The following web sites and tools have been vetted and recommended by the National College Attainment Network's (NCAN's) Advisory Board, Council of External Affairs, and staff for your use with students. The list is categorized by topic; it includes resources for students and resources for college attainment professionals to use with students.
Note: This list is not comprehensive. In fact, there are a ton of resources out there to assist your students with college search, test prep, financial aid, and more. NCAN encourages you to explore and use resources that work best for your students. New resources to suggest? Email [email protected] with "Essential Website Resource" in the subject line and a suggestion, along with a description of 60 words or less explaining why you recommend it for inclusion on this list.
College Search
BigFuture College Search: BigFuture College Search is provided by the College Board. The BigFuture web site is full of information designed to help students find good-fit colleges among 3,000+ options. BigFuture college search provides information about academics, cost of attendance, admission, and student body and is free to use. Student can use BigFuture to save their favorite colleges to My Colleges. If students already have a College Board account, the BigFuture web site allows students to sign in to access their saved colleges. If students don't yet have a College Board account, they can create an account on BigFuture. Note: College Board account logins are the same ones they’ll use to register for the SAT, get and send their SAT scores, add schools to a customizable college list, and access other College Board resources.
College Greenlight: With College Greenlight, students can search for colleges based on certain criteria and compare schools. The College Greenlight web site provides information about applying to college and paying for college. College Greenlight also provides information about scholarships, internships, and careers.
College Scorecard: This web site, managed by the US Department of Education, is a college search tool that provides data about student loan debt and graduation rates for certain institutions.
Niche: Niche provides reviews and rankings for colleges, K-12 schools, neighborhoods, and more. Niche's college rankings take into account academics, college value, professors, campus, and diversity. Niche also provides advice for choosing a college and admissions guidance.
Career Exploration and Workforce Development
CareerVillage: CareerVillage’s free web site crowdsources career advice from college students and professionals to answer questions from students. The web site also provides a section called “Inspire,” which provides information about high-demand career fields.
MyFuture: MyFuture is a web site aimed at helping students explore career paths. The web site provides information about different careers and includes a tool called “The Interest Profiler” to help students identify career paths aligned with their interests. The web site also provides information about college and financial aid. MyFuture is maintained by the Department of Defense.
O*NET OnLine: O*NET OnLine provides detailed information about various careers, including tasks, skills, and education required. The web site also provides tools to explore careers based on interests and skills.
Financial Aid and Scholarships
BigFuture Scholarship Search: This scholarship search tool is provided by the College Board. Students can search for scholarships, internships, and other ways to pay for college. Students can filter scholarships based on their characteristics and interests. Students can also save scholarships to apply for later.
Federal Student Aid: The Federal Student Aid web site provides comprehensive information about federal financial aid, including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), types of aid, and loan repayment. The site includes tools like the FAFSA estimator and a tool to search for federal school codes.
Fastweb: Fastweb is a scholarship search web site. Students can create a profile and use Fastweb to find scholarships that match their profile. The site also provides information about financial aid, college search, and careers.
MEFA: Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) provides free resources about financial aid and paying for college, including webinars, calculators, and guides. MEFA’s resources can be useful beyond Massachusetts.
Scholarships.com: Scholarships.com provides a scholarship search tool, as well as information about scholarships and financial aid. Students can create a profile to find scholarships that match them.
Tuition Funding Sources: This web site provides information about private scholarships and other sources of funding for college.
Financial Aid Offer Comparison Tools