Honest about how this gets made.

Who writes it

I do. I'm Kester Hodgson, a Texas dad. I started KidToCollege after realising how much of the college- applications system is opaque on purpose, and how much of what families "know" is actually marketing.

Some posts get reviewed by guest contributors I trust (former admissions officers, financial-aid administrators, coaches). Where that's the case, you'll see their name on the byline.

How AI is used

Most articles on this site are drafted with AI assistance (Claude, currently) and then reviewed by me for accuracy before they go live. I disclose this because trust matters more than mystery.

The places where AI is NOT in the pipeline:

• Scholarship data. Every entry in the catalog has a verified live URL. Humans verify them.
• College cost figures. Pulled directly from College Scorecard and IPEDS, not generated.
• FAFSA, Pell, and policy guidance. Sourced from StudentAid.gov, College Board, and the Department of Education. Anything time-sensitive (Pell maximums, deadline dates) is checked against the primary source before publication.

Sources we use

• StudentAid.gov (FAFSA, Pell, federal loans, work-study)
• College Scorecard (US Department of Education)
• IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System)
• College Board (CSS Profile, AP, SAT)
• NCAA + division governing bodies (athletic recruiting)
• Individual college official admissions and financial-aid pages
• Foundation and scholarship-program official sites

Found an error?

Please tell us. Email hello@kidtocollege.com with the URL of the page and what's wrong. We aim to fix factual errors within 48 hours and note significant corrections on the page.

What you can rely on

The full version of what KidToCollege will and won't do is at /promise. The short version: this site stays free to use, never sells your data, and never recommends a school because someone paid us to.

The site is also licensed proprietary — the source code belongs to KidToCollege. See LICENSE if you're curious.