The Echo Group was established in early 1999 by international development specialists who had spent decades designing and managing international projects for major universities. They felt that a more flexible, effective, and cost-efficient process of developing and instituting international projects was preferable to the often burdensome procedures practiced by universities. At the same time, they believed that indirect rates (overhead) charged by most universities were excessive, leaving too little money to be spent on projects in the countries they were meant to help.