How to Crowdfund Your College Costs

Scolaris helps students build Facebook(FB) -like profiles that show what they're studying and why -- complete with photos, videos and blogs.

Donors typically give 5 or 10 Canadian dollars at a time via PayPal, paying about an 8% fee (half to Scolaris and half to PayPal). Scolaris later remits the money to the student's school help cover the coming semester's tuition.

"We're basically helping students ask loved ones to put their money where their mouths are and help a young person go to school," Mauleesan said.

Market watcher Carl Esposti of Crowdsourcing.org says such sites aren't true crowdfunding efforts because they appeal to families and friends rather than the "crowd" -- the broad public -- for money.

But he says sites that "facilitate making small payments for college and allow you to track and monitor donations are still a nice use of the crowdfunding concept. I think helping students fund their educations will certainly hit a chord with many people."