For districts, networks, and college access organizations
SchooLinks counts students. Overgrad helps them finish.
Both handle college planning. The question is what happens when a student falls behind, and what happens after they graduate.
A report is not a phone call
A compliance dashboard tells you a student stopped attending. It does not reach them.
This comparison reflects what each product emphasizes, based on public information. What a school actually gets depends on how it is configured.
Data somebody can act on.
Overgrad turns National Student Clearinghouse records into alerts and tasks. When a student stops attending, a real person finds out in time to call.
What SchooLinks does well
It is built for districts that answer to a state reporting requirement.
- State reporting built around district accountability requirements
- Readiness frameworks that line up with what states ask for
- Work-based learning participation tracking
- Family portals that keep parents in the loop
- College and career exploration for students
If your first job is satisfying a state reporting requirement, SchooLinks is a good choice.
"Overgrad has made college planning more accessible for scholars and more intuitive for counselors. By streamlining data and providing clear, real-time insights, we're able to move from static reporting to timely action—improving both the advising experience and our ability to support scholars."
What Overgrad adds
For teams measured on whether students finish, not only whether they started.
Catch a student who is falling behind
Most readiness platforms are built to report. Overgrad is built to get somebody on the phone, with alerts, tasks, and outreach your team can run.
- Alerts when a student stops attending
- Outreach campaigns you can reuse
- Case management for persistence coaching
- Transfer and re-enrollment tracking
Text thousands of students, one at a time
Graduates answer a text. They rarely answer an email. Messaging is built into Overgrad, so deadline reminders and check-ins go out from the same place the student record lives.
- Two-way texting, so students can answer
- Email when that is the better channel
- Deadline reminders that send themselves
- Outreach sequences that use each student's name
Track every path a graduate takes
Plenty of students skip the four-year college. Overgrad tracks apprenticeships, trades, military service, and going straight to work with the same care.
- Apprenticeship and trade programs
- Military enlistment
- Employment outcomes where available
- Certificates and other credentials
Which one fits
SchooLinks works if:
- State compliance is the reason you are buying
- Readiness reporting is your main use
- You need a family portal
- Outcome data is something you report, not something you act on
Overgrad works if:
- Someone on your team reaches graduates who stop attending
- You run texting and email campaigns to keep students on track
- You are a district, a charter network, or a college access organization
- You report on completion, not only enrollment
The question to answer: do you need to file the report, or do you need somebody to make the call?
See it with your own students in mind
A 30-minute walkthrough with someone who has set up Overgrad for districts and organizations like yours.