High schoolers, parents, guidance counselors and college students take note: Navigating college might be a little easier if these new online tools are as good as promised.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Facebook partnered recently to award $2.5 million for apps that make the college search more transparent. The nonprofit
and The King Center Charter School in Buffalo, N.Y. also helped the cause.
The
awarded money
earlier this year. Many of the apps were launched early this month; others will be launched soon.
Be sure to check out the handy map to all the apps at
. I've displayed it here, but if you go to the site and click on the app names in light blue you'll be taken right to them (If the link doesn't work, you can find
).
Have you used any of these apps?
What do you think?
or weigh in on the comments below.
The apps target students from freshmen in high school to those already in college. Here's a rundown on some of them:
For high schoolers
helps high schoolers and their families search and compare side-by-side the estimated cost and financial-aid awards of multiple colleges. The estimates are gleaned directly from schools' Net Price Calculators. It gives users one place to enter financial and academic information so they don't have to re-enter them at every school website.
Lynn O'Shaughnessy of
and recommend the app.
, in Beta form, will help students craft a college application list based on their interests. Unlike other sites, it won't sell personal information or host ads. Site founder Lori McGlone points to
on how colleges increasingly are using micro-data to find high-paying students, a shrinking class. Tractus Insight's cost of $9.99 a month can be waived for families on tight incomes.
by NerdWallet provides a tutorial on filling
out the federal financial-aid application and a FAQs section where students and parents can pose their questions. If continuing traffic to It's Only Money's 2011 column
is any indication, this site is sorely needed.
A number of apps are aimed at so-called "at-risk students."
- an app for first-generation college students - purports to help them find colleges that care about them. MyCoach from
and
both pledge to help students get through college, pairing them with mentors or providing automated alerts to keep students aware of deadlines.
is an online game for high schoolers -- particularly those under-represented in college and at-risk of dropping out -- that pledges to guide them with curriculum and mentors to succeed at the next level. It's looking for teachers and guidance counselors to sign up students. It's also looking for colleges to sponsor "missions" for users.
And there's another game available on Google Play called
. It's aimed at high school freshmen and sophomores.
For community college students
, not quite launched, is supposed to help community college students map a coursework plan that will make them "a competitive transfer applicant at any school." It also tracks admissions and financial-aid deadlines.
There are others. Again, let me know what you've used and how you thought it worked.