The folks at the U.S. Department of Commerce seem pretty eager for online advertising support.

In today’s Federal Register, the department issued a third extension of the deadline for colleges to buy advertising on Web sites for the department’s U.S. Electronic Education Fairs for China and India, which promote study-abroad programs with the United States. The department extended the window to buy advertising last month, just as it first did early in September.

The advertising is for “landing pages” that Chinese and Indian students see when seeking information about U.S. colleges and universities. The page for Indian students is slated to go live this month. The page for Chinese students, www.liuxueusa.cn or “Study Abroad USA,” has attracted dozens of college sponsors already, and the department claims that the site has been visited more than 550,000 times in China.

So how much does a Web ad cost? A banner ad goes for $8,000, and a simple text link with a college’s name is $3,000. Act now! Supplies are limited and are set to expire (at least this time around) on November 16. —JJ Hermes