Some college officials breathed a sigh of relief on Monday when PeopleSoft's Board of Directors rejected the latest takeover bid by the Oracle Corporation, which has been trying to acquire PeopleSoft since last summer.

The $9.4-billion bid, made on Wednesday, was Oracle's third, and company officials said it would be their final offer, although they have not said when it will expire. PeopleSoft officials have bitterly opposed Oracle's takeover effort.

More than 700 colleges and universities use PeopleSoft's software products.

Ola Faucher, director of human resources at the University of Kansas, is president of the Higher Education User Group, an independent organization representing about 345 higher-education institutions that use PeopleSoft products. She said members of the group oppose the takeover because they have evaluated whether to do business with Oracle in the past and have decided against it.

"We've chosen PeopleSoft," Ms. Faucher said. "PeopleSoft has stood firm in its resistance, and we hope that they will continue to do so."

Oracle has said that it will continue to support PeopleSoft products and services if the takeover effort succeeds. But Ms. Faucher takes little solace in that guarantee. She said Oracle might initially support PeopleSoft software and services, but she predicted that they would eventually be phased out.

"What happens over time is the nature of the software and the relationship do indeed change," she said.

In a written statement, PeopleSoft said that its board had decided that the latest offer was too low and that the merger of the two software companies could run into antitrust problems. The Connecticut attorney general has already filed a lawsuit attempting to bar the proposed merger.

"The revised offer price is inadequate and does not reflect PeopleSoft's real value," the PeopleSoft statement said. In addition, it said, "the proposed combination of PeopleSoft and Oracle continues to face substantial regulatory scrutiny in both the United States and Europe and there is a significant likelihood that the transaction will be prohibited under antitrust law."

Now it's up to PeopleSoft shareholders to decide whether they want to sell their shares to Oracle. Individual shareholders can decide to sell at any time.

The latest Oracle offer is $26 per share, higher than Monday's closing price of $22.22 per share -- which was down 53 cents for the day. Oracle closed on Monday at $13.28 per share -- down 14 cents for the day.

Over the summer, Oracle had offered to pay $16 per share. Soon afterward, it raised the offer to $19.50.

Oracle released a written statement on Monday encouraging PeopleSoft shareholders to sell, saying $26 per share is a great deal.

"Given PeopleSoft's uncertain future as a stand-alone company and the fact that, for the first quarter, PeopleSoft guided analysts below the consensus estimates, Oracle believes that its offer is full and generous," Jim Finn, Oracle's spokesman, said in the statement.

The day before Oracle offered its latest bid, PeopleSoft ran a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

The advertisement included a list of 1,000 colleges and companies that do business with PeopleSoft, including New York University and Ford Motor Company. Superimposed over the list was the cryptic message: "What is at risk for these American businesses, universities and governments? Nothing that can't be passed along in higher consumer prices, higher college tuition and higher taxes. These are just 1,000 of more than 12,000 PeopleSoft customers worldwide."

Mr. Swasey refused to comment on what the ad's message was or to discuss the company's strategy.