About

Built by a parent,
for families who want clarity.

StairwayU exists because the college search should feel exciting, not exhausting. One dashboard. Official data. No hype.

Why StairwayU exists

A dad, a high-schooler, and way too many open tabs.

I'm a parent of a high-schooler. When we started the college search, I did what every parent does: opened a browser. Then another. Then ten.

Admission rates on one site. Tuition on another. Scholarships somewhere else. A chancing calculator on a fourth site that asked for our email but wouldn't tell us how it did the math. Counselors are stretched thin, and every for-profit advisor wanted thousands of dollars to tell us something we could mostly figure out ourselves — if we had the time.

I built the dashboard I wanted: one place, official federal data, admission estimates with the formula in plain English, and tools to compare schools on cost and outcomes without the sales pitch. I kept going because it worked — for my kid and for the friends and neighbors I shared it with.

Now I want other families to have it too. The goal is simple: let kids and parents enjoy this season instead of worrying about it.

What's inside

The tools I wanted, in one place.

🎯
One admission snapshot
Your student's GPA and scores matched against each school's published 25th–75th range, shown as a single number.
💰
Real cost, not sticker
In-state vs. out-of-state tuition, average net price, and aid estimates, side by side for every school on the list.
🎓
Program-level rankings
A letter grade for each major at each school, computed the same way for every student. Public methodology.
📝
Essay and strategy help
Brainstorming and critique for Common App and supplements. Strategy builder for the full college list.
How we make money

Families pay us. Colleges don't.

StairwayU is a $9.99/month subscription with a 7-day free trial. That's it. Counselors use it free. We do not take money from colleges to feature, rank, or recommend them. We do not sell or share student data with advertisers, recruiters, or third parties. Admission percentages, program rankings, and college comparisons are computed the same way for every student, paying or free — and the formula is public on our methodology page. If a college shows up at the top of your list, it's because the numbers put it there, not because we were paid to put it there.

Try StairwayU free for 7 days
No credit card for counselors. Cancel anytime for families.