Students against the world
Josh's story — coming soon
I picked a school because their marketing promised career programs that would set me up. Got there and those programs didn't exist. No alternatives. No path forward. Just tuition bills.
This wasn't just me. University websites are marketing. Rankings are bought. The whole system profits when you make uninformed decisions. Schools spend billions selling you a dream. Nobody helps you verify it's real.
So I built GradFax. Every stat links to its source. No paid placements. No ads. No bullshit. Just verified data so you can actually make an informed choice.
— Josh, Founder
Schools can pay to verify their profiles, but they can never buy rankings, hide data, or access your information. See exactly how the money works.
Read the full breakdown →See how we stack up against other college search platforms on price, data sources, and transparency.
See the comparison →The first day of my marketing class, the professor asked: "Who are the most vulnerable consumers?"
We spent the first 10 minutes listing them:
And then the professor said something I'll never forget:
"These are your targets. Learn to reach them."
I walked out of that class and never thought about marketing the same way again.
Universities, ranking websites, loan companies: they all know students are vulnerable. That's why they spend billions on marketing.
You deserve real data, not another sales pitch.
This platform exists to arm you with the same data universities use to set prices. For free, forever.
Students make $100,000+ decisions with less data than buying a $20,000 car.
college cost increase since 1980 (3x faster than inflation)
National Center for Education Statistics ↗You're told to "follow your passion" and "find the right fit." But no one shows you the data to make that decision.
Universities, ranking sites, and loan companies profit from your uncertainty.
Marketing budgets
Billions spent annually on glossy brochures, campus tours, and SEO
Ranking sites
Accept money from schools to boost visibility
Loan companies
Make money when you borrow, regardless of outcomes
Admissions consultants
Charge thousands for advice you can get from verified data
GradFax exists to arm you with the same data universities use to set prices. For free. Forever.
Students are not customers
You're people making life-changing decisions
Data beats marketing
Every stat on GradFax is clickable and verifiable
Transparency wins
We show our sources. We admit what we don't know
Free forever
We'll never charge students for search
Every number on GradFax comes from verified government databases or trusted APIs.
U.S. Department of Education's comprehensive database of all colleges and universities. Updated annually.
What we get: Admissions rates, enrollment, tuition, financial aid, graduation rates, faculty salaries, research expenditure, demographics
nces.ed.gov/ipeds ↗U.S. Department of Education's consumer-facing database
What we get: Median debt, repayment rates, earnings by major, net price by income, retention rate
collegescorecard.ed.gov ↗School nicknames, mascots, fun facts, and athletic conference data are marked with yellow "Community-sourced" badges. We're working to verify all community data with official sources.
Founder
Team
Team
Questions? Feedback? Found an error?
Email: hello@gradfax.com
Feedback: Use the green button at bottom right of every page
We read every message.
Every number on this page is cited.
Every stat on GradFax is verifiable.
That's the promise.