Agreement provides students, parents, and financial planners a complete package of market-leading scholarship and financial aid information
Lawrenceville, NJ & Charlotte, NC - October 1, 2002 - Peterson's, the nation's most trusted provider of online and print educational information and part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE:TOC; TSX:TOC), and Impact Technologies Group, Inc. (Impact), a leading software development firm serving the financial services industry, today announced a partnership to integrate Peterson's market-leading college financial aid data and content with Impact's suite of financial planning tools. This comprehensive financial aid solution will benefit financial advisors as they discuss college planning with parents and students.
"Due to the explosive growth and excitement of 529 plans, college planning has jumped to center stage in the financial services marketplace. Peterson's outstanding college-cost data and content are an excellent combination with our suite of financial-planning tools. Our clients, the financial advisors community, will enjoy unprecedented business value from our tools with the latest college-cost data integrated into the overall financial planning process," said Kevin Clay, president of Impact. "It eliminates the time-consuming research for the advisors and allows them to focus more on planning."
Peterson's maintains an undergraduate scholarship database that currently includes objective and accurate information on more than 1.6 million scholarships, loans, grants, and other financial aid awards worth $5 billion. Updated annually, the database is the largest available online. In addition, Peterson's provides relevant content on securing financial aid, calculating college costs, budgeting, and other important advice. Peterson's data allows financial advisors and their clients to research financial aid options specific to a particular college. Financial advisors can also explore information about the college's curricula, faculty, campus life, and more.
"In today's environment of double-digit tuition hikes and shrinking investments, more and more families are turning to financial planners for help in finding money for college," said Mary Gatsch, president of Peterson's. "We are very pleased that Impact has selected Peterson's data to be the foundation for the college financing solutions it offers the financial services industry. This is a great opportunity for Peterson's to reach a new market segment."
About Impact Technologies Group
For more than 20 years, Impact Technologies Group has provided technology products to banking, insurance, and
brokerage firms worldwide. Impact presently provides technology products to 100% of the top 10 insurance companies.
Based out of Charlotte, NC, the company develops unique software and web-based technology solutions for needs analysis,
business planning, retirement, distribution, financial planning and estate planning.
About The Thomson Corporation and Peterson's
The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), with 2001 revenues of $7.2 billion, is a global leader in providing
integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. Thomson provides value-added information,
software applications and tools to more than 20 million users in the fields of corporate and professional training,
assessment and testing, higher education, reference information, law, tax, accounting, financial services, and scientific
research and healthcare. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges
(NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). Its learning businesses and brands serve the needs of individuals, learning institutions,
corporations, and government agencies with products and services for both traditional and distributed learning. As
part of The Thomson Corporation, Peterson's is one of the nation's most respected providers of lifelong learning
books and online resources focusing on the educational search, test preparation, and financial aid markets. Peterson's
leading book imprints include ARCO; its Web site, www.petersons.com, has searchable databases and interactive tools
for contacting U.S.-accredited institutions and programs. Peterson's serves 110 million education consumers annually.
For more information:
Contact: Kevin Clay, President
Phone: 1-800-438-6017 x 222
Mailing Address: University Research Park, 10735 David Taylor Dr #350, Charlotte, NC 28262
Email: Kevin@impact-tech.com
Website: www.impact-tech.com