Encourage | College Planning
By admittedly
Encourage is a free college and career planning application for students in grades 7–12, featuring personalized roadmaps and scholarship search tools on iOS and Android.
The App DNA
What makes this app unique?
The platform removes the cognitive load of navigating fragmented college admissions and scholarship resources by providing a single, structured checklist for high school students.
For Middle and high school students (grades 7–12) and educators seeking structured college and career planning tools.
What does it look like?
Key features
Personalized checklist for students in grades 7–12 to track grade-level tasks and college application progress
Database of over 80,000 verified scholarships filtered by student background and goals
Dashboard for educators to track student progress and access lesson plans
How much does it cost?
The platform is entirely free for users, supported by B2B partnerships with colleges and educational organizations.
Velocity
Maintenance developmentperformanceopaqueShow more...
Encourage | College Planning maintains a low-frequency release cadence, with only two versions shipped in the observed window. The latest release occurred 16 days ago, following a pattern of minor technical updates rather than feature-driven development. The release notes remain opaque, focusing on general stability and performance improvements. Development appears to be in a maintenance phase, prioritizing bug resolution over new content or functionality.
Who built it?
User Sentiment
What do users think recently?
Fresh user feedback skews mixed. Users appreciate comprehensive college and scholarship search tools provide high school students with a clear path forward and the straightforward interface reduces the stress of college planning for younger high school students, but report rigid account creation and onboarding questionnaires exclude students who have already graduated from high school.
How are ratings & reviews evolving?
What users say, by theme
- Comprehensive college and scholarship search tools provide high school students with a clear path forward
- The straightforward interface reduces the stress of college planning for younger high school students
- Rigid account creation and onboarding questionnaires exclude students who have already graduated from high school
59 of 59 recent reviews analyzed · high confidence · Mixed overall
Read the full review analysisUnlock 2 more frustration themes and 2 user requests, each backed by review evidence.
Access the full report for freeCompetition
Competitive landscape for Encourage | College Planning
How's the Education market?
Encourage operates within the Education category, maintaining a 4.5-star rating on iOS across 149 reviews. The platform's free-to-user model, supported by B2B recruitment partnerships, differentiates it from subscription-based college planning tools.
The rivals identified
The Analyst's Read
Key takeaways for Encourage | College Planning
Where is it heading?
The college planning market is consolidating around platforms that provide end-to-end guidance, and Encourage's B2B recruitment model positions it well for institutional adoption. However, the lack of international support and technical friction in the latest release leaves the platform vulnerable to more agile, global-first competitors.
- Technical instability during core navigation tasks erodes user confidence, which compounds the churn pressure already visible in the review sentiment.
- The current maintenance-only release cadence suggests a focus on stability over feature expansion, limiting the platform's ability to respond to international search requests.
The SWOT
- B2B partnership model facilitates direct recruitment connections between students and over 2,000 colleges
- International college search expansion addresses high-frequency user requests for non-US education pathways
Next best moves
Relax onboarding graduation date requirements because rigid setup excludes post-high school users → increase total addressable market
+ 1 more prioritized moveThe counter-intuitive read
The platform's rigid onboarding is a feature, not a bug…
Read the full takeBottom line
Encourage's B2B recruitment model provides a stable foundation, but rigid onboarding and navigation latency currently cap the funnel. Relaxing user demographic constraints would unlock growth among older students and improve the platform's overall utility.
Unlock 2 critical frictions, 1 market threat, 1 more prioritized move and the analyst’s take.
Access the full report for freeFAQ
Is Encourage free to use for students?
Does Encourage support international college searches?
Can I use Encourage if I have already graduated from high school?
What is the main difference between Encourage and other college planning apps?
Sources
- [1] App Store listing
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