What College Greenlight does

College Greenlight is a free online resource hub focused on connecting underserved high school students with college access opportunities, operating as a branded component of the Appily platform. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Chicago, the platform provides tools and content for high school counselors, advisors, and community-based organizations serving first-generation and low-income students. Functional offerings include a College Match quiz, College Acceptance Calculator, College List Builder/College List Maker, College Major Quiz, scholarship search by demographic and grade level, virtual college tours, and the Meet Appily Scholarship program awarding four $5,000 scholarships to students in grades 9 through 12. The broader Appily ecosystem covers 4,000+ college profiles and reports 3+ million student registrations per year, $44+ million in scholarship value matched, and 26 hours of time savings per student user.

The business model is freemium. College Greenlight resources are provided at no cost to counselors and students, and the platform functions as a community-led engagement layer within Appily's broader college guidance offering. Distribution runs through the Counselor & Advisor Resource Hub, professional development content, newsletter subscriptions, the Appily Counselor Community, and direct outreach into school counselor networks. Appily is owned by EAB (Education Advisory Board), which partners with more than 2,600 educational institutions spanning K-12 through higher education, providing institutional scale and content/research expertise that flows into the College Greenlight hub. No direct pricing, ARR, or revenue figures are disclosed for College Greenlight as a standalone entity. No AI capabilities, patents, or proprietary technology stack are documented in the available data.

Name

College Greenlight

Legal name

College Greenlight

Website

https://collegegreenlight.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Short description

College Greenlight is a free online resource hub within the Appily platform that connects underserved high school students with college opportunities and equips counselors with college search, scholarship matching, and planning tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Platform services for college access: College Greenlight provides a free resource hub for counselors supporting underserved students. Revenue generation occurs through the broader Appily platform which offers college search, scholarship matching, and college planning tools.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

College Greenlight is a free online resource hub within the Appily platform that connects underserved high school students with college opportunities, scholarships, and postsecondary planning tools. It provides school counselors and community-based organizations with toolkits, college search, scholarship matching, and professional development resources to support college-bound students, particularly those from first-generation and low-income backgrounds.

Product overview

Appily operates as a comprehensive college guidance platform. College Greenlight specifically serves as a resource hub within this platform, connecting underserved students with college opportunities. The broader Appily ecosystem includes Match (admission and scholarship matching), College List Builder, College Acceptance Calculator, College Major Quiz, Virtual Tours, and scholarship search tools. The platform also offers professional development resources for counselors and a Meet Appily Scholarship program awarding $5,000 to students in grades 9-12.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• College Greenlight Resource Hub A free resource hub within the Appily platform that connects underserved high school students with college access opportunities, providing toolkits, college search, scholarship matching, and professional development resources for counselors and community-based organizations.
• Meet Appily Scholarships A sponsored scholarship program awarding four $5,000 scholarships to students in grades 9 through 12, with nominations handled exclusively through school counselors in the College Greenlight network.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3+ million students register annually through the platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• EAB (Education Advisory Board)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEAB is Appily's parent company. EAB partners with more than 2,600 institutions serving students from kindergarten through college to provide comprehensive thought leadership in areas such as access and equity, enrollment, and student success. EAB's institutional partnerships provide content and expertise that flows into the College Greenlight resource hub.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• RaiseMe: RaiseMe pioneered micro-scholarships, allowing students to earn college scholarships incrementally through high school achievements. It targets the same underserved, college-bound student demographic as College Greenlight and overlaps on scholarship access and college matching.
• Naviance (PowerSchool): Naviance is the dominant college and career readiness platform used by high school counselors nationwide. It directly overlaps with College Greenlight's college search, matching, and counselor workflow functionality, serving the same high school counselor persona.
• Scholly: Scholly is a scholarship matching platform that helps students find and apply for scholarships. It overlaps directly with College Greenlight's scholarship matching functionality and targets similar underserved student populations.
• Going Merry: Going Merry is a scholarship discovery and application platform that also handles FAFSA completion. It competes directly with College Greenlight's scholarship search and college access support, particularly for first-generation and low-income students.
• Common App: Common App is the leading college application platform serving high school counselors and students. It overlaps with College Greenlight on the college application journey, though it focuses on submission rather than pre-application discovery and matching.
• Niche: Niche is a college search and review platform providing rankings, reviews, and detailed college data. It competes directly with College Greenlight's college discovery and matching capabilities and serves similar students and counselors.
• Fastweb: Fastweb is one of the largest scholarship databases and college search platforms, with a long-established presence. It directly competes with College Greenlight's scholarship matching and college discovery features for the same student demographic.

Broad incumbents

• College Board (BigFuture): College Board operates the SAT and the BigFuture college planning platform. It is a broad incumbent in the college access space, offering college search, scholarship matching, and planning tools that directly overlap with College Greenlight's offerings, but at much greater scale.
• Chegg: Chegg is a broad student services platform offering textbook rentals, tutoring, and college planning tools. Its college admissions and scholarship resources overlap with College Greenlight's offerings as part of a much wider student services portfolio.

Emerging players

• Accepted (formerly InLikeMe): Accepted provides admissions consulting and college application support services. It overlaps with College Greenlight's mission of helping students navigate the college admissions process, though it targets higher-income families seeking premium advisory services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/collegegreenlight

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 College Greenlight