Sep 17, 2014 11:19 AM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Chegg, a company that specializes in online textbook rentals, launched an online guidance counseling platform designed to make college counseling accessible to more high school students.

The service starts at $24 an hour, but first-generation low-income students who have signed up through ImFirst.org can receive two hours free of charge, Inside Higher Ed reported. The company's goal is to democratize the college counseling industry by helping students from all economic backgrounds find the right college.

Chegg officials claim the service will leverage its InstaEDU on-demand technology and a network of expert counselors including alumni of the College Advising Corps as well as professionals with experience as private college counselors and college admissions officers at top universities throughout the country.

"The college admission process is competitive, confusing, and cumbersome. Public high school counselors often lack the time necessary to counsel students, creating an ongoing public demand for easy access to these important services," Bob Patterson, former Director of Admission at Stanford and current Vice President of College Outreach at Chegg, said in a statement. "Our new counseling service opens the opportunity to all high school students and families nationwide, regardless of location or income, helping to level the playing field."

The college counseling platform connects prospective applicants with a network of counselors via video, audio and/or text. Once connected, students can speak with the counselors about the admissions process in general, discuss questions, receive guidance for school research and selection, and upload essays and applications for real-time, collaborative review.

Chegg is also partnering with the nonprofit Center for Student Opportunity (CSO), creators of ImFirst.org, an online community that provides first-generation, low-income college students with inspiration, in an effort to "further democratize the admissions process."

Through this partnership, Chegg is providing up to 2 hours of its counseling services at no cost to 10,000 registered students on ImFirst.org. Aspiring first-generation college students who are not already members but wish to join the ImFirst.org community and benefit from Chegg's counseling services can easily sign up for free at ImFirst.org.

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