Entrepreneur Begins New Discount Program

Hoping to reap profits from highspending college students, a young local entrepreneur has launched a national student discount program.

For a yearly fee of $24.50, members of Student Advantage receive discounts at sponsors such as The Coop, Videosmith and Kinko's. An enrollment bonus includes 180 minutes of free long-distance calls and cash rebates on plane ticket purchases, said founder Ray Sozzi.

Sozzi, 24, who graduated from Dartmouth in 1990, started the Boston-based business five months ago.

He said he noticed shortly after graduation that companies offering similar discount programs were falling short of the student market's potential.

"There's a gap between marketing efforts and the message getting out to students," said Sozzi, who is also president of Student Advantage. "There's a lot of wasted money, not being spent as effectively as it could be."

Ten percent of the program's proceeds will go to Teach for America, Sozzi said.

Tim Healy, vice president of campus development for the company, said yesterday his is looking for a Harvard undergraduate to serve as the business's representative on campus. Healy said he met with one student yesterday, although he would not disclose the name.