Fastweb Turns 25, Continues to Help America’s Students

<b>It’s our 25th birthday, and we’re not being quiet about it. We’ve leveled up! This is a big deal for us and for all college-bound students in the U.S. In only a quarter of a century, we’ve helped more than 50 million students achieve their college dream by offering a simplified college scholarship search. We’re so happy to celebrate our big day with you. Because honestly, we exist to serve you—the American student— to help you find scholarships to pay for school. They say life is much more enjoyable when you find your purpose, and we really have! From the start as one of the first 100 commercial Websites in the U.S., our goal has been simplifying the scholarship search. We’re proud to save students (and parents) time with our scholarship database by sending every student customized scholarship matches based upon their unique qualifications, background and interests. “Fastweb has dedicated 25 years to providing students access to scholarships to help them pursue their college objectives. Our commitment to helping students free of charge has always been our focus and will continue as we constantly evolve to meet the needs of today’s students,” said Mark Nelson, Vice President, Fastweb. Nelson continued, “In addition to providing students scholarship and internship matches, we have additional tools to assist student with part-time job opportunities, powered by Monster.com, online learning resources, financial aid tips and college admission information as they work to achieve their academic goals.”

About Fastweb

Born May 22, 1995 Fastweb reflects many Gemini traits. Thanks to a state-of-the-art and powerful database, Fastweb’s adaptable, smart, fast and ambitious. Here are the details on how we work: Adaptable: Once students are Fastweb members, they can update their profile with further details, like extracurricular activities, current and past places of employment and their parents’ information. The more we know about our students, the better we can narrow down their list of college scholarships to their specific skills, talents and achievements – or, let them know when they may qualify for additional opportunities. Students that want to dig around our database can sort scholarships by categories such as: school year, ethnicity, race, unique situations and more. Smart: What sets Fastweb apart from other college scholarship search sites is our team of researchers. Every scholarship in our database has been researched and vetted by a team of real people. They work to ensure that our database is free of scholarship scams, that scholarship information is up-to-date and that new scholarships are added daily. Fast: With a frequently updated Fastweb profile and through the hard work of the research team, students are able to view a list of college scholarships that is tailored to their achievements and interests as well as complete with legitimate, high-quality opportunities each time they log in. Ambitious: In addition to our scholarship search, we help students find relevant internships and part time jobs. Fastweb members are actually matched to internships when they create a free profile, and they can also tap into Monster’s vast job search network in order to find part time jobs right here on Fastweb. Our Mantra is making processes easier, helping students find college scholarships they may never have found and keeping them (and their parents) organized throughout the whole process.

A Product of the 90’s

Birthdays are all about celebrating and reflecting on how far you’ve come and setting new goals. But, before we can truly reflect on our progress, let’s first set the stage for our birth year, 1995... According to Vogue, People Magazine named Brad Pitt the, ahem, Cutest Man Alive, and Braveheart hit the big screen in 1995. Also buzzing with popularity was the “Macarena;” an easy-to-do dance everyone was doing (sans the TikTok video craze to prove it). Even cooler (pun intended) Starbucks introduced the Frappuccino in 1995. Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog – oh, and who could forget— the creepy, Sid Phillips?! 1995 was the premier of the world’s first, computer generated movie, Toy Story. Cell phones were really only used for calling. Texting was not a thing, and phones were not set up for apps like Instagram, Snap Chat, Twitter or Facebook. One thing was certain, computer technology and the internet was beginning to boom in the mid-90s.

The Story of Our Start

Following the path of the mid-90's computer and technology revolution, Fastweb was the world’s first college scholarship search website and stands for Financial Aid Search Though the Web. Larry Organ, Fastweb’s founder and an internet trailblazer and business entrepreneur, believed that students should have access to a database to find scholarship without having to pay for a service. On May 22, 1995—our birthday—Fastweb helped 270 students find college scholarships. Knowing Fastweb should advance to help students, Organ found and teamed up with financial aid and student loan expert, Mark Kantrowitz creator of the awarded-winning site, FinAid.org, to provide a holistic, internet resource for students. By 1999, Fastweb and FinAid merged into one organization. At that point, Fastweb’s database had expanded to 400,000 awards. Fastweb had become a household name to many college-bound students, parents and high school guidance counselors in America. When greatness occurs, worldwide companies notice – and, often, want to invest. This was exactly the case with Fastweb. Monster Worldwide was looking to expand its reach within the higher education web sector. Enhancing its service to students, Fastweb was sold to Monster Worldwide, a global online employment solution for job search for seekers and employers, in 2001. Under the umbrella of the Monster family, Fastweb has grown to provide expert financial aid advice, internship and part time job search as a way for students to pay for college, as well as college search and application resources. We have also teamed up with our sister site, Military.com, to provide scholarship, college and financial aid advice to active military, veterans and their family members.

Our Next 25 Years

Today, only 25 years young, Fastweb has a database of more than 1.5 million college scholarships totaling more than $3.4 BILLION. Editors and researchers are working to provide helpful articles and scholarship lists to students and parents. In addition to Fastweb’s primary audience of college-bound students, our team of editors and researchers work with two additional segments, educators and student contributors. Fastweb for Educators: As many students start their college journey with a school-level mentor such as counselors or teachers, it’s important for educators to have access to the latest information. Educators are encouraged to join our Fastweb for Educators program to receive free printed materials, current scholarship articles and information for students at all education levels. Student Contributors: Empowering both high school and college students, Fastweb seeks and partners with six student writers each year. Students have the chance to share their advice and experience with students just like them. A hands-on learning experience (and a chance to enhance their own portfolio), Fastweb’s student contributors get to work with an editorial team and ultimately have their content published monthly. Other important areas of Fastweb include both the Featured Internships and Part-Time Jobs pages. The reality is that many students are choosing to work, as well as look for scholarships, to help them pay for college. Featured Internships help students to gain real world experience and pay for college, while the Part-Time Jobs page allows high school and college students find seasonal or summer jobs close to home. Just in time for our birthday, we’ve launched an Online Learning Channel. Here you can find the right free e-learning platforms and courses in one place! Taking the hassle out of researching the thousands of choices the Web has to offer.

Our Birthday Wish(es)

Hold the birthday cards; to help us celebrate our special day, here are our top three birthday wishes: 1. Stay Connected: Helping students get to their college dream is what we’re all about. We’re here to help students achieve their goal by offering a free and simplified college scholarship search. We want to be sure you know about all of the latest in the financial aid, scholarship and college world—don't miss a thing. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. 2. Invite A Friend: A lot of people know about us, but we know there are others out there that may have missed the memo. Help us make college a reality for your friends, neighbors, cousins or whomever you feel like could use some college-scholarship intel, by inviting a friend to join Fastweb. Bonus: Your invitation could land you BOTH a $500 award! 3. Download Our App: Get full access to our services straight from your phone. By downloading Fastweb’s free app, (iOS)(Android) you can search the largest online scholarship database on the go. Thank you for being a part of Fastweb’s journey and for helping us celebrate! Here’s to our next 25+ years—bring on the golden birthday!