• The New York Times, Thursday, March 1, 2007 11:30 AM

The elimination of trans fat is not the only innovation coming out of the oven with this year's batch of Girl Scout cookies. Although Thin Mints, Samoas and other stalwarts remain the same, there are cookie academies and colleges, as well as more intense sessions in marketing and business skills for girls 11 and over.

Kicking off the selling season, a Kentucky Scout group last month held a five-hour cookie college in three cities, with 10 classes in marketing, money management, goal setting and the etiquette of approaching customers. In January, 600 Girl Scouts attended a one-day cookie college in Sacramento, sponsored by Merrill Lynch; the seminars included "Entrepreneur 101" and "Creative Marketing."

Officially, however, Internet sales are banned because Girl Scouts of the USA wants to forestall confusion over the cookies' price. But the scouting movement moved this year to expand its Web presence -- setting up www.girlscoutcookies.org -- so buyers could find their nearest cookie-selling troop. In its 90th season, Girl Scout cookies remain a juggernaut: a sales force of 2.7 million girls sells some 200 million boxes, generating $700 million in sales yearly.

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