October 23, 2001

Kelowna, BC - Bridges.com Inc. (TSE:BIT) - North America's leading provider of career and educational planning solutions, announces that it has signed a multi-year contract with the South Dakota State Department of Education and Cultural Affairs to provide aptitude and interest assessment testing for all Grade 8 and 9 students in the state.

"We are pleased to be able to provide the State of South Dakota with our new eCAS product," explains Doug Manning, Chief Executive Officer and President of Bridges.com. "In the past, the 225 schools in South Dakota have used a paper and pencil format for their standardized testing. What we're providing them with is eCAS -- an online Career Aptitude Survey. It is a valuable measuring resource that connects children's aptitudes with occupations. These tests will help students to start thinking about their future and to get a good picture of their own areas of strength. In combination with their awareness of personal interests, these test results can help students to make decisions about what courses to take in high school and which career and educational options might be appropriate for them. We believe it will help them develop a sense of purpose for their future."

Bridges' eCAS relates test scores to more than 650 specific occupations based on information about job aptitude requirements from the U.S. Department of Labor. The eCAS Test Results Profile includes a brief description of the related occupations and the aptitudes associated with them. The eCAS consists of five subtests: Verbal Comprehension, Numerical Ability, Visual Speed and Accuracy, Space Visualization and Numerical Reasoning. Each requires from five to 10 minutes to complete.

The testing time is scheduled in South Dakota for October of each year. Over 12,000 Grade 8 and 9 students will be tested. From that, Bridges will be developing state-specific norm tables for that student population. Bridges will also provide an annual report for the State Department of Education that will outline all the students' scores and rankings each December.

"We chose Bridges.com to provide our state-mandated testing because we feel that the assessments that Bridges provides are the most accurate measure of a student's ability," says Ray Christensen, South Dakota's Secretary of Education. "eCAS is absolutely going to be a valuable resource for our schools. It will provide an accurate measure of students' abilities and will also give them some idea of where their interests in future careers lie."

Claude Lapointe, Executive Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for Bridges, says the signing of this agreement is a win-win situation. "We are pleased to provide the South Dakota State Department of Education with a valuable measuring tool. Currently, over 70 per cent of South Dakota high schools use our Choices career exploration product. We believe that providing all schools in the state with eCAS will increase our exposure to the remaining 60 South Dakota schools that currently aren't using our other career exploration products. The results of this initial sale of eCAS into the education sector will now be used to support similar sales through the U.S. market. This new Internet-based product is an example of new initiatives designed to supplement Bridges' existing core subscription business."

Bridges is North America's leading provider of career information services, training, and self-directed career and educational planning tools. Over 15,366 schools, libraries, employment centres, post-secondary schools and rehabilitation facilities subscribe to Bridges' customized products. Bridges serves the career development needs of millions of students and adults seeking educational or career planning assistance. Its resources are also uniquely adapted to service a wide range of corporate, consumer and global markets. For more information, visit http://www.bridges.com. The company, which has offices in Canada and the U.S., is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol: BIT.

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