Privacy Policy

Account data. When you create a CollegeCove account, we collect your email address and an encrypted (hashed) password. If you sign in with Google, we receive your email from Google. You may optionally provide a display name.

Profile preferences. If you complete a profile, we store your preferences (ACT score, budget, location, climate, school size, setting, lifestyle interests, degree level, and intended major). These are used solely to match you with schools.

Saved schools. Schools you save are stored in your account so you can access them across devices.

Usage data. When you visit CollegeCove, our analytics provider automatically collects information such as your IP address (anonymized), browser type, pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring URL. We use this data only in aggregate to improve the site.

Search and filter inputs. When you search for schools or apply filters, those inputs are processed to return results. We do not store personally identifiable search queries.

Cookies. We and our third-party partners use cookies and similar tracking technologies to operate the site, measure traffic, and serve relevant advertising. See the Cookies section below for details.

• To operate, maintain, and improve CollegeCove
• To authenticate you and maintain your session
• To compute personalized school matches based on your profile
• To send transactional emails (verification, password reset)
• To send digest emails if you have opted in
• To understand how visitors use the site via aggregated analytics
• To serve advertising through Google AdSense
• To comply with legal obligations

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

CollegeCove uses the following categories of cookies:

• Authentication cookies — HttpOnly session cookies set when you sign in. These keep you logged in across pages and expire after 7 days of inactivity.
• Necessary cookies — Required for basic site functionality (e.g., remembering your session state).
• Analytics cookies — Set by Google Analytics to measure site traffic and usage patterns anonymously.
• Advertising cookies — Set by Google AdSense to serve relevant ads. These may be personalized based on your browsing history across sites where Google has a presence.

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Disabling cookies may affect some site functionality.

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with CollegeCove. Google Analytics collects data such as session duration, pages per session, and bounce rate. IP addresses are anonymized. Google's use of this data is governed by the Google Privacy Policy. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

CollegeCove displays advertisements served by Google AdSense. Google uses cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this and other websites. Google's advertising practices are governed by the Google Advertising Policies.

You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ad Settings or aboutads.info.

CollegeCove displays school data sourced from publicly available datasets including the U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS database and the College Scorecard. We do not collect any personal information through these integrations.

CollegeCove is intended for use by high school students (typically age 13 and older) and their families. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has submitted personal information to us, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion of your personal information, and opt out of the sale of personal information. As noted above, we do not sell personal information. To exercise your rights, contact us at the address below.

You have the right to:

• Access your data — view all stored profile and preference data in your account settings
• Delete your account and all associated data at any time from account settings
• Unsubscribe from digest emails via a one-click link in every email or in your settings

Active accounts are retained indefinitely. When you delete your account, all associated data (profile, saved schools, matches, email preferences) is permanently purged within 30 days.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Continued use of CollegeCove after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, email us at hello@collegecove.com.