ash-strapped, dorm-inhabiting college students will have something to smile about next year. As part of a new program called eSuds, IBM and USA Technologies will connect 9,000 washing machines and dryers to the Web at colleges and universities in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.

For many students, this could mean no more digging for quarters while outfitted in their last pair of clean underwear. The new Internet-enabled machines will replace traditional coin-operated machines by allowing students to charge the cost of each cycle to a credit card, deduct the cost from an account by swiping their student ID card, or even use their wireless phone to punch in an account authorization code.

Laundromat owners will like it, too. Using the Web, owners can check machines for usage and maintenance, and they no longer have to worry about cash being stolen out of machines or machines being vandalized.

The program recently was tested successfully at Boston College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received an "overwhelmingly positive response" from students, according to USA Technologies.