College planning tools for
Academic + financial fit
Build well-balanced lists and personalize college costs for families.
Competitive position
Go beyond GPA and test score to evaluate students using the same metrics colleges consider.
Merit insights
Personalized estimates for each student based on actual award data; user-friendly need estimator.
Manage expectations
Data-driven assessment of a student’s holistic, competitive position and merit possibilities; visual reports.
#1
Free resources
Invite students to free award comparison and appeal tools.
#2
Share discount
Provide families a 20% discount on merit insights + cost analysis.
#3
HS Membership
Starts at $100/mo for your entire school; covers all students.
Clean and modern design
Core features of HS Membership
ListHERO builder
Build well-balanced lists by assessing the student’s competitive position.
Merit + cost tools
Personalized merit estimates and 4-year cost projection for each college.
PDF report builder
Jumpstart list building and wow families with custom reports and visual grids.
Scholarship displacement
Evaluate scholarship potential and displacement risk together.
College data + essays
Engage families with holistic data, compare grad outcomes and more.
Scholarship database
See scholarship amounts, deadlines and details for every college.
Appeal tools
Families compare awards, learn appeal factors and draft their letter.
Privacy and simplicity
Families can evaluate net costs without sharing personal financial info.
Multi-student profiles
Parents get a family level view of their children’s college costs.
Get a personal tour
See how GradBetter empowers families and HS counselors with insights.
Free senior resources to
Compare your aid award and appeal case
Access data-driven insights and appeal tools to take control of the process.
Compare your award
Get feedback on your appeal case based on what similar families received.
Learn appeal factors
See which merit and need factors to include and learn about the process.
Draft your letter
Get help composing your appeal letter and including comparable offers.
“GradBetter offers the clarity our families need regarding merit scholarships and college costs—without adding financial aid to my responsibilities. Customized insights help my juniors refine their college lists and start conversations earlier. Their award and appeal tools give my seniors the confidence to navigate the process independently. It’s been the missing piece our families are looking for.”
Breanna Goetz
Counselor, Templeton High School
Frequently asked questions
I have multiple children, can I use one parent account?
Yes. Our multi-student accounts allow parents to manage all their children from one account while customizing the information and analysis to each student. This provides a family-level view of paying for college.What is included for free?
Award comparison and appeal tools for seniors along with counselor reports. Underclassman can compare college average merit information alongside academic and admission statistics.How long and much are paid memberships?
Monthly or annual. Students joining through a high school’s landing page will receive free access if the school pays or discounted access provided by the school if students pay themselves or join for free award comparison.
HS Memberships start at $1,200 per year for all students if the school pays. Schools can provide a discount if the student is paying.How much information do families need to share?
Merit aid is based on academics. Families can personalize estimates and compare awards without sharing their financial information. The 2024 FAFSA changes from Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to Student Aid Index (SAI) eliminated the multi-student discount for federal methodology colleges, limiting the potential need aid of many families.How long does it take to get up and running?
High school counselors can sign up on their own, upload their school logo and start sharing free resources on their own. Families can access college average merit info and award comparison for free along with a 20% discount on personalizing merit estimates.
We encourage counselors to schedule a zoom to review the counselor and family experience, access a higher discount for students paying themselves or choose to pay for students.Will you be emailing our families?
No. We provide a branded landing page for high school counselors to share.Will you do an online presentation for families?
Yes. We’d be happy to do a Zoom for counselors, parents and students.How do you protect my information?
The database has real-time standby replicas to prevent any data loss between nightly backups on Amazon AWS. Multiple application servers are deployed for redundancy. A firewall protects unauthorized server access and SSL encryption keeps data safe and secure with an Amazon root level certificate.