Vanderbilt seniors launch peer-to-peer tutoring app Sesh

Two Vanderbilt University students have launched an app called "Sesh" that makes peer-to-peer tutoring more efficient for students struggling with courses and those trying to pick up extra cash through teaching.

Daniel Rossett and Sean Hoag, both seniors, have partnered with six other students at Stanford University to create the app, which allows students to quickly find, hire and pay for a tutor. With students putting thousands or tens of thousands into their college education each year, the app has the potential to help more students graduate through access to additional instruction and to another source of income.

"There are always kids needing help at the last minute," said Hoag, head of marketing for Sesh. "For a student at a college who is always strapped for cash ... they get $20 an hour to essentially work whenever they feel like working."

So far, the Sesh team has recruited 314 tutors from 14 schools and plans to launch in five schools this semester. The team plans to start with small colleges to ensure enough tutors are signed up to meet initial demand but hope to expand to more schools in the fall. The app is available for download Tuesday on iOS phones and tablets.

How it works

It's overused to label any app the "Uber" of a particular niche, but Sesh's technology connects both tutoring parties very similarly. Students send out a request based on the course they are taking and in less than 10 minutes, they are matched with a tutor who has done well in that particular class. A student accepts the match, and the two individuals can text through the app to set up a meeting time and place. A feature on the app logs the time of the session, and the student pays the tutor by the minute through the app. The fee translates to about $25 an hour, with 80 percent of the fee going to the tutor.

The problem that exists on college campuses is teaching assistants or general tutoring sessions are available during particular hours each week, times that may not work for a student's schedule. Or tutoring programs often require advanced planning, which can be a barrier for students cramming at the last minute.

"I would never think to go to get a tutor because it's kind of a long process," Hoag said. "I have to set up a schedule and I don't really know when I need help. With our app you can download it and request a tutor within 30 seconds."

With high tuition costs burdening students with heavy debt, extra charges for instruction may keep some from participating, especially when free options exist. But Sesh's ease of use also has potential to expand the market for paid college-level tutoring that includes online and professional tutoring services.

"We think more people will start using this than would normally use tutoring just because of how easy it is and it's on your own schedule," said Rossett, Sesh co-CEO.

Nicole Ufkes, a senior engineering student at Vanderbilt, is among Sesh's first crop of tutors. She typically makes money through baby-sitting but has experience tutoring high school and middle school students. Less formally, she has helped coach college students in science courses and sees Sesh as a way to get paid for her expertise this spring. "It's easy for me to do, and I enjoy it," she said.

Of course, not every good student is a good teacher, so a student's first half-hour with a Sesh tutor is free. Students rate their tutors based on their helpfulness, knowledge base and friendliness, with high scores boosting their future match opportunities. A tutor whose average rating falls below a certain threshold could be dropped from the app, and if students have a positive experience with particular tutors, they can send a request directly to them.

With students teaching college courses they have taken, they can offer a more tailored approach. But it also presents the concern that student tutors could share tests or memories of a test. Just like in any peer-tutoring system, students are still expected to follow their school's honor code, Rossett said. If they find a violation, the student will be banned from the app.

They also have anticipated safety concerns when matching students. Student tutors sign up as independent contractors and accept liability for what happens during the session. Through its GPS tracking, Sesh will have a history of when and where students meet if something goes wrong, Rossett said.

Rossett, from Bethesda, Md., and Hoag, from San Francisco, lived on the same floor of their freshman dorm and met the first day of school. They were roommates as sophomores and currently share a house off campus with a few other students. Rossett spent last summer in San Francisco, where he began working on the concept for Sesh with another Sesh co-founder who attends Stanford. He brought Hoag into the group that now includes three software developers and three designers, with Hoag and Rossett handling the business side. They raised $50,000 from family and friends and built a network of student representatives in each of their target schools who are cultivating a base of tutors.

The rollout will begin at Vanderbilt and Stanford, with plans to expand this spring to George Washington University, Northwestern University and Richmond University, schools chosen for their size, academic rigor and iPhone population. Taking a page from Lyft's playbook, tutors get a "Sesh" backpack that will serve as a marketing tool for the company, as well as identify the tutors to their peers.

So far 100 tutors are signed up at Vanderbilt, illustrating students' interest in turning their knowledge into cash.

Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.