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Indiana University unwittingly joins roster of “grade betting” website

Posted on August 12th, 2010

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A new trend has Indiana University students conscious of their grades. After all, they can earn money based on grades with a website that was just launched recently. The website, Ultrinsic, allows students to put bets on their grades. This website was initially launched simultaneously in New York University and the University of Pennsylvania last year. On Monday, the site added 35 new colleges and Universities, including Indiana as part of their agreesive move to have 200 schools in their site by spring. Larry MacIntyre, a spokesperson for Indiana University denies any involvement of the university with the site. He further stated that they have no agreement with the website and they only learned about their inclusion in the website last Tuesday, and that they are not cooperating whatsoever with it. MacIntyre went as far as saying that they are wondering why IU is included.

Ultrinsic, for its part obtains official transrcipt of grade results through students handing it to them, without any contact with the university. Judah Guber, chief operating officer and partner with Ultrinsic said that they do not need the school’s cooperation because they do not get any information from them directly. It is the students’ prerogative to give the site data, and it is the students whom the company ties up with to get all the data they need. Guber added that they choose the universities to be in their website based on the school’s reputation and academic and athletic programs.

The mechanics of the site is follows: official school records are accessed by Ultrinsic as the student registers and gives the site a copy of their schedule. With the history of the the student’s college career so far, plus any data the site can find out on the history of each of the students classes, the topics being discussed with other factors, the site can now calculate the odds of the student’s grade. How much to wager is the decision of the student. The wager has a maximum that begins at $50, and this increases as the student uses the site more often. Guber points out that the site should give the students an incentive to work harder as the semester ends. He further said that it “gives them something to put them over the top as far as studying.” As part of the site’s game plan is motivating students, the site’s owners also believe that the site is a very solid business model as it continues operations, and it can generate a lot of income.

On the other hand, some people see the appeal of the site to gamblers currently enrolled in college, but at the same time encourage a more serious concern: cheating. Ray said that the site may encourage students to cheat more. If money is the students motivation more than anything else, it might push them for example, “to give someone $20 to take a test” just to ensure them getting a higher grade. As the situation is, students already “cheat enough when money is not involved.” Legal concerns may also arise from the site’s concept alone. Since a federal ban has been imposed on online gambling since 2006.. There have been a number of court decisions regarding the concern, but the law still remains unclear. This summer, a congressional committee approved legislation to have online gambling regulated. However, these bills still have a lot of processes to undergo before it can finally be implemented.

McIntyre claims that the site still looks like gambling to them, and that IU’s dean of students, Pete Goldsmith, will be looking into the site, as they “would never be involved in gambling.” Citing that participation in the site involves skill, and that control is given to the students, Guber counters that the site could not be considered gambling. He said that the facts of the site remain that success in participating in the site depends on the participant’s skill and that they are in control of the results. At the same time, he can see why when people look at the site initially, they “want to focus on the semantics of the word (gambling).”