College Prep Software Naviance Is Selling Advertising Access to Millions of Students
The software, often required by schools, enables colleges and universities to choose from an array of demographics, including race, to target prospective students. By Todd Feathers
For nearly two-thirds of American high schoolers Naviance software is an integral and nearly unavoidable part of the college research and application process. For colleges and universities, it’s also a targeted advertising platform with a captive audience of millions of students looking to make one of the largest financial investments of their lives.
The Markup examined the Naviance accounts of several students who granted us access and reviewed contracts between 10 universities and Intersect, a sister company to Naviance responsible for selling advertising campaigns on the platform. We uncovered how Naviance gathers data through its college guidance software and then allows colleges and universities to target students with paid advertisements encouraging them to enroll.
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