Heckscher helped Overgrad develop a customized college match tool for New York City students. Overgrad is a college and career readiness platform working to make the college application process more transparent, equitable, and accessible for all students, with a focus on low-income and first-generation students. Through a personalized, data-driven approach, Overgrad helps students identify their best-matched colleges and build a tailored list of schools where they are most likely to be accepted, persist, and graduate.
With our support, Overgrad developed a set of customized features to enhance the platform specifically for New York City counselors and students. The tool is particularly needed because estimates are that 80-85% of students graduating from NYC public high schools attend CUNY or SUNY schools, which have their own unique applications and considerations.
Heckscher funding was instrumental in the tool gaining traction in New York City. As a result of localizing the match algorithm, Overgrad was able to secure a contract with NYCPS and now works with 155+ NYCPS high schools, serving over 90,000 students across the city.