Unigo

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Unigo
Foundation date 2008
Headquarters New York, New York
Key people Jordan Goldman, Founder and CEO
Industry Internet, Education
Website http://unigo.com
Type of site College Information / Expert Network

Unigo is a free online college resource guide and student platform claiming to cover more than 1,600 colleges and universities in the United States.[1] The Unigo website is used by college students to share photos, videos, documents, and reviews of their school.[2] High school students and parents use the site as a research tool to explore college options. Unigo's main purpose is to create a student-generated online college guide that does not have the limitations that its print counterparts do.[3][4] This allows college students to update information about their school on a continuous basis and cover topics not found in traditional guidebooks.[5][6] Student-submitted photos and videos allow users to see what Carnegie Mellon's newspaper, The Tartan, described as "a virtual campus visit."[7]

History

Unigo was backed by angel investor Jay Seid of EG Equities, and founded by Jordan Goldman,[8] an education entrepreneur who previously created the best-selling “Students’ Guide to Colleges” series of college guidebooks (which was published in five annual editions from Penguin Books.)[9]

Unigo launched as a college review platform and hit 1.35 million pageviews in its first week,[10] quickly amassing hundreds of thousands of student-written college reviews.[11] US News & World Report called Unigo “one of the top 10 college websites”,[12] The New York Times said its reviews were “vivid in a way no guidebook can match,”[13] and AlwaysOn named it “One of the 100 Private Companies with the Biggest Impact on the Public Sector."[14]

As Unigo’s content grew, it began providing college information to many mainstream media properties. Unigo provides all college reviews for US News & World Report's annual college rankings.[15] Every year, Unigo partners with USA Today to create the USA Today / Unigo College Guide,[16] a print title distributed to bookstores nationwide. Through a strategic partnership with The Wall Street Journal, Unigo and WSJ created a new brand - WSJ On Campus[17] - producing original high-quality journalism about college admissions and college life. Unigo publishes a weekly college advice column which runs every Friday in USA Today,[18] US News & World Report,[19] The Huffington Post,[20] and 13 additional national outlets. Finally, in partnership with McGraw Hill, Unigo helped create an original curriculum on college and career readiness taught in high schools throughout America. As a result of this exposure and its own growing community, Unigo receives more than 1 million unique visitors every month.[21]

In 2011, Unigo built and incorporated a college admissions expert network (following the Gerson Lehrman model.)[22] As a result, families can choose from, schedule, and have live video sessions with more than 1,000 college admissions experts, more than 1,000 financial aid experts ($100/hr), and more than 15,000 current college students ($30/hr) entirely through the Unigo platform.[23] According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, "Have a face-to-face talk with a college counselor while sitting in [your] living room... Unigo meets an important need."[24] Unigo is the only website offering one-on-one video sessions with college counselors and current college students.

In 2012, Unigo announced a business line selling blocks of college counseling sessions directly to high schools and school districts.[25] Unigo has also announced its intentions to scale its content and expert network to cover graduate schools by 2013.[26]

Founder

Unigo’s founder and CEO, Jordan Goldman, has been named "One of the Top 30 Young Entrepreneurs in America" by Inc. Magazine,[27] "One of the Top 100 Young Entrepreneurs in America" by the White House,[28] and "One of the 100 Most Influential People in New York Business and Technology" by Silicon Alley Insider.[29]

Management, Investors and Advisors

Robert Clauser serves as Unigo’s COO. Previously, Clauser was a Partner in Accenture’s Media Practice, as well as the Chief Financial Officer for WNET.

Moshiur Tarafdar serves as Unigo’s CTO. Previously, Tarafdar was the AVP of Technology for The Princeton Review.

Unigo’s investors include Jay Seid of EG Equities, Torry Berntsen of Virtu Financial, and McGraw-Hill Education.[30]

Unigo’s Advisory Board includes Bob Chase (former President, National Education Association), Tom Rogers (CEO of Tivo, former President of NBC), Adam Seifer (co-founder of Sixdegrees.com and Fotolog.com), Don Ross (Chief Revenue Officer of Bankrate.com), and Scott Schiller (EVP Digital Media Sales at NBCU Entertainment.).[31]

Notability

Publications

  • Goldman, Jordan (2004). Students' Guide to Colleges: 2004. New York: Penguin. 
  • Goldman, Jordan (2005). Students' Guide to Colleges: 2005. New York: Penguin. 
  • Goldman, Jordan (2006). Students' Guide to Colleges: 2006. New York: Penguin. 
  • Goldman, Jordan (2007). Students' Guide to Colleges: 2007. New York: Penguin. 
  • Goldman, Jordan (2008). Students' Guide to Colleges: 2008. New York: Penguin. 

