FinAid.org

Name

FinAid.org

Legal name

Iron Corp US Inc.

Website

https://finaid.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Financial Aid Information Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarship, Financial Aid & FAFSA Support Platforms (EDAFAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Personal Finance & Financial Literacy for Students (EDAMAIAH), Financial Literacy, Debt Counseling & Default Prevention (EDALAJAK), Debt Management & Paydown (Student Loans, Credit Cards) (FSAGADAD), Financial Education & Coaching (Digital Programs, Tools) (FSAGADAH)

Keywords

• Financial aid information
• Student loan calculators
• Scholarship resources
• FAFSA guidance
• College funding tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Weston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Data monetization and targeted advertising: FinAid offers free services partially supported by user data sharing with colleges and marketing partners. Users who grant permission have their personal information (name, gender, age, zip code, citizenship, educational history) sold to colleges, universities, potential employers, recruiters, data aggregators, and marketers. The site also generates revenue through advertising networks displaying targeted ads based on user browsing behavior and device identifiers.
2. Advertising revenue: Third-party advertising displayed on the site, including display ads and targeted advertisements based on cookies and tracking technologies. Ad networks place their own cookies to track user behavior across the site and other websites.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

FinAid.org is a free, web-based public service that provides comprehensive educational content, guides, and interactive calculators to help students and families navigate college financial aid, including FAFSA completion, scholarships, grants, student loans, and work-study programs. The site also offers an "Ask the Aid Advisor" Q&A service connecting users with financial aid professionals, and supports the free offering through advertising and data-sharing arrangements with colleges and marketing partners.

Product overview

FinAid.org is a comprehensive financial aid information portal operated by Iron Corp US Inc., providing free educational resources about college financing. The site offers a unified platform combining information resources (student loans, scholarships, grants, work-study guidance, and FAFSA tutorials) with interactive calculator tools (Student Aid Index calculator, loan payment calculator, loan prepayment calculator, financial aid estimation calculator, college cost projector) to help students and families navigate financial aid processes. The site also features expert Q&A services including an Ask the Aid Advisor service and a comprehensive FAQ database, along with reference tools such as a glossary and Title IV institution code lookup. All content is provided free of charge to users.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Student Loans Information Section Comprehensive section covering federal and private student loans, including guides on loan consolidation, comparison tools, and information on parent loans and graduate student loans, aimed at students and parents evaluating loan options.
• Scholarships Information Section Resources for finding and applying to scholarships, including guidance on avoiding scholarship scams and tips for average students, targeted at college-bound students.
• FAFSA Guidance Section Complete guide to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, including Student Aid Index calculations, award letters, and IRS Data Retrieval Tool integration, for students and families completing the FAFSA.
• Student Aid Index Calculator Custom calculator that estimates financial aid eligibility by computing the Student Aid Index (SAI) figure that financial aid offices use to determine federal student aid amounts, for prospective and current college students.
• Loan Payment Calculator Interactive tool showing estimated monthly loan payments and salary requirements for comfortable loan repayment, for students and graduates planning loan repayment.
• Loan Prepayment Calculator Calculator demonstrating loan savings possibilities and term reduction from extra payments, loan adjustments, or varying interest rates, for borrowers considering prepayment strategies.
• Expected Family Contribution Calculator Tool computing estimates of Expected Family Contribution to help families understand their potential financial aid eligibility, for parents of college-bound students.
• College Cost Projector Savings calculator demonstrating how regular contributions to college savings plans can grow over time, for families planning for future college expenses.
• Ask the Aid Advisor Service Service allowing students to submit questions to financial aid professionals across the country, having answered more than 10,000 questions to date, for students seeking personalized guidance.
• Financial Aid FAQ Collection of frequently asked questions about financial aid with expert answers, serving as a self-service knowledge base for students and families.
• Loan Consolidation Calculator Calculator that helps borrowers evaluate the impact of consolidating multiple student loans into a single loan, for graduates managing multiple loan servicers.
• Title IV Institution Codes Lookup Tool to look up Federal School Codes (Title IV codes) for colleges and universities needed to complete the FAFSA, for students filling out financial aid applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10,000+ questions answered through Ask the Aid Advisor service
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fastweb.comcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFastweb.com is operated by the same parent company (Iron Corp US Inc.) and is the largest free scholarship matching service. The sites cross-link extensively, with FinAid serving as the financial aid education resource and Fastweb providing scholarship search functionality. Both sites share user data infrastructure and are presented as complementary services for college-bound students.
• Colleges and universities (data recipients)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerFinAid shares user personal information (name, gender, age, zip code, citizenship, educational history) with colleges and universities for marketing purposes. This data sharing arrangement helps support the free service model while connecting students with educational institutions.
• Advertising networks and merchant partnersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThird-party advertising networks and merchant partners receive aggregated and device identifier data for displaying targeted advertisements. These partnerships enable the advertising revenue stream that supports the free service.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Investopedia: Large financial education site that publishes student loan, FAFSA, and college finance content. Competes with FinAid for top-of-funnel informational searches and is regularly cited alongside FinAid in the same media coverage.
• College Board: Owner of the SAT and a not-for-profit membership organization providing college planning, financial aid, and scholarship information. Directly overlaps FinAid's educational mission on FAFSA support and has recognized FinAid for excellence — competing for the same informational search queries around college affordability.
• NerdWallet: Large personal-finance media site covering student loans, scholarships, and FAFSA alongside broader financial topics. Overlaps FinAid on student loan comparison and financial aid informational content, reaching similar audiences with broader monetization.
• U.S. Department of Education (Federal Student Aid / FAFSA): Official federal government resource for FAFSA completion, federal student loans, grants, and work-study. Direct source of authoritative information that FinAid translates and contextualizes for consumers.
• Bankrate: Major personal finance publisher covering student loans, refinancing, and college costs. Cited alongside FinAid in press coverage and competes for the same long-tail queries on financial aid decisions.

Regional players

• College Confidential: Community-driven college admissions and financial aid forum serving U.S. students and families. Overlaps FinAid on financial aid discussion, scholarship identification, and college-choice education through a forum/community model.

Direct peers

• Saving for College: Niche website focused on college savings plans (529s), financial aid estimation, and college-cost projection. Directly overlaps with FinAid's College Cost Projector and Expected Family Contribution calculators for parents planning college funding.
• Fastweb.com: Operated by the same parent company (Iron Corp US Inc.) as FinAid.org and the largest free scholarship matching service. Both target college-bound students and families around financial aid discovery, with FinAid covering financial aid education/calculators and Fastweb handling scholarship search — making them sibling peers with overlapping audiences.
• Scholarships.com: Free scholarship search and college matching platform serving college-bound students and families. Competes directly with FinAid.org's scholarship content and, by extension, with Fastweb for the same organic-search audience around scholarship discovery.

Emerging players

• Student Loan Hero: Online resource for student loan refinancing, repayment, and forgiveness guidance. Shares FinAid's audience on personal loan management and debt paydown topics but with a narrower loan-only focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/finaid

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FinAid.org