-go on their iPhone, or simply at their computer by creating their own digital flashcards, or borrowing from the Koofers library.
Textbook Price Comparison: Koofers compiles a list of textbooks, based on course schedules or search terms, and shows purchase and rental prices from the top online retailers. This means students never overpay for required reading material.
Class Schedule Maker: Students can create the perfect schedule by using Koofers to find the right classes, times and professors.
About Koofers
Koofers, Inc. is a social learning company transforming higher education through student-driven, intercollegiate collaboration. Founded in 2008, Koofers is headquartered in Reston, VA and funded by Revolution, LLC, Altos Ventures, New Atlantic Ventures, and QED Investors. For more information, go to: Koofers, Facebook, and Twitter.