References

  1. ↑ Unigo.com accessed Nov. 27th, 2008
  2. ↑ Glazowski, Paul. "Unigo Puts Users in Charge of College Reviews (The Startup Review)" - Mashable Sept. 19, 2008
  3. ↑ Moran, Caitlin. "Web Site Features College Reviews by Students, for Students" - The Chronicle of Higher Education Sept. 23, 2008
  4. ↑ Hockenberry, John and Adaora Udoji. "Unigo.com reviews colleges drawing from those who know them best: students" - The Takeaway Sept. 18, 2008
  5. ↑ Foss, Kate. "Unigo helps students evaluate college choices" - The Collegian (University of Richmond) Oct. 30, 2008
  6. ↑ Hu, Nan. "New site Unigo provides student reviews of colleges" - The Daily Princetonian Oct. 17, 2008
  7. ↑ Kim, Irene. "Website reveals colleges" - The Tartan Oct. 13, 2008
  8. ↑ Dee, Jonathan. "The Tell-All Campus Tour" - The New York Times Magazine, Sept. 19, 2008
  9. ↑ Goldman, Jordan (2008). Students' Guide to Colleges: 2008. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0143035584. 
  10. ↑ Silicon Alley Staff. "Silicon Alley 100" - Silicon Alley Oct. 31, 2008
  11. ↑ Dee, Jonathan. "The Tell-All Campus Tour" - The New York Times Magazine, Sept. 19, 2008
  12. ↑ "The 10 Best College Websites". US News & World Report. June 15, 2010. 
  13. ↑ Dee, Jonathan. "The Tell-All Campus Tour" - The New York Times Magazine, Sept. 19, 2008
  14. ↑ "Wall Street Journal Launches "WSJ On Campus" With Unigo". News Corp. October 26, 2009. 
  15. ↑ "Harvard University Student Reviews". US News & World Report. August 18, 2011. 
  16. ↑ "College Guide". USA Today. September 9, 2011. 
  17. ↑ "Wall Street Journal Launches "WSJ On Campus" With Unigo". News Corp. October 26, 2009. 
  18. ↑ "Where should students be searching for scholarships?". USA Today. October 14, 2011. 
  19. ↑ "What are common mistakes on the financial aid application?". US News & World Report. January 25, 2012. 
  20. ↑ "Most Common Scholarship Scams". The Huffington Post. January 31, 2012. 
  21. ↑ "Unigo doubling traffic each month after relaunching as marketplace for virtual college guidance". Venturebeat. February 21, 2012. 
  22. ↑ "Unigo Uses the Power of the Internet to Pick the Perfect College". Mashable. January 5, 2012. 
  23. ↑ "Cue Up the Guidance Counselors". Portfolio Magazine. January 25, 2012. 
  24. ↑ "Virtual College Counseling for $100 an Hour". Chronicle of Higher Education. January 9, 2012. 
  25. ↑ "Unigo doubling traffic each month after relaunching as marketplace for virtual college guidance". Venturebeat. February 21, 2012. 
  26. ↑ "Making the Grades". Hemispheres Magazine. April 4, 2012. 
  27. ↑ "30 Under 30, 2011". Inc. Magazine. July 27, 2011. 
  28. ↑ "Empact 100 list". Kauffman Foundation. September 26, 2011. 
  29. ↑ "2009 100 Most Influential People". Business Insider. July 1, 2009. 
  30. ↑ "Unigo doubling traffic each month after relaunching as marketplace for virtual college guidance". Venturebeat. February 21, 2012. 
  31. ↑ "UNIGO.COM INCREASED $1.6 MILLION IN INSTITUTIONAL FUNDING FROM MCGRAW-HILL EDUCATION". USA Market News. September 15, 2011. 
  32. ↑ Struck, Heather. "Sneak Peek 2009: Heather Struck On College Admission" - Forbes Dec. 17, 2008
  33. ↑ Mossberg, Walter S. (February 19, 2009). "Unigo.com Gives Everyone a Say About College Picks". The Wall Street Journal. 
  34. ↑ "2009 100 Most Influential People". Business Insider. July 1, 2010. 

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