Everything you need to know about CollegeCounsel. Can't find what you're looking for? Contact our team.
Most counselors are up and running in under 30 minutes. You can create your account, customize your client portal, and start adding students right away. We provide guided onboarding to help you get started quickly.
Yes! All plans include access to our help documentation and video tutorials. Professional plan users get priority support and personalized onboarding sessions to help you get the most out of CollegeCounsel.
Professional and Enterprise plans include custom branding options. You can add your logo and brand name to personalize the client portal for your students and families.
Simply enter their email addresses and CollegeCounsel automatically sends them an invitation with login instructions. Parents and students each get their own login credentials with appropriate access levels.
CollegeCounsel works on all modern browsers: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. We recommend using the latest version of your browser for the best experience.
All plans include our core features: client portal, application tracker, document vault, college search, task management, and meetings. Professional and Enterprise plans add custom branding, advanced analytics, and enhanced support.
Our college database includes 5,000+ schools across the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand. You can filter by major, tuition, location, boarding options, and more. The system automatically predicts if each college is a Target, Reach, or Safety based on your student's profile (GPA, test scores, etc.).
Yes! Students log into their branded portal to see their college list, application deadlines, task lists, uploaded documents (essays, transcripts), and progress updates. You control what they can see and edit.
Each student gets their own secure document vault with organized folders (Essays, Transcripts, Test Scores, Recommendations, etc.). You and the student can upload files, and everything is encrypted and backed up automatically. We also integrate with Google Docs for real-time collaboration on essays.
You create tasks with due dates, and CollegeCounsel automatically sends email reminders to students before deadlines. You can customize reminder schedules (e.g., 1 week before, 3 days before, day of) and choose which tasks trigger reminders.
Yes! Professional plans support multiple counselors on the same account. You can assign students to specific counselors, share notes internally, and collaborate on cases. Each counselor gets their own login and dashboard.
Absolutely! Our college database covers the US, UK, Canada, Europe, Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand. You can search and track applications to universities in all these regions.
Yes! You can create task templates for common workflows (e.g., 'Early Decision Application Process' or 'Common App Essay Timeline') and apply them to students with one click. The roadmap generator also creates personalized task lists based on each student's profile and deadlines.
Enter your student's basic info (colleges, graduation year, international status) and the system generates a complete, personalized roadmap with dozens of pre-categorized tasks (Documents, Recommendations, Essays, Testing). Tasks stay in 'Planned' status until you review and activate them.
You can upload PDFs, Word documents, images (JPG, PNG), spreadsheets, and most common file types. Storage limits: Starter plan gets 10 GB, Professional gets 50 GB per counselor, and Enterprise gets unlimited storage.
We offer three plans: Starter at $99/month (1 counselor, up to 10 students, 10 GB storage), Professional at $129/month per counselor (unlimited students, 50 GB per counselor) with volume discounts (2-5 counselors: $119/month, 6-10: $109/month, 11-20: $99/month), and Enterprise with custom pricing for larger organizations. All plans include a 14-day free trial.
Yes! You can upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time. Changes will take effect in the next billing cycle.
After your 14-day free trial, you'll be charged for your selected plan. You can cancel anytime during the trial with no charge. We'll send you a reminder before the trial ends.
Yes! Annual plans save you 15% compared to monthly billing. We also offer volume discounts for Professional plans: 2-5 counselors get $119/month each, 6-10 get $109/month each, and 11-20 get $99/month per counselor.
We accept all major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) and bank transfers.
No setup fees, ever. No cancellation fees, ever. What you see is what you pay. There are no hidden charges or surprise costs.
Absolutely. There are no long-term contracts or cancellation fees. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings.
We don't offer refunds for partial months, but you can cancel anytime and you won't be charged for the next billing cycle. If you're unhappy during your free trial, simply cancel before it ends with no charge.
Yes. All data is encrypted in transit (using SSL/TLS) and at rest (256-bit AES encryption). We use bank-level security measures and are SOC 2 certified.
Yes, CollegeCounsel is fully FERPA compliant. We handle student educational records according to all federal privacy regulations and have appropriate data protection agreements in place.
Our servers are hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) in secure data centers located in Singapore. All data is automatically backed up and replicated for disaster recovery.
Absolutely not. We will never sell, rent, or share your data with third parties. Your student data belongs to you, period.
You do! You own all the data you put into CollegeCounsel. You can export it at any time, and if you cancel, you can download everything before your account closes.
You can export all your data (students, documents) at any time. If you cancel, we'll keep your data for 30 days in case you change your mind, then permanently delete it.
Yes! Parents get their own login credentials and can view their child's progress, application status, deadlines, and documents. You control exactly what parents can see (some counselors prefer students to have more independence).
Students see their college list, application deadlines, task lists, document vault, and any notes you choose to share. They can upload documents, mark tasks complete, and search for colleges. You have full control over permissions.
Yes! You set permissions for each user. You can hide certain features, make some items view-only, or give full editing access. For example, you might let students upload essays but not delete them.
Students receive email reminders based on the schedule you set. They also see notifications when they log into their portal. You control the reminder frequency for each task.
Yes! Each parent can have their own login, and siblings in your program each get their own separate student account. All family members can be linked for easy navigation.
All plans include email support. Professional and Enterprise plans get priority support with faster response times and personalized onboarding.
Email support is available Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm ET. We typically respond within 24 hours (often much faster). Professional plan users get priority support with response times under 4 hours during business hours.
Yes! Our support team can help you migrate from spreadsheets, Naviance, or other systems. We'll guide you through setting up your account and getting started with CollegeCounsel. Professional plan users get hands-on migration assistance.
Starter plan supports up to 10 students. Professional and Enterprise plans include unlimited students—whether you have 5 students or 500, you pay the same price. There are no per-student fees on Professional and Enterprise plans.
You can add counselors to your Professional or Enterprise plan at any time. The new counselor charges will be added to your next billing cycle.
Yes! You can archive students once they've finished the application process. Archived students don't clutter your active roster but remain accessible if you need to reference old files.
Yes, on Professional and Enterprise plans. You can assign roles (Admin, Counselor, Assistant) with different permission levels. For example, assistants might be able to upload documents but not edit student profiles.
Yes! You can track application requirements specific to international students (visa documents, English proficiency tests, etc.). The college search accounts for international student admission rates when making Target/Reach/Safety predictions.
Absolutely! Our college database includes 5,000+ schools across the UK, Canada, Europe, Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand. You can track UCAS applications, Canadian university deadlines, and more.
Currently, CollegeCounsel is optimized for undergraduate admissions. Graduate school support is on our roadmap for 2026.
Our team is here to help. Reach out and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.