ST. PAUL, Minn. — Chris Wills played three sports in high school and was at the top of his class in academics, but he still says one key part of his experience was steeped in frustration and loss.

"It was really a big debacle," said Wills, 28.

What wreck is he describing? A lack of college guidance.

Wills, who attended Sauk Centre High School, said he had no clear path for his future. He didn't know how to apply for scholarships or financial aid. He didn't know his college options. And he didn't select one until right before he started his freshman year.

Despite his confusion, he ended up at the University of St. Thomas. He played basketball, graduated with a journalism degree, and started his own business, which is now profitable and growing at a 20 percent clip. The Roseville, Minn.-based company, Student Paths, is dedicated to making sure other high school students aren't faced with the same frustration he experienced.

As budgets have tightened, high schools have cut back on guidance counselors. The counselors left are often spread thin. Wills can't remember having any meaningful discussions with a guidance counselor when he was in high school. He figured he wasn't unique. That's where he saw a market opportunity.

Wills develops and distributes classroom materials to high schools. The materials focus on how students can prepare themselves for the transition to life in college, university or the military.

High schools that partner with Wills receive three newspapers each year with topics such as "wacky" scholarships, living with a stranger in a college dorm room, and dealing with pressure from parents. Lesson plan guides, which include activities and assignments aimed at getting students to think about life after high school and various careers, are distributed to a contact person such as a teacher or guidance counselor.

The business sells advertising space to colleges, universities and military branches. Inserted inside the publications are student interest cards with the names of the sponsoring schools. Prospective students check a box on the student interest card to receive more information from any of those listed. The list of names is then distributed to the schools.

Wills' pitch to colleges and universities is that they'll have access to a whole market of hot leads. Wills says the materials reach 700,000 high school students in 17 states. His goal is to quadruple the number of students who see the materials by 2010 and add 13 markets. (Hawai'i isn't among the states listed under its "current schools" page on the Student Paths' Web site.)

Student Paths is one of the top recruiting methods for new student enrollees at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. In exchange for about $10,000 a year, the private liberal arts college receives an electronic list of names of potential recruits.

That contact "gives us that opening in the doorway that allows us to work our charm with them," said Joel Clasemann, Scholastica's admissions operations manager. Each year, the college gains between 21 and 28 enrollees (out of 490 entering freshman this fall, for example) as a result of the Student Paths contacts. In comparison, a guidance magazine the college advertises in resulted in eight enrollees this fall, Clasemann said.

While Wills' pitch to universities is all about getting their names in front of potential recruits, his pitch to high schools centers on how the materials will help students sort things out. Wills thinks his trials are common for high school students.

"I didn't know what I didn't know," he said. "I procrastinated. I put a lot of things off and felt like we just made a ton of mistakes."