Xello vs. SchooLinks

Xello is the trusted CCR experience that’s engaging and empowering for everyone in your district.

Image of student working on Xello laptop

Xello is

the student-driven pathway planner.

With Xello, students feel empowered and excited to own their post-secondary planning journey.

Student experience

Age-appropriate experiences at every grade level.

Personalized experiences that invites exploration and development.

The right tasks and prompts at the right time to maximize student engagement.

A one-size-fits-all approach across elementary, and middle, high school cohorts.

An abrupt onboarding experience.

Repetition of activities, tasks, and assessments.

Interface design

Intuitive, modern design. Easy to navigate and use on any platform or device. No training needed.

User interface cluttered and overwhelming. Not all features are available on mobile devices.

Research-backed and tested

Thoroughly researched, classroom tested, and enjoyed by students in over 3,500 schools across the US (and counting).

SchooLinks checks boxes but features can be surface-level, leading to low student engagement.

All student, all pathways support

Students can build a plan not only for college, but also for the military, apprenticeships, and direct-to-work, ensuring no student is left behind.

Mainly focused on the needs of 4-year college-bound students, leaving many students underserved and underrepresented.

Cross-curricular portfolios

Students can create cross-curricular portfolios they’re proud to showcase. They can easily create portfolios for subject areas, culminating projects and internship or job applications.

Limited to one basic profile that can't showcase the breadth of student skills and ambitions.

Xello college application student dashboard

Xello is

your path to higher college acceptance rates.

From application to “I got in!”, Xello's industry-leading tools help students navigate every step of the college planning process.

Feature

What it is

How it works

College profiles

Equips students to identify the colleges and majors that can get them to their dream career.

Filters help students dial in on the college options that meet their wants and needs

Exposes students to schools they wouldn't have otherwise considered

Scattergrams

Provides data-driven insights into admission possibilities through simple visuals.

Helps students evaluate their safety, reach and match schools

Gets students focused on setting achievable goals

Scholarships

An extensive search tool with thousands of national, state and local scholarship opportunities.

Makes scholarship opportunities easily accessible to students and families

In the past year, students saved almost 160K scholarships!

Application tracker

Automates sending and tracking application documents to thousands of colleges via integrations with Common App and Parchment Unified.

Keeps students on top of all application related tasks and due dates

Easy document management and tracking saves counselors and registrars time

FAFSA tracker

Monitor financial aid applications, verify completion, and flag issues—all in one place.

Flexibility to track both federal and state aid applications

Supports application verification through secure uploads

Knowledge hub

A centralized hub for students and families to access financial aid resources.

Provides answers to frequently asked questions related to FAFSA and paying for college

Xello is

fully accessible.

Xello supports your entire student population with features that allow every student the ability to create their own success story.

Exceeds accessibility standards

Committed to delivering an equitable experience for all, Xello exceeds the rigorous software accessibility standards, such as WCAG 2.2 Level AA, to which K–12 must comply.

Does not meet many of the most basic accessibility requirements including color contrast ratios, keyboard navigation, and video captioning.

Professionally translated content

Professionally or AI translated in over 130 languages, ensuring comprehensive inclusivity with a user-friendly interface.

Google-translated to Spanish, providing inconsistent or incomplete translations, misspelled words, and an impersonal tone.

Age-appropriate reading level

For ease of understanding reading level is at or below grade level, with read-aloud support readily available.

Reading level is consistently above grade level, meaning content can be less engaging, and less inclusive for all.

Diversity and representation

Offers over 600 career profiles with an intentional focus on diversity, ensuring students from all backgrounds feel included and represented.

Career profiles do not meet the same diversity standards and feature stock content, which may not resonate with every student.

Xello is

a trusted success partner.

Xello’s award-winning customer experience puts your needs at the center, pairing strategic guidance with unlimited day-to-day support.

A trusted, dependable partner

Trusted by states across the country to collaborate and meet college and career readiness mandates.

Limited experience supporting statewide implementations and managing long-term, large-scale rollouts.

Engaging PD, at no extra cost

All-inclusive training and PD resources like Xello Academy allow educators to take their CCR programming to the next level.

Equivalent training may cost extra.

World-class day-to-day support

Award-winning client solutions team dedicated to supporting districts when they need it, plus a comprehensive, online resource library.

Comprehensive support may come at an extra cost, plus online resource library is limited.

What Educators Say

Students and Educators Love Xello — But Don’t Take Our Word for It!

Why Students and Educators Love Xello

Educator Testimonials

What Xello Clients Say

Making the switch to Xello was a big step for our district, but the support we received from the Xello team to relaunch as a full K-12 program was unparalleled. Our students are excited to discover and explore their college and career options. I wish we’d done it sooner!

Melody Coryell

Executive Director, Postsecondary Readiness

Indianapolis Public Schools, Indiana

After vetting six other software providers we knew we were in good hands with Xello. Their innovative student interface stands out, for sure, but it’s the support of people who act as real program partners that made our decision to switch that much easier.

Jason Luke

Former Director of Career Awareness & Exploration

Kalamazoo Regional Service Agency, Michigan

Why choose Xello over SchooLinks?

It inspires and engages students at every grade level.
It gets results because students love using it.
We make getting started easy for your entire district community.

Book my demo

Xello is the trusted CCR experience that’s engaging and empowering for everyone in your district.

Xello is

the student-driven pathway planner.

See how Xello's student-centric approach helps every student build actionable plans for life after high school.

Xello is

your path to higher college acceptance rates.

Learn how Xello's comprehensive suite of college tools ensures the best support for your college-bound students.

Xello is

fully accessible.

See how Xello's accessible, inclusive approach meets every student where they are.

Xello is

a trusted success partner.

See how Xello's customer processes and passion elevate the performance of all our partners.

Students and Educators Love Xello — But Don’t Take Our Word for It!

What Xello Clients Say

Melody Coryell

Jason Luke

Why choose Xello over SchooLinks?

